Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee

Kids helping chimpanzees

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Chimpanzees are lucky to have some very dedicated young people who are speaking out on their behalf. Nine year old Brandon Wood recently sent the Cle Elum Seven a care package all the way from Florida. Not just any care package, though – the most colorful care package we’ve ever received!

Box from Brandon

Brandon also recently sent a package to our chimpanzee friends at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute and has been raising money for Save the Chimps. It’s inspiring and uplifting to see such dedication and caring in someone so young. Please visit Brandon’s blog to learn more about him and his work to make the world a better place: http://makeachimpsmile.blogspot.com/ and follow him on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Makeachimpsmile. Thanks, Brandon!

Tool use

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Chimpanzees are famous for their ability to use tools, but some individuals are more skilled than others. We know that human talent is a combination of genetics, early life experience, and practice, and the same is true with chimpanzees, I believe.

Jamie loves using tools. She could spend all day working on a project. I don’t think she’s as interested in the end result as she is in the process. Sometimes, when we are serving food, we accidentally drop a few pieces on the floor outside the enclosure. Jamie will spend the rest of the mealtime working to get those pieces, even though her caregivers are still giving out food.

Burrito, on the other hand, is just not a tool user. He has very limited patience, and he doesn’t seem to get that same flash of insight that spurs chimpanzees like Jamie to go fetch an appropriate tool. This doesn’t necessarily mean he is less intelligent. Most of the time, begging humans for help works just fine. But it does give you an idea why Burrito is not the alpha that he would like to be – Jamie is always one step ahead of him!

Op-ed in Seattle Times

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CSNW’s Executive Director, Sarah Baeckler, along with colleague and friend of the Cle Elum Seven, Debra Durham, just had an op-ed published in the Seattle Times. Please read the guest column, about the Great Ape Protection Act, here. Nice job, Sarah and Debra!

Snake!

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Given their history in captivity, the chimps here at CSNW (unlike their free-living counterparts) have probably never encountered a real snake before, but when this toy snake (see video) went out as part of their enrichment one day, they treated it with a healthy dose of caution.