Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Cle Elum 7

Guy Time

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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest tends to be female-heavy (as do most animal care professions). Of the seven chimpanzees who live here, only one is male. Of our six-person staff, only one is male. Out of our 36 current chimp house volunteers, seven are male. Out of the 10 volunteers who are trained to play and interact with the chimpanzees, two are male.

Burrito is a friendly and inclusive guy, and when it comes to human play partners, he does not discriminate. That said, he does seem to feel a little outnumbered from time to time. It’s a special treat when one of his guy friends is up for some man time.

Never Assume

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When training new volunteers and staff, learning to identify the chimps is very important. The chimps all have distinguishing features about them. Staff will try to give helpful pointers to help figure out who is who. For example, Foxie has what looks like a bow tie on her swelling, some chimps have defined brow ridges like Jody, and Missy is petite and has a short neck. Some have freckles, permanently crazy bed hair, different body types, and others have scars or pieces of ears or toes missing. There is also the way that they carry themselves. Jamie often walks with confidence and always looks like she is 3 steps ahead of you. You can often find certain chimps in a particular area that they like or holding specific enrichment they are fond of. For example, Negra loves to make a nest on the second floor in the corner of the playroom. However, this is where it gets tricky and why we tell staff and volunteers to judge only by physical characteristics and not by what we know they like or where “their spot” is. I have also seen little Miss nesting in the same spot as Negra! Jamie loves boots and Foxie always has a doll with her, but they like to throw us curve balls! I often find someone else holding a doll like Jamie or even today I spotted Negra holding a troll doll and putting it in her pelvic pocket. We train our staff and volunteers to take their time identifying the chimps, get to know the chimps, and especially their physical characteristics!

Negra: Holding a troll doll

What’s in a Kiss?

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You may have seen the video we posted the other day of Foxie giving kisses to some of the other chimpanzees to reassure them after a brief conflict broke out during her birthday party.

If you’re a chimp, a kiss can say a few different things: “Everything’s okay. Please calm down.” Or “I’m feeling a little nervous.” Or “Isn’t this exciting?!”

Today we set out a lunch forage on Young’s Hill. Jody and Missy both have the same foraging strategy. They make one big sweep of the area, gather as much food as they can carry, and then head back into the greenhouse to sit down and enjoy it. Missy was on her way to the greenhouse, trying not to spill any of her spoils, when Jody met up with her, also heading to the greenhouse. They stopped briefly for a kiss and breathy pant, which in this case was part: “This is great! I can’t wait to eat this food!” and part: “I have food. You have food. Everything’s okay.”

Thus reassured, they completed the trek to the greenhouse where they ate in peace.

Sundays are Important

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Sundays are important for catching up on sleep, chores, and just plain old relaxation. Jamie and Burrito took full advantage of resting while the playroom was being cleaned. Napping was a good idea because today was a busy day with a summer visit and a forage on the hill.

Jamie made a huge nest with blankets and at least 4 boots:

Burrito napped on a platform and used a very comfortable blanket to rest his head:

After Jamie left, Burrito thought the sandbox looked comfortable to take a nap in:

Or play, because we all know he can’t resist a good game:

Building Patience one Tomato at a Time

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If you did not already know this about Missy, she LOVES tomatoes. Currently in our garden we have tomatoes and cherry tomatoes growing. The garden is a type of enrichment for the chimps. It is fun to have the excitement build while they wait for some of their favorite foods to grow! This morning Jamie and Missy reminded Caregiver Katelyn and I that they were out there! Missy stuck around a little longer to see if they were ripe yet. Unfortunately, they are not ready to be consumed. But… I did fine tomatoes in the fridge, which everyone got to enjoy for lunch!

Missy looking out into the garden:

Missy

Missy staring back, waiting for us to find the ripened ones:

Missy continuing to look for tomatoes:

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Pea tendrils

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It’s that time of year again! The snap peas were nearing the end of their season in the chimpanzees’ garden, so this morning we pulled up the vines and gave the entire plants to the chimpanzees for browse. The chimps like to suck all of the juices out of the tougher vegetation and spit out the fibrous parts. I’m expecting to find a great deal of wadged pea tendrils when we clean tomorrow.

Negra:

Missy collected armloads of vines:

Annie:

Jody:

Burrito: