Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Footage filmed a few weeks ago at the sanctuary about a story focused on the Great Ape Protection Act will air on Seattle’s KONG 6 tonight at 10pm and KING 5 tonight at 11pm. Tune in! We hear the teasers for the story were shown on the stations this morning.
*Note – I messed up! The program is airing on KING 5 and it’s affiliate station, KONG 6/16 in Seattle. Originally, I posted it was airing on KOMO 4, also a great station, but not affiliated with KING 5. Sorry!
Recently, I saw a video from a study of chimpanzee cognition in which chimps were presented with a peanut inside a clear tube that was mounted to the outside of their enclosure. Within a short amount of time, the chimp began filling the tube with water so that the nut would float to the top. Genius! So, yesterday I decided to see how these guys would handle the problem and zip-tied a couple of nut-filled bottles to the outside of the caging. Clearly, my method of attaching the bottles wasn’t quite as elaborate as the one used in the study, since the chimps could just turn them over, but it did keep them busy and entertained for quite some time!
This week at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, the recently formed student group called PAN (Primate Awareness Network) is hosting Primate Awareness Week. They have a variety of speakers from the primate community speaking about issues in conservation and captivity, including CSNW’s own Sarah Baeckler and JB Mulcahy. Sarah will be discussing her experiences working undercover at a Hollywood entertainment training facility and JB will tell the story of the Cle Elum Seven. If you are in the area, you should check it out!
When Foxie first came to the sanctuary, she was pretty shy. It was clear she did not want any of the toys, blankets and other objects that we gave the chimpanzees every day. Then, she adopted a troll doll, which we named Trixie.
That’s when the troll soap opera began. At first, Foxie was very protective of her dolls and did not want anyone else to touch them. She’s come a long way.
In the video below, she is teasing Jamie with a game of keep-away. Foxie still has her limits, though, when it comes to her prized possessions. And perhaps Jamie has softened up a bit when it comes to Foxie and her dolls.
It’s a longer video than normal, but it will make a bad day good and a good day better, so take a break for a few minutes and watch it.
Last Saturday, while playing with Missy, Annie put a bright pink fleece head warmer around her neck and wore it like that for 2 days. On Monday, her “neck warmer” became a “waist warmer”. It is now day 5 of waist warming! Pretty fashion-forward!
We have so many supporters that have been sending us so many wonderful things for the chimps. Among this long list of individuals are Diane and Syd Marcus. They have sent us countless gifts over the last 2 years, and last week, they sent a huge box of personalized presents for each of the chimps, including an amazing pair of (vegan!) cowgirl boots for Jamie, a beaded necklace for Burrito, a scarf for Annie, a troll doll for Foxie, a new pair of socks for Missy, nuts for Negra, and cereal for Jody. The chimps definitely knew something was up! Jamie, as always, was beside herself when she spotted the boots and Foxie dropped all 5 trolls that she had with her in exchange for her brand new troll, who she promptly took outside for some private time. It was a good day… Thanks so much, Diane and Syd!
