Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Cle Elum 7

The Chimps Take Manhattan!

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As most of us have mentioned this week, providing the chimpanzees (especially Jamie!) with an enriching and stimulating environment can be challenging. Thanks to Donna and Doreen’s sponsorship of today, we decided to use the theme of the “Big Apple.” It’s always fun to see how each of the chimpanzees choose to engage with new enrichment. Debbie and volunteer Deb spent a lot of time constructing a cardboard box version of the New York City skyline and we even made a Dora of Liberty statue on “Ellis Island” (aka the turtle wading pool). After scattering dried apples still warm from the dehydrator (courtesy of volunteer, Patty) about like confetti for the chimps’ forage in Times Square, the scene was set. Mind you, it’s sometimes difficult to say whether the chimpanzees or the humans are more enriched by these endeavors.

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Foxie “hearts” NY:

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Jody and Annie checking out the Dora of Liberty statue:

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As you can imagine, the chimps not only took Manhattan, but quickly toppled it. Here’s Jamie inspecting the ruins:

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And Jody found “Ellis Island” to be the perfect nesting spot (after getting that pesky Dora of Liberty out of the way):

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Donna and Doreen, thanks again for sponsoring the day in honor of Foxie’s birthday month and your anniversary in the Big Apple!

And tomorrow is the last day to vote for your favorite chimpanzee artist! Get your votes in now and help make a real difference for the winning chimpanzee and their sanctuary family and home!

 

A blog retrospective of Jamie

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People often ask me who my favorite chimpanzee is. I don’t really like trying to pick one—and to be honest, I can’t. Each of the Cle Elum Seven are unique and awesome in their own way and I love them all. But I would say that I have the best relationship with Jamie. Sometimes, there are just different people that you “click” with a little more than others.

So, I wouldn’t want to say that Jamie is my favorite, but I definitely find that we spend more time together. Perhaps this is because Jamie is more human-oriented than the other chimps, and so we end up liking the same things. We also happen to share a birthday, which I think is pretty cool.

She likes to check out all of the caregivers’ shoes and boots, and we are more than happy to oblige. She loves to write and draw and use tools. I was thinking today about all the interesting and awesome things Jamie does on a day-to-day basis and what we have featured on our blog over the years, so I decided to compile a “best of” list.

As Katelyn described yesterday, Jamie occasionally likes to wear scarves or other clothing accessories. I love this blog post from awhile ago called “How to ruin a perfectly good scarf.” Fashion is important to Jamie, but sometimes playing can take precedence.

Speaking of playing, Foxie and Jamie are pretty great friends. Foxie is a total goof! Here’s a video from awhile ago of the two of them wrestling in a giant box:

I like this post from just a few months after the chimps arrived. We were still learning about all their personalities, and this captures Jamie’s fairly well.

Jamie also really likes to help us clean up. She will sometimes sit and watch us clean, as if she’s evaluating our work. As the Boss of the sanctuary, I suppose that is her job!

She’s also really good about testing out new things and making sure we’ve done things up to her standards. You could say she’s in charge of the quality control department at CSNW. She loves to also take new things apart using tools!

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Probably one of the highlights of our day is when Jamie asks to go on a walk around the hill. This is the post where J.B. explains how we came to realize this is also Jamie’s highlight of the day!

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I also really love remembering the day we gave a ukulele to Jamie. She was thrilled! She treated it just like any of her other projects—investigate every possible piece of it!

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It is sometimes hard to describe Jamie, and maybe that just speaks to her uniqueness. I love this blog where Diana explains that Jamie is, well, a complicated chimpanzee.

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jamie on the rock

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Finally, as we all know, Jamie is an artist. Here’s some retrospective posts on a few of her artistic endeavors:

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Jamie’s an artist! (June 21, 2008)

Jamie’s paintings (August 20, 2008)

Scribbling (September 9, 2008)

Jamie’s dexterity (April 1, 2009)

Jamie, the artiste (November 10, 2010)

Art (August 24, 2011)

Jamie’s letter to you (March 22, 2012)

Jamie’s artistic side (January 11, 2013)

Lend your vote to support Jamie’s wonderful mixed-media art in the HSUS Art Contest going on now until Thursday. You are permitted to vote once per day, so please keep voting for Jamie!

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Jamie’s creative expression

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Like most artists, Jamie chooses to express her creative mind in a variety of ways. Jamie spent the first nine years of her life living with a human as a “pet” and being used in the entertainment industry. While we know virtually nothing about this time in Jamie’s life, she often chooses to engage in human oriented activities, most likely as a result of her unnatural childhood. For example, today Jamie chose to arrive for lunch wearing a red bandana tied around her neck (which she untied and re-adjusted half way through her meal). While we certainly do not advocate for chimpanzees being dressed in clothing, here at CSNW we do try to offer a variety of enrichment (including clothing) to accommodate their individuals interests. If the chimpanzees want to wear things, tear them up, play tug-o-war, make a nest with them, or ignore them, it’s their choice. Choice being the key word here. We recognize that each of the chimpanzees have unnatural histories which have influenced their individual interests and that plays a key role in developing individualized enrichment to keep their intelligent minds active.

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Notice the perfect knot Jamie incorporated into her bandana!

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Jamie chooses to wear clothing less and less since arriving at the sanctuary. While we want Jamie and her family to be able to engage in whatever interests them, it also thrills us to see their unique “chimpanzee-ness” coming out more and more. For Jamie, that sometimes still means wearing a bandana to lunch, patrolling the perimeter of Young’s Hill with her cowgirl boot, and occasionally drawing and painting when there is no “business” to take care of as Boss of the sanctuary. And that’s what sanctuary is all about, choices and the ability to express one’s self as one wants. And the art of expressing herself as she wants is something Jamie is a true artist at.

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If you haven’t cast your vote for Jamie’s artwork yet in the Humane Society’s chimpanzee-only art contest, please do so now! It’s a wonderful way to help our artist-in-residence and her chimpanzee family!

Engaging the mind, body, and spirit

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One of the most challenging and rewarding responsibilities of care-giving for chimpanzees in captivity is, I think, coming up with activities and enrichment ideas that are engaging and satisfactory for the chimpanzee mind. Keeping them busy is a full-time job (just ask enrichment coordinator and caregiver, Debbie). Luckily we don’t have to come up with ideas in the dark. Each chimpanzee has individual inclinations about how to spend their days in sanctuary and, as I come to know them better, I can accommodate those preferences more easily.

As you may be aware by now, Jamie does like to create art. But Jamie’s not just an artist. Her mind is so active that she comes up with a myriad of ways to entertain herself. In particular, Jamie is often actively engaged in her environment. She will take the time to inspect any and every new or unusual thing in and around her home. If there is something different at the sanctuary, Jamie will know and make sure it’s been thoroughly investigated and properly dealt with (if necessary). There is a lot of work that goes into being the boss! Good thing she gets the time to relax and create art in between all her other responsibilities.

If you’d like a quick and easy way to help enrich the chimpanzees make sure you’ve voted for Jamie’s artwork in the chimpanzee-only art contest sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.

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In the meantime, check Jamie out as she checks out the world around her.

Jamie & Missy spying on the neighbors (as previously seen on our Facebook page):
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Jamie inspects the camera mount on Young’s Hill:
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Jamie inspects the donors’ sign on Negra’s cabin:
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Jamie checks the grass on Young’s Hill:
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Simple pleasures

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To Burrito, sanctuary means food. If he had his way, I believe he would eat 24 hours a day. In the five or so years since the chimps arrived at CSNW, they’ve had approximately 5,650 meals, and today’s meals are no less exciting to Burrito than those we served on Day 1.

He particularly enjoyed the golden beets caregiver Lisa served with lunch today.

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15 minutes of paint

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Thank you again to Lindsay Zager’s parents who sponsored today in honor of her birthday. Jamie really got into the spirit of things by spending some time making the artwork we provided today her own.

We painted a mountain-scape on the window between the greenhouse and the playroom and, as soon she was able to, Jamie inspected our work.

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She also made some personal edits.

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And, here is my nod to Lindsay’s day, an Andy Warhol-esqe version of Jamie and the artwork. Happy Birthday, Lindsay!!

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Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

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Today was sponsored in honor of Lindsay Zager by her parents who shared the following sentiments:

“This is in honor of our beautiful daughter, Lindsay’s, birthday! Lindsay’s passion for chimpanzees has motivated and inspired many to learn and know and LOVE the world of these amazing primates. We thank you and love you sweet girl! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Thank you so much to the Zager family for caring about the chimpanzees and including them in your special day. Have a wonderful day, Lindsay!

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