Today all three groups got food puzzles as daytime enrichment. The puzzles were Kongs filled with oats and mashed bananas and they were a hit to say the least.
Annie
Cy
Rayne
Willy B
BONUS: Mave looking good and relaxed in the green house
chimpanzee
Dora and The Multipurpose Box
We all know that Gordo has an affinity for his boxes. He loves to sit in them, use them as a table, even last night as I served him dinner, I watched him carefully put every slice of food delicately into his box.
Yesterday, we put in a new type of box into Gordo’s group’s enclosures. It is a wider, flatter box, which we thought Gordo would love. Much to our surprised, we haven’t seen him utilize it and keep to his usual. Rayne and Terry have taken turns sitting or nesting in it.
Dora, however, has found this box to suite all her needs.
First, it was the perfect place to lounge around.
It also made a great area to eat dinner.
As well to enjoy her evening enrichment: ice eggs.
When I arrived this morning, she had converted her box into a fort with the simple addition of another box.
Update:
I just walked back there and Cy has decided this would make his perfect reading nook.
Studio Logs
Taking portraits of chimpanzees isn’t easy, but knowing how they move around their home makes it a lot easier to catch them at the right moments.
In the past, we’ve described Front Room 4 as “The Portrait Studio.” This small indoor enclosure has three pneumatic doors that allow the chimps to move freely between their greenhouse, playroom, and other front rooms. The area is notably furnished with a couple of wall-mounted platforms, the lower of which provides the perfect bench for curious chimpanzees to look out the window or down the caregiver hallway. When a chimp is sitting in that precise location, the diffuse natural light from the window illuminates their face while softening the background with an effortless vignette. In short, the lighting is ideal for easy portraits.
If you want to see some content from the studio, I recommend checking out these posts featuring the chimps who reside in that wing of the Chimp House: Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra.
Last week, I encountered Jamie sitting serenely in the studio before breakfast. She was holding the crumpled remains of a hardcover book.
I saw Burrito sitting in the same spot later that morning. Instead of literature, however, Bubba was wielding a broken enrichment puzzle and showing it off like a trophy.
We caregivers have been searching for new ways to photograph and record video of the chimps in the new wing of the building, too. Although there isn’t an exact replica of the Front Room 4 studio on that side, we’ve discovered that the new greenhouse enclosures provide some unique perspectives. When an individual is perched on one of the closer logs, for example, they’re at the perfect height and distance for mid-range portraits. Gordo graciously modeled for the camera in this exact location yesterday afternoon.
We have Gary of Sage Mechanical to thank for these natural enrichment structures. The Sage crew ferried these heavy tree trunks all the way from Gary’s coastal property to the sanctuary with the new greenhouses in mind. They have asked us for pictures and video of the chimps utilizing the logs as bridges; I hope they’re proud to see that the logs are an integral part of our newest photo booth, too.
In case you missed them when they were originally posted, here are some other staff photos of the chimps sitting on the studio logs.
Just a Hint of Spring
Spring is coming and the chimpanzees were feeling it today.
Jody:
Burrito & Missy:
Lunchtime
The sights and sounds of lunchtime.
Friday Eve
Today was a very low-key day at the chimp house where everyone seemed to be very much OK with doing their thing, even if it was absolutely nothing.
Missy on the top platform of the green house
Missy grooming a resting Jody
Burrito, wooden toy in hand and wearing a slinky as a sock
Cy and his version of random patty cake through the glass
Rayne with her favorite enrichment: Raisin Boards!!
Terry winding up for a display
A Willy B thread
Lucky Calls the Shots
It is important to be flexible during the introduction process. For example, it has been a while since Cy and Willy B had some one on one time with each other. They have been dying to get some alone time together, but it isn’t always up to the shifting person. Some days you get a Gordo who just waltz into a room, not quite realizing what he might have signed himself up for, but I mean it’s Gordo so you have take the opportunity! Or like today you get a Lucky who simply won’t leave the front rooms. My goal as lead today was to get a “bro date” set up for them. I had it almost all set up, Willy B was alone in the Mezzanine, but I need to get Cy alone in the front rooms. Atlas, with all my best efforts I did not win the shifting battle! There is nothing wrong with Lucky not leaving, it just means a change in plans. So we went up to the Mezzanine to see if anyone would join Willy B for a quad! Honey B politely obliged! We have done this quad before, but it is important to build strong relationships, so repeats of the same intros are just fine! Make sure your volume is on for the video. There is a lot of grooming noises or what we like to call “teeth clacking”!
