Burrito often bites on something when he’s feeling playful. Here he’s doing his best to charm me into playing with him while I’m trying to take photos.
chimpanzee
For Linda Rivera
Pamela Miller sponsored today for her sister Linda. Pam says that Linda has a newfound interest in animal welfare, and we can’t think of any better ambassadors for the cause than the Cle Elum Seven. Welcome aboard, Linda!
Nesting in the Cabin!
We are having another spring-like day at the sanctuary today. I can’t tell you how great it feels! I just got back from playing a very exhausting game of chase with Jamie. She wanted me to chase her while I was holding a very specific pair of boots that her friend Wanda T. sent her recently. While I was being run around the outside of the fence by Jamie and then Missy, J.B. was taking some photos. And, guess what? Annie was making the first nest we’ve seen anyone make in Negra’s cabin!
Annie was repeatedly distracted by Missy, who kept coming by and inviting Annie to chase and wrestle, but J.B. said Annie went back a few times to work on her nest.
Today is just the kind of day that is perfect for Negra’s Cabin. With the lexan walls blocking the wind and maximizing the warmth of the sun, it’s the coziest spot on the hill. We definitely still have some winter ahead of us, but the first nest in the cabin is a hopeful sign of spring days to come!
Speaking of the cabin – the sign is almost done and will be installed soon! The sign has all of the names of those who donated towards our 4th Anniversary Fundraising, helping to exceed our goal amount so we could spend a little of that raised to build Negra’s cabin. Thank you to everyone who contributed to that fundraising campaign. It’s probably one of the most unique cabins ever built, and we can’t wait to see the chimps, maybe even Negra, spending time out there soaking up the sun. It’s truly amazing what we’ve been able to give the chimpanzees since their arrival, and it’s all because of you.
Here are some sneak peak photos of the sign:
At last…
This has been a long, snowy couple of months. But at last, the sun is out and the snow is gone…at least for now. The chimps have been celebrating this week by running, spinning, leaping, and climbing all over Young’s Hill.
OK, not everyone ran. Jody walked. But it was a brisk walk.
Foxie brought along a troll. Dora had to wait inside.
Burrito was all over the place, which is still so exciting to see. He soaked in some sun in Negra’s Cabin.
And climbed from platform to platform.
Negra even spent some time outside in the sun this morning but you’ll have to take my word for it. We don’t often get photos of Negra when she’s out because she doesn’t seem to tolerate the paparazzi the way the others do.
Missy and Annie chased each other over every inch of the hill, smiling the entire time.
I don’t know why Jamie doesn’t engage in this kind of rambunctious play outside. For whatever reason, she prefers to have the staff and volunteers chase her around the hill when she wants to blow off some steam. Volunteer Seana was happy to oblige, but she ended up with more a workout than she was expecting. Jamie first chased her clockwise around the 2-acre enclosure.
Then when they got back to the bottom, Jamie turned around and ran the whole thing in reverse. This pattern continued until Seana and Jamie were exhausted.
Food service
At CSNW, we follow the philosophy that the chimpanzees are in captivity not by choice, and we see it as our duty to let them live their lives out in the best possible way. Essentially, we see ourselves as servants. We clean their enclosures, we serve them their meals, and we play games that cater to what they like best. For instance, I heard Sarah had a box with trolls in it on her head the other day. Anything to make Foxie laugh! And last week, I heard that JB wore some cowgirl boots for Jamie.
On Monday I posted a photo of Jackie serving dinner to the chimps on our Facebook page. It made me realize that we don’t really post about their normal food service—when we post about food it is typically because of a big fun forage. Forages are more similar to how chimps would find food if they were in Africa, but we don’t do a forage for every meal mainly because we want to make sure everyone is getting enough food. Since they aren’t in the wild and aren’t able to continually forage, they depend completely on us to make sure they get their yummy fruits and veggies. Sometimes we make a prepared cooked dish, like oatmeal, rice, or pancakes. They love prepared meals but they are perfectly happy with just fresh produce which is the healthiest option anyway, so that is usually what they get.
For breakfast, we serve a fruit smoothie with ingredients that change daily but always include protein powder. We cut up a couple different fruits and also have a bowl full of nuts as an appetizer. They also get multi-vitamins, probiotics, and fiber at breakfast. Lunch is fresh veggies—usually about 3 or 4 veggies each. Dinner is either a prepared meal accompanied by a fruit and/or veggie, or more often just fresh produce. I like to do a mix of fruit and veggies at dinner, but it doesn’t really matter too much. We cut all the produce into pieces that fit nicely through the caging, and the chimps usually take the pieces to their hands or straight to their mouth. Smoothie and other drinks are served by pouring from a cup straight to their mouth. (This video shows a little bit of the breakfast routine.)
Below are some pictures of dinner tonight.
Negra getting pear to her mouth:
Annie getting pear to her hand:
Jamie getting orange to her mouth:
Missy getting onion to her hand:
Jamie getting banana to her mouth (and Missy enjoying hers in the background):
Foxie getting onion to her mouth:
A Big Day for Meg Lunnum
Today is Meg Lunnum’s birthday and her last day of work before retirement, and she has sponsored the day to celebrate. What a cause for celebration! Meg supports Negra through the Chimpanzee Pal program. We’ll make sure Negra gets lots of peanuts and lettuce (her favorites!) today in your honor, Meg.
Happy birthday and congratulations!
Jamie and her barrel
One of my favorite stories from Jane Goodall’s book In the Shadow of Man was the story of Mike.
Mike was a small, low-ranking male who was continually threatened and attacked by higher ranking chimpanzees until the day he discovered a pair of empty kerosene cans at the research camp. By banging the cans together, Mike’s displays made a sound that none of the other chimpanzees had heard before. Imagine hearing the clashing and booming of metal on metal, when even the toughest chimpanzees were stuck shaking branches and throwing rocks. Mike may not have had the size and strength of Goliath or David Graybeard but he was clever – clever enough to rise to alpha male and remain there for six years after his first kerosene can display.
I see a lot of Mike in Jamie. While Jamie is by no means small, she clearly knows how to use objects in her displays to her advantage. While Burrito runs around clapping his hands, Jamie shows him how it’s done.
