chimpanzee

Night bags

June 11, 2015 by Elizabeth

Chimpanzees can be loud. When they’re calm, they’re silent, but as soon as there’s any excitement in the group, you’ll hear a chorus of pant hoots or food grunts or screams.

Nothing says excitement at the sanctuary like meal time. In addition to the usual food grunts and food squeaks, you might hear attention-getting sounds like Foxie blowing raspberries, Burrito banging the caging, or Negra clapping her hands imperiously to tell the meal server to kindly hurry up.

But the after-dinner night bags we serve each evening have a way of bringing peace and quiet to the scene. As soon as everyone has their night bag, silence descends, and the only thing you hear is the crunching of the nuts and seeds. This is my favorite time of day.

Come on an adventure with Missy!

June 10, 2015 by Katelyn

The wild greens growing on Young’s Hill are in full bloom, practically covering the chimps’ structures in certain areas. When the chimps decide to go foraging, it’s difficult to even see them in the tall growth.

Jamie and I headed out for a walk around the hill this afternoon, her following the path she’s worn down walking, and me following the path the humans have worn down accompanying her. At the last minute Missy came running out of the greenhouse after us, taking a pit stop in the shade of one of the structures. Missy often likes to wait for us to reach the top of the hill so she can (naturally) run all the way after us.

Once Jamie and I reached the top of the hill, Missy decided to brave the heat and made a mad dash behind us to forage in the largest wild mustard patch:

One can imagine the awe she must feel looking at all that’s available to her:

She was beside herself after collecting her huge feast of wild greens and ran straight to the new climbing structure to enjoy them while taking in the view. I could just make out her food grunts of happiness:

I didn’t notice until writing this, but you can just see Foxie and Mademoiselle Dora (down in the lower right corner) photo-bombing. (Yes, when I arrived this morning I found them happily reunited.) 🙂

Mademoiselle Foxie et Mademoiselle Dora

June 9, 2015 by Katelyn

We never know why Foxie chooses one troll or Dora doll over another. It’s a love only she defines. Of all the Dora dolls she loves, one of her absolute favorites has always been “France Dora.” Her most recent was just gifted to her by very good friends of the chimpanzees (and humans!), Syd and Diane Marcus:

I am not sure if it’s the jaunty beret, the classic attire, or just a certain “je ne sais quoi,” but to say Foxie loves this particular Dora is an understatement. The second she saw us bring her in, her hair stood on end (pilo-erect) in excitement and she play-thumped the ceiling repeatedly as she ran toward us. Foxie often likes us to play chase with her new dolls for a few minutes before giving them to her, but where Mademoiselle Dora is concerned, she often asks for her straight away. Foxie’s routine (as it is with most new “babies”) is to gaze at them in adoration and awe, kiss/groom them with her lips and then rub them on her belly.

And she will carry “France Dora” with her for days. We typically cannot get away with throwing Mademoiselle Dora in with the rest of the enrichment to be cleaned each day (because Foxie doesn’t let go of her). We have to wait for her to play toss the Dora with us and then take the opportunity to give her a quick bath, and get her back to Foxie ASAP. And this often involves Foxie blowing raspberries of discontent at us the entire time, letting us know we better be fast about it. Needless to say, Dora quickly loses her “je ne sais quoi,” but hair askew, cute attire gone, and worse for the wear, Foxie’s love will not wane.

As a side note, who other than Queen Negra also took a fancy to Mademoiselle Dora and arrived at breakfast this morning carrying her! Negra even decided to hold onto Dora for awhile and nest with her, despite Foxie trying every trick in the book to get her back. Mademoiselle Dora is apparently quite popular. We will try to keep you posted as this latest drama unfolds. 🙂

In search of the perfect snack

June 8, 2015 by Keri

Can we all agree that we love snacks? I mean, fresh fruits, vegetables, smoothies and primate chow is usually enough to elicit foot grunts and high pitched food squeaks from the Cle Elum Seven. But, come spring, the chimpanzees tend to head out to Young’s Hill specifically to find wild plants (and bamboo) to snack on.

In the wild, chimpanzees are known to spend between 6 to 8 hours foraging for food each day. The amount of time varies during the seasons, depending on when fruits are ripe and how far apart the food resources are. And although chimps are primarily frugivores (fruit-eaters), they do supplement with leaves, buds, flowers, bark, seeds, roots, insects and occasionally meat. JB’s blog in mid May describes in more detail some of the plants these chimps gather from Young’s Hill, their 2 acre outdoor enclosure.

This morning, Negra made her way out toward the middle of Young’s Hill before sitting down to snack.

Sometimes she is hard to find on the hill; disappearing in the tall grass and bamboo.

She did save one of the plants to bring back to the Greenhouse to enjoy out of the direct sunlight.

Missy ran to the top of the hill to gather her plant snacks to bring back to the Greenhouse.

Annie also harvested a wild plants from Young’s Hill today. This is the one she was after this morning.

Each of the chimps spent time on Young’s Hill today. And each time I saw them come back to the Greenhouse with more plants. It’s wonderful that these chimpanzees have the outdoor space to display some of their natural behaviors, including foraging for wild plants.

Happy Birthday, Karen!

June 8, 2015 by Katelyn

Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Julie Olson, in honor of her sister, Karen Olson, for her birthday! Julie shared this wonderful message about Karen:

“I want to honor my sister Karen Olson on her birthday. Having a day sponsored for the chimps on her birthday was number one on her list of birthday presents! My sister is the biggest animal lover I know and she is the one who told me I had to watch the news story about the chimps arrival 7 years ago. Her devotion to animals is incredible!”

Julie and Karen, we are so touched that you have both followed the chimpanzees since the beginning of their lives in sanctuary and continue to hold them in your hearts. Julie, thank you for sponsoring this day in celebration of your sister! Karen, may your day be filled with love, serenity and all the things you find joy in. Happy Birthday from all of the primates here at CSNW!!

Beautiful Jody, always seems to find joy in her life:

taking care of each other

June 6, 2015 by Diana

Today Annie and Missy spent a good part of the hot afternoon grooming each other in the greenhouse.

Notice in the photo below that Missy is grooming her own arm with a twig while Annie grooms her head. Classic Missy.

Missy had a bit of an injury to her left eye (nothing serious), so Annie was very interested in that, but she took her time working her way around to grooming that spot:

Once she got there, she didn’t hold back:

It turns out that Annie had a bit of an injury on the back of her left year, which I noticed because Missy noticed it. In this photo and in the one above when Annie starts grooming Missy’s eye, both chimpanzees have a relaxed face with slightly parted lips – a sign of concentration.

Though injuries and even old scabs are really interesting, there’s always different areas to check out – here’s Annie removing something that was stuck to the hair on Missy’s arm: