Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Enrichment

Cubby Holes

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Way back in 2010, we replaced a bunch of caged windows with chimp-proof glass. On the greenhouse (what we used to call the outdoor area) side of things, this created deep window sills that the chimpanzees appreciated right away.

Below is a flashback video from when the windows were first installed in 2010. You can see that the chimps were still working on getting the hang of navigating the space using the hanging fire hose.

 

Today, Burrito and Missy were each in their own cubby. The frames are tall enough for chimpanzees to sit in them:

 

Missy can even sit upright in the smallest of the windows that looks into the playroom loft:

 

Missy was using her private cubby time to sift through some nut and seed shells:

 

While Burrito decided to get REALLY comfortable in his sill:

 

Choice

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Annie has been wearing a yellow elastic headband around her waist for the past week. This makes us happy because it’s her choice and it seems to make her happy. The headband is part of the daily enrichment we offer to the chimps, which also includes blankets, dolls, scarves, socks, hats, boots, wooden toys, plastic tools, toothbrushes, nail files, bags, buckets, stuffed animals, books, magazines, paper, and anything else we think they might enjoy that’s safe for them to have. The chimps are free to use, destroy, or ignore these items in any way they see fit.

Most people are used to seeing chimpanzees wearing clothing because chimps used in movies, television shows, commercials, and print advertisements have traditionally been forced (and often duct-taped) into clothes against their will for the purpose of entertaining humans (or selling products).

At CSNW, Annie’s only job is to be herself.

Rock Solid

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Foxie is funny when it comes to climbing structures. While the other chimps enjoy shaky bridges, rope nets, and fire hose hammocks, Foxie tries her best not to set foot on anything that isn’t completely solid and firmly attached. One time I watched her rescue a troll doll that was laying in a fire hose hammock by hanging on the ceiling above the hammock and stretching all the way out to grab it with the tips of her toes. She may love her dolls, but she wasn’t about to risk setting foot in a hammock to get to one.

Whenever she tries a new structure, she makes sure to give it a few taps with her doll first, and then she stomps her way across it to assess its integrity. The newest structure on Young’s Hill (built last month) seems to meet her specifications. It’s become one of her go-to spots during her post-breakfast walkabout. I think she may appreciate the view from Young’s Hill more than anyone, and now she has a new, very stable place to enjoy it from.

A new evening food puzzle

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Jamie is the food puzzle star of the sanctuary, and she is also the most dominant of the group, so you might notice a lot of blog posts about her working on different puzzles that we give the chimps as evening enrichment. She has a tendency to want to keep all the puzzles to herself, so we’ve been working on finding new puzzles that we can fix to different spots around the chimps’ enclosure to give some of the other chimps more opportunities to access the puzzles.

Recently, I’ve gotten several videos of some of the other (non-Jamie) chimpanzees working on food puzzles. This video was taken while Jamie is otherwise occupied with her own project to work on inside the building. Here’s Jody trying out a new shake bottle puzzle. She makes it look pretty easy, so next time I think we will need to add some shredded paper for an added challenge!

The Boss’s Day Off

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As the self-appointed boss, Jamie rarely achieves total relaxation. Between monitoring all the humans coming and going from the sanctuary, and keeping her chimp family in line, she has a hard time letting herself go. But this afternoon caregiver Anna found her looking pretty blissed out.

The Inspector

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Whenever we add a new feature to the chimpanzees’ home, we have to make sure it’s chimp-safe and chimp-proof. Jamie and Foxie can both be relied upon to give any new structures a thorough once-over; Jamie because she wants to try to take them apart, Foxie because she wants to make sure they’re safe.