Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee

Let it Snow (just this one time, then we’re ready for spring)

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We haven’t really had much snow here in Central Washington this winter. This is sort of a mixed blessing for the chimps. On the one hand, the lack of snow allows them to spend more time outside during the winter, which is great. But on the other hand, snow to a chimpanzee is like an endless supply of food falling magically from the sky. And who wouldn’t want that?

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Today we had the best of both worlds. We woke up to some fresh snow, which kept the chimps thoroughly enriched all morning. By afternoon, the snow was gone, and the chimps were back on the hill getting their exercise.

So that was fun. Now we’re ready for spring.

Bridge construction

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In our 2014 year-end letter, Diana mentioned that Jamie had taken it upon herself to begin demolition on the bridge in the playroom between the loft and the catwalk. Though we ordered materials for a more long-lasting bridge right away, there was a hang up with the shipping and we finally got the materials just last week! JB began the new bridge construction today:

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This project proved to be pretty enriching—the chimps have been watching JB’s work from the front rooms:

Jamie:
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Jamie and Foxie:
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Jody:
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Elizabeth and I helped JB figure out just how to get the panels up to the second floor (it was more challenging than it seemed at first!) and we managed to get half of the bridge done today. The chimps were super curious about the new set-up, and spent some time inspecting. Missy displayed a little bit on top of it, stomping and testing the sturdiness. I think it passed her test!

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Soon, the bridge will be complete! Here’s what we have to look forward to (Jamie taking a nap on the old bridge, before she tore it apart)
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Jamie’s mood

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Just like all emotional beings, Jamie’s mood fluctuates. We don’t always know if we’re going to be greeted in the morning by Happy Jamie or Somewhat Cranky Jamie. Lately she’s had far more of the former than the latter, which is a huge plus for all the primates at CSNW.

If Jamie wakes up on the wrong side of the nest, her crankiness can translate into intolerance for things like dropping food (which we do a lot—especially me, who wins the Clumsiest Caregiver award every year), or playing troll toss too loudly with Foxie, or standing closer to the fencing than Jamie would like. And sometimes, it’s for what seems like no reason at all.

One thing that Somewhat Cranky Jamie doesn’t always like is when we try to take photos or videos of her, especially if she’s working on a project. But she’s been very tolerant of such activities recently, and even let me take this very up close photo of her today:

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I usually thank her for letting me take her photo, and to show my appreciation, I turn the camera around so she can see what I captured. She likes to look at photos, so we will scroll through what is on the card until she turns away to find something else to do.

Today, Happy Jamie spent the afternoon getting groomed by caregiver-in-training Whitney, and played a brief game of tug-o-war and chase. Even though Jamie is very human-oriented, she doesn’t always roughhouse with her caregivers, so it’s a real treat when she allows us to play games like that with her. She also spent some quiet time grooming caregiver Lizz for awhile, and has already been on three walks, despite the drizzly overcast skies.

We love days like today… a Happy Jamie means a good day for everyone.

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Close-ups

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It’s not often that I take non-blurry, close-up pictures of each of the chimps. There are number of reasons for this, one being operator error. Second, third and fourth reasons are that the chimps are often moving, just out of sight of the camera, or would rather not have their picture taken. So, when the close-up photos actually turn out, I cannot stop looking at them.

Sometimes pictures just convey so much more than words ever can about the beauty, serenity or nature of each of the chimpanzees. These are some of my favorite close-ups of each of the chimps from the past few weeks.

Jamie
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Burrito
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Jody
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Negra
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Foxie
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Missy
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Annie
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Jamie’s precision enrichment project

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As many of you know, Jamie loves projects. She appreciates a challenge, and seeks out opportunities for doing things “the hard way.” It’s really the opposite of most people’s instincts, because laziness is almost a default—we ask ourselves to find the quickest way to do things which require the least amount of exertion. Conserving energy might be the ultimate cause for this instinct, but in any case, it’s how most animals (humans included) operate. Jamie, however, has other things in mind. She wants to challenge herself.

Lately, when I serve breakfast, I have a little routine with Jamie. I give her a cup which she pins against the fencing, and then I place her servings in the bowl. So as I hand fruit pieces to the mouths or hands of the other chimps, I put Jamie’s in her bowl and she spends time fishing the piece out of the bowl. Once she gets the slice, she sort of leans the bowl my direction so I can refill it. Doing things the hard way tend to just make her happy. It’s awful to imagine the trauma she must have experienced from boredom in her previous life in biomedical research.

We can’t ever make up for what she must have gone through, but we try to give her as many challenges and projects as we can to keep her happy. Sometimes her projects come from surprising places—like today, I caught her playing with this enrichment toy for quite awhile. The small poles could be pushed through the holes in the wood center, and she would do just that and then flip it over and start again. The thing I found interesting was her technique—rather than just using her fingers to push the poles, she used another pole as a tool. You can see in the video just how precise she was with each push.

After taking some video of this activity I showed it to Jamie, who was interested in watching herself for a brief moment before returning to her project (watch until the very end to see that bit).

Go Hawks!

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Today is Blue Friday, which around the Seattle area means that fans shows their support for the Seahawks by wearing their favorite blue and green Seahawks gear. Since the team will be playing in their first playoff game tomorrow night, we thought we’d join in the spirit and throw a Blue Friday party for the chimps! We had broccoli and grapes for a forage, as well as tea in blue and green champagne flutes, and watered down blue gatorade in Seahawks cups.

The party set-up:

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The blue drinks were a bit hit! Everyone had a taste.

Jamie:
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Annie:
Annie

Burrito:
Burrito

Burrito

Jody:
Jody

Negra:
Negra

Missy:
Missy

Jamie loved the table we setup with the forage and the decorations:

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Jamie eat broccoli

Jamie Seahawks football

We’re glad we were able to throw a fun party for the chimps in the spirit of camaraderie of the pacific northwest fans. Running a sanctuary is all about teamwork, and we are lucky to have some really great fans of our own!

Jamie