Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Cle Elum Seven

Snacking on Bamboo

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Caregiver Katelyn walked around Young’s Hill with Jamie and Burrito this afternoon, when her and the chimpanzees stopped to look toward the loud cracking sound made further down the hill. Katelyn soon spotted Missy breaking off a branch of bamboo and running back toward the Greenhouse with it in her mouth. Once inside, she broke off a small piece, put it in her mouth and dropped the rest of the branch on the deck. Then she ran inside to the Front Room area. As she ran inside, her dear friend Annie quickly climbed down from the top platform and snatched the bamboo. She brought it back up to the top of the platform and quickly began munching on the leaves. Missy, in the meantime, came running out from the Front Room area without her bamboo. She was able to grab a few small pieces of the original branch that had fallen off and climbed to the top of the platform to join Annie in feasting on the treat.

The area of Young’s Hill where Missy harvested bamboo.
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Annie with the bamboo that Missy brought in from Young’s Hill.
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Missy with her pieces of bamboo after she ran back out to the Greenhouse from the Front Rooms.
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What is the best way to eat bamboo? With your best friend, of course!

To Each Her Own

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Missy and Negra are good friends, but they are opposites in a lot of ways. Missy is petite and athletic; Negra is large and round. Missy is always on the move; Negra is usually napping under a blanket. Missy is social and outgoing; Negra likes her alone time.

Today after lunch Missy headed outside to Young’s Hill for some sprints (Jamie in the background):

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and some time with best friend Annie:

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At the same time, Negra took advantage of the warm, quiet playroom for an afternoon siesta:

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It brings us so much joy to be able to give these chimps the space and freedom to make their own choices, do what they like, and be who they are.

Missy’s zumba exercise

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Missy is chimpanzee-oriented, meaning she often chooses to groom or play chase with her chimpanzee friends over the humans (but we love that!) Every once in awhile she engages in fairly rambunctious chase or tug-o-war and will even quietly groom with caregivers on occasion. Times with Missy are a special treat for all of us! Today was no exception. She and Joel played a pretty fun game of chase. It seemed like Missy turned it into a sort of zumba-like exercise. Be sure to watch all the way to the end!

The Blanket Fling

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Burrito has a patented play move that is legitimately impossible to resist – we call it the blanket fling. He most often uses it when he’s trying to initiate play with a caregiver. The closest English translation I can come up with is “Heeeyyyyyy! Let’s get crazy!!” And get crazy we do.

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Foxie on a troll stroll

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Foxie takes her dolls with her almost everywhere. She holds them during meal times, she plays with them (both on her own and with friends), and she rests with them. She even takes them on brief outings onto Young’s Hill. A lot of times she carries them on her back like a mother chimp would carry their infant around, but sometimes she is able to manage with them in her hand or mouth as she walks. In the last photo, you’ll see she’s rubbing the troll’s belly as they head back into the greenhouse.

Though it can seem endearing how Foxie loves her dolls, it’s also a sad reminder that Foxie was never able to keep a baby of her own.

Foxie was used as a breeder in the lab. When she was just 10 years old, she gave birth to twins, David and Steve. Steve is deceased, but David is currently living at Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) in New Mexico. Foxie had two other babies, Angie (who now thankfully lives at Save the Chimps in Florida) and Kelsey (who lives at APF like David).

Though we can never make up for all that Foxie has lost, we are so glad that in sanctuary she has found a great deal of happiness and companionship in her dolls.

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Another Sunny Day and Time Spent on Young’s Hill

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Sometimes looks can be deceiving. The sun was shining bright this morning, but there was still frost on the ground and a chill in the air. I figured the chimpanzees would wait for the temperature to rise a little before they would spend a good chunk of time on Young’s Hill, but that wasn’t the case this morning.

Volunteer caregiver Patti served breakfast in the Greenhouse and had just finished serving chow bags as I opened the door between the Greenhouse and Young’s Hill. Jody was actually waiting right by the door and walked out onto the hill, positioned herself in the sun and ate the contents of her first chow bag. Her breath was visible as the temperature was still in the 20’s.

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Annie soon followed Jody outside and sat on the logs to eat her chow.
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Missy followed Annie outside and took a few moments to sit on the logs and check out the scene.

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After finishing her first bag of chow, Jody made her way further up Young’s Hill before returning to her previous spot. On the way back down the hill, Jody greeted Missy who was on her way up the hill.

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Next to venture out onto Young’s Hill was Foxie, accompanied by her dear troll friend. She chose to enjoy her chow bags from the top of the platform in the sunshine.
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Jamie chose to finish her chow bags inside the Greenhouse before venturing out onto the hill. She walked around, stopping to listen to the ducks who were making noise nearby.

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Negra chose to enjoy her morning chow bags in the sun as well, just inside of the Greenhouse where it was warmer.

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Burrito on the other hand, spent most of his morning on top of the platform in the Greenhouse (possibly enjoying the quiet as most of the ladies were on the Hill).

I’ll never get tired of seeing these chimpanzees on Young’s Hill, where they can actually feel the grass below them and the warmth of the sunshine on their faces.