Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee

Sunflowers

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It’s that time of year again! It’s been a pretty cloudy, raining day here at the sanctuary, so I gave the chimps a little something from the garden to brighten up the day. The chimps really seem to enjoy picking all the petals off and then munching on the seeds. Burrito and Foxie weren’t too into it, but everyone else was pretty excited. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of Jody because she quickly took hers inside to munch on in her nest- smart woman!

Jamie:

Missy:

Negra under her blanket:

Annie:

A Little Bit of Burrito in Your Life

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I was looking through some photos from last month and came across two of Burrito that I had to share

burrito biting log

 

 

Look closely at the one below – he’s hugging a coconut.

burrito hugging coconut

 

Burrito is featured on this year’s special label wine – only available at the 2011 Out of the Box auction in Seattle! Get your tickets quick!

Laughing

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As many of our regular blog readers know, Annie is coming out of her shell more and more. We’ve seen her become more confident and play with chimps other than Missy. Foxie seems to be someone she likes to play with, and the other day I caught them in an intense wrestling match. Their laughter was amazing! It really makes me smile so much when I think about how much Annie and the other chimps have all changed since their arrival to the sanctuary over 3 years ago. I can’t wait to see what other changes we might see in the chimps’ personalities after Young’s Hill opens!

Speaking of the ever-changing chimps, in this clip, you’ll see Annie and Foxie playing with Foxie’s new doll that I mentioned on her Facebook page. This is not a troll doll, and although it resembles a troll, it’s still great to see her expanding her usual very narrow focus on “enrichment objects worth interacting with.” As seen in this blog from just a few days ago, Foxie is well on her way to making nests with blankets! Like I said above, it’s amazing to see how the chimps have all changed and keep on changing.

 

 

Raisin Boards

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Raisin boards are blocks of wood with holes drilled in them that we put raisins or other dried fruit into and the chimps have to use tools or find other creative ways to get the food out. We have implemented an evening “enhanced enrichment” program, in which we present the chimpanzees with a puzzles or some other type of challenge at the end of the day to help keep them from getting bored. Tonight’s raisin boards had a peanut butter/banana paste in them, which the chimps really loved. Here’s Missy’s strategy.

She alternated between using her hand made tool

and just sucking the peanut butter out (which had solidified some in the fridge)

Whatever works, right?

Seriously Playful

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In contrast to the Negra-style play mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, when Foxie and Jamie play, they are completely uninhibited and just down right goofy. I could watch them (and laugh with them) being silly all day long.

Negra’s style of play

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Negra plays slower and less frequent than the other chimps. Missy and Foxie are very playful and active, but they slow down to Negra’s speed when she decides to engage in play with them.