Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Chimpanzees are endowed with unmatched grace and athleticism,
a combination of raw power and finesse,
with a dancer’s agility and a gymnast’s delicate balance,
their talents so great they border on god-like,
making even the most daring feats of acrobatics seem so effortless,
they can do them with their eyes closed.
Most of the time.
After we serve a meal to the chimpanzees, there’s usually a few pieces of food on the ground that have dropped on the human side of the caging. The meal server typically leaves the food where it is, and the chimps will go find tools to use to pull it closer, or they’ll grab the attention of a caregiver and “ask” for the food by pointing to it.
Today Anna served the chimps a lunch of broccoli, kale, and bell peppers in the greenhouse. I went out shortly after the meal to see what everyone was up to, and Burrito immediately swung down from the platform where he was finishing his chow, and pointed out some kale and broccoli that had fallen on my side of the caging. After a quick scan for boss Jamie (she’ll occasionally pull rank when we try to offer food to the other chimps), I picked up the dropped food and gave it to a very grateful Burrito.
Diana made this pretty spectacular video blog post last Saturday for Jamieween. In addition to the video, I thought everyone might enjoy these photos of Burrito doing what he does best at a Halloween party, eating! Volunteer Patti hollowed out small pumpkins and filled them with a lettuce, grape, and clementine salad. It’s always exciting when you get to eat your bowl!
Sometimes a nap under a soft blanket in front of a sunny window is all you need.
The video below shows just some of the highlights of Jamieween (turn up the volume if you want the addition of music to add to the drama).
In addition to the fun adventures in the video, Jamie received not one, not two, not even three, but four pairs of new cowboy boots from her fan club of supporters.
One of Jamie’s top favorite foods is pears, so I decided to hide a whole pear in one of her new boots – sort of both a trick and a treat.
She immediately took that pair of boots, inspected, and nested with them:
She even tried one on:
But, apparently it wasn’t the one with the pear, because the pear was still in the boot when I went into the playroom later that day to spot clean. I was shocked!
It took another couple of hours, but Jamie did finally find her birthday treat.
Thank you to everyone who made this a special day for boss Jamie and us humans who had the privilege of celebrating with her!
We’ve always considered Young’s Hill a work in progress. This was partly out of necessity, because it started as an empty horse pasture and it would have taken a lot of time and money to build everything at once. But it was also in part by design, because life in captivity can be boring, and adding even a few plants or a simple climbing structure to the hill each year keeps things interesting for the chimps.
The structure we built last weekend is a big hit.
Annie:
Foxie:
Jody has been sampling the new bamboo plants, but it seems they are best enjoyed while relaxing in the greenhouse, so each day she breaks off a new cane and hauls it downhill. Yet another reason why we need to keep planting more…
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Jo Arroyo in honor of Dawn Garcia on her birthday! Jo and Dawn are long-time friends and supporters of the chimpanzees and Jo shared this beautiful message about today:
“I want celebrate Dawn on her birthday. Dawn’s heart is full of love for our planet, everyday she points out its beauty. She has the faith in humanity, that sometimes I lack. She is the most positive, happy person I know, she brings love and sunshine into my life. And so do the chimps we dearly love! They are the epitome of strength, courage, forgiveness, adaptability, and remind us to live in the moment! Thank you to the extraordinary individuals and all the donors who step-up everyday to give the chimps the closest thing to freedom!”
Jo, thank you so much for sponsoring this special day for Dawn and the chimpanzees! We are so grateful to you both for holding the chimps in your hearts. And Dawn, all of the primates here at the sanctuary wish you the happiest of days filled with all the beauty, joy and love you bring to life and inspire in others. Happy Birthday!!
I am pretty sure your pal, Burrito, would send some birthday pant-hoots your way!:
