csnw

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

April 4, 2014 by Katelyn

Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Richard Stuverud in honor of his wife, Lisa’s, birthday! Richard shared this beautiful message:

“I want you to know that the ongoing life adventures of “the seven” has touched my wife deeply and over the years she has become attached to and moved by these beautiful chimpanzees. The labor of love that is so much a part of your lives has, in its own way, become a part of hers. Her life has truly been enriched by observing the incredible effort, dedication and love shown by all of you in support of CSNW…therefore I want to honor her birthday by sponsoring a day.”

Your Pal, Jamie:

Richard and Lisa, we are so touched by your lovely words and full of gratitude for all you do to make the chimpanzees’ lives better. Lisa, all of us here at CSNW hope your day is as wonderful as the many days of celebration and love you’ve provided for the chimpanzees (and full of lots of pant hoots and food squeaks!). Happy Birthday!!

Are you going to eat that?

March 30, 2014 by Lisa

Breakfast this morning at the sanctuary was a leisurely affair in a warm and cozy greenhouse. The chimpanzees enjoyed apples, pears and the fruit smoothie in addition to their chow. The menu appeared to be quite popular with everyone today and there was quite a bit of food peering going on. Food peering is a common occurrence in chimpanzee communities and is observed in both captive and free-living situations. Essentially, it is a nonverbal way of asking, “Are you going to eat all of that?” As a method of communication, it can be more or less effective given the audience and the mood. Today, although there were quite a few instances of it, there were not very many instances of actual food sharing, so, I would say as a strategy it was, on the whole, largely ineffective.

More play communication

March 28, 2014 by Debbie

Just earlier this week I posted a video I caught of Foxie using exaggerated signals to get Negra to play with her. Today, it was Missy initiating the play with Foxie! And of course, Foxie couldn’t resist.

It’s Good to Be the Queen

March 27, 2014 by Elizabeth

People are often surprised to learn that Negra is kind of a powerhouse of personality. Yes, she’s the grandma of the group, and yes, she has an endearingly sweet face, but Negra is a force to be reckoned with. She knows what she wants, and she sees no reason why she should have to wait. Negra is not the leader of the Cle Elum Seven (Jamie would be horrified to hear me even suggest such a thing), but she has her own kind of power. Perhaps because she’s the oldest, or maybe just because of her supreme confidence, Negra is universally respected. There’s a good reason we call her the Queen!

When Negra wants to be groomed, she will walk up to one of the other chimpanzees and plant herself down unceremoniously in front of them. The message is always received; I can’t think of a single time this strategy hasn’t worked for her. If Negra wants to be groomed, Negra will be groomed. Even boss Jamie can’t say no.

Paper, it’s fun and practical!

March 24, 2014 by Lisa

As JB mentioned in his blog post last month about power, mornings at the sanctuary can often be determined by the luck of the draw. Today I should have played the lottery because I was blessed with good weather, good moods, and good enrichment.

If you’re a long time reader of the blog you’ll be familiar with the concept of enrichment and how central it is to engaging the chimpanzees actively in their environment. If you’re new here I encourage you to explore to find older entries we’ve written about it, like this one. We try to provide new and engaging activities and items for the chimpanzees on a regular basis to help mitigate the boredom that can result from captivity. To that end, we have an enrichment calendar to schedule themes for creating the daily enrichment that the chimpanzees are given; it helps us stay creative.

Today’s theme was lots of paper, and yes, it’s been done before, but the reprise was just as good as the original, if you ask these chimpanzees. Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it, you can see it for yourself in the video below!

Icecapades

March 22, 2014 by Diana

During the lunch forage on Young’s Hill today, Jody and Missy found their own treats. As volunteer Connie pointed out, this could be the last of the tire ice for the season!

Jody:

Missy:

St. Patrick’s Day Party – in brief verse

March 17, 2014 by Lisa

There were seven chimps of Cle Elum
Who were ready for breakfasts of melon.
The party was set
In the greenhouse the fete.
At foraging they were excelling!

And, yes, I apologize in advance for my less then ideal rhymes, it’s very difficult to come up with words that rhyme with Cle Elum. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!!

Annie forages for nuts in a sock: