Some recent photos of Burrito, our resident male model:
csnw
Missy deigns to play with a caregiver
Missy is a chimps’ chimp. She much prefers the company of her chimpanzee family to that of any of her caregivers. Once in awhile she honors us with some attention, but she is hilariously aloof in most of her interactions with humans. On the rare occasion that she plays with a caregiver, she typically has a “I’m a little embarrassed for you right now” look on her face. Which, of course, makes her all the more charming.
Tea & Play
Today’s enrichment theme was “tea party” so we took that literally and made two types of tea for the chimps to enjoy after we had finished cleaning their castle.
Post-tea time was spent on important things like diving into the nesting position, staring at a troll doll, and some lazy play with friends. Watch the video with sound.
Who can resist being thoroughly charmed by these chimpanzees?
More Positive Reinforcement Training Progress
Our Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) program is coming along nicely. (Learn about PRT and how it helps the chimpanzees in this blog post from last year.)
Here’s a video of Diana and Jamie’s session this afternoon.
Jamie-ween 2016, Told in Twenty-one Spooky Photos and One Terrifying Video
Jamie, the birthday girl:
Negra:
Missy:
Jody:
Foxie:
Annie:
Burrito:
A Missy in Motion…
Today was a great day!
Way back in the spring, Charlie Nickerson of Troop 80 in Seattle contacted J.B. about doing his eagle scout project to help the sanctuary. We’re not able to say yes to all requests we get from people interested in doing volunteer projects like this, but we had just had a bunch of fire hose donated, so J.B. got Charlie started on the idea of making some fire hose hammocks to add to the interest of Young’s Hill.
A whole group of people joined in the hanging of the two awesome new hammocks, including other members of Troop 80, Shawn (J.B.’s new right-hand maintenance volunteer), John, and two CWU students – Ruth and Kyle.
It was pouring when they arrived this morning, so the chimps didn’t mind not having access to their outdoor habitat. The team worked outside in the wet weather with J.B. while volunteer Rachel and I cleaned up the chimp house.
In addition to the two new hammocks, the group also hung fire hose in various areas on the hill, connecting structures to each other.
Luckily, by the time they were finished with all of this manual labor, the weather had cleared up. So, the hardworking team spread a forage on the hill for the chimps and watched all seven chimpanzees forage for their lunch and explore the new features of their habitat.
I took what seemed like hundreds of photos of the chimps enjoying these new features and foraging, and I’ve narrowed down a couple of series to share in this blog post.
You probably know that we celebrate Jamie’s birthday on Halloween, which is just a few days away, but Missy might have thought all the new fire hose was a present just for her.
I am calling the below series of photos: “A Missy in Motion Tends to be the Best Thing Ever.”
Here is Missy standing next to Annie. Take a moment to admire Missy’s thigh muscles:
In her element, Missy tightrope walking and otherwise using existing and newly hung fire hose to traverse all over the hill:
Later in the day, Missy discovered some food cleverly hidden in new fire hose wrapped around a log post:
Every once in a while, she would stop to rest:
But not for long! Here she is climbing into one of the new hammocks:
I’d say it’s a hit:
This next series of Jamie I am calling, “Perfect Dismount”
A very cleverly hung piece of hose that Jamie couldn’t resist trying out:
Annie may have found her new favorite hangout:
Burrito explored a new hammock by himself later in the day:
And then he peeked at us from the lookout:
Thanks to everyone who helped make the day a great one, including all of you reading and sharing this – your support makes every day great!
Today is in memory of David Bischoff
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Ingrid Bischoff in memory of her father, David Bischoff. Ingrid is a wonderful new friend of the chimpanzees’ and we are truly touched that she would think of them in honoring her father. Ingrid shared this beautiful message about today:
“My father, David Bischoff, from Yarmouth, Maine USA recently passed away and he is the man who taught his entire family the love of nature and animals, to respect the earth, pick up trash and ALWAYS take care of any and all animals in need and to always feed the birds, every day! He was a generous man and supported nature conservatories, donkeys, dogs, elephants, harbor seals and now chimpanzees!!!! He would love this day in his honor and thank you so much for doing all the hard work, giving is easy.”
Ingrid, thank you so much for sponsoring today for the chimpanzees as you honor your father, David, and celebrate his life. What a special legacy he shared with you and your family, and now, all of us. We are honored to celebrate David here today and welcome you both as members of our chimp family. Our thoughts and hearts are with you today and we wish you the comfort, peace and love of family and friends that you help to ensure the chimpanzees are surrounded with for all their days forward.
Foxie, Annie and Burrito:
Burrito, Jody, and Foxie:
Beloved friends, Missy and Annie:
Negra and Jody:
Jamie enjoying the sun setting over Young’s Hill:
