Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
This morning, Foxie played a little game on the hill in which she put Dora on top of one of the beams of the climbing structures and played like she was going to push her off. But, Dora was safe in Foxie’s hands, as she always had another hand below to catch her if she fell.
The kind folks at Seattle-based Chocolate Shoebox are high on Jamie’s list these days. They recently donated several pairs of new boots via a donation drive put on by the Seattle Animal Defense League. After having them modeled for her by her caregivers, she was eager to inspect them closely and take them for a test drive.
Thanks to Chocolate Shoebox and Seattle Animal Defense League!
Foxie is excellent at distracting people from what they are doing. She chooses the moment we’re getting ready to lock up the chimp area at night to drop her troll doll outside of the caging and then beg for us to give it back to her. And then, she just can’t seem to catch it when we toss it back to her (even though she is a fantastic catcher). Today, she was all about distracting both me (from cleaning) and Jamie (from nesting).
When Foxie arrived at CSNW almost 4 years ago, she wanted nothing to do with toys and especially blankets. While in the lab, the chimps weren’t given much, if any enrichment so it would make sense that after 30 years of living in barren cages, a toy or a blanket would seem a bit foreign to her. When we discovered her love of troll dolls, her distaste for other toys faded some, but she would still toss aside a blanket that was in her way and preferred to sleep on the concrete floor. It’s only been in the last year that we have witnessed her making rudimentary signs of nesting behavior with blankets. I haven’t seen her nest too much lately, but last night, after locking up the chimp area, Elizabeth and I were on our way out the door when we happened to look up and see Foxie laying in the loft playing and nesting with a small blanket. Perhaps she’s a closet nester?
Here’s some really sweet photos of Foxie and Negra grooming in the warm greenhouse yesterday. I especially like the one where Foxie is poking Negra’s ear!
Jody is at least 37 years old (we believe she was captured in Africa, so she’s possibly older than that) and she is best known for her elaborate nests, yoga poses, and just her overall proficient ability to relax. But, Young’s Hill brings about a different side to Jody. She’s much more active and even playful when she’s out there. Chimpanzees in Africa spend about 60% of their day traveling. We obviously can never replace the forests of Africa with a 2-acre enclosure, but it’s really nice to see the amount of exercise the chimps are getting out there! With a workout plan like this one, I can’t wait to see how skinny Jody will be by the end of summer!
Negra’s not a big fan of the cold, so she hasn’t been spending time on the hill. Even the greenhouse is a bit too cold for her these days. Her favorite spot is lounging in the warm playroom in front of the windows, so today was Negra’s kind of day. Missy stayed in the playroom during breakfast (so we couldn’t clean there until later) so after she ate, Negra got to go right back to lounging in the sunny playroom in her bed.
