Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee sanctuary

Valentine’s Day in honor of loved ones

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Valentine’s Day is all about love, so we have multiple Sponsor a Day dedications today. Today is in honor of Patty Clark, a wonderful friend and volunteer and in memory of Bill Clark from their daughter Shelley Winfrey, who also volunteers at the chimp house.

Today is also in memory of Eleanor Julia Talbot, beloved feline friend of volunteers Margaret and Karen.

Thank you, Shelley, Margaret and Karen for Sponsoring a Day of sanctuary for the Cle Elum Seven and remembering and honoring your loved ones on this day of love!

Tool modification

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A few weeks ago, before J.B.’s recent post on tool use, I took several minutes of video of Jamie attempting to get a piece of chow just out of reach in the front rooms. I condensed the video a bit to show the highlights. There are a couple of things that Jamie does in the video that just make her all-around cool as well as demonstrate the intelligence of chimpanzees.

Tool use

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Chimpanzees are famous for their ability to use tools, but some individuals are more skilled than others. We know that human talent is a combination of genetics, early life experience, and practice, and the same is true with chimpanzees, I believe.

Jamie loves using tools. She could spend all day working on a project. I don’t think she’s as interested in the end result as she is in the process. Sometimes, when we are serving food, we accidentally drop a few pieces on the floor outside the enclosure. Jamie will spend the rest of the mealtime working to get those pieces, even though her caregivers are still giving out food.

Burrito, on the other hand, is just not a tool user. He has very limited patience, and he doesn’t seem to get that same flash of insight that spurs chimpanzees like Jamie to go fetch an appropriate tool. This doesn’t necessarily mean he is less intelligent. Most of the time, begging humans for help works just fine. But it does give you an idea why Burrito is not the alpha that he would like to be – Jamie is always one step ahead of him!

Op-ed in Seattle Times

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CSNW’s Executive Director, Sarah Baeckler, along with colleague and friend of the Cle Elum Seven, Debra Durham, just had an op-ed published in the Seattle Times. Please read the guest column, about the Great Ape Protection Act, here. Nice job, Sarah and Debra!