Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Enrichment

Bargaining

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Two things I know about chimps:

1. Whatever it is, they will find a way to break it.

2. If you want something from them, they will give it to you…for a price.

Ellen has been coming up with some really cool food puzzles lately. One, named the hanging holey lid, involves a 5-gallon bucket lid that the chimps have to rotate to reveal food beneath. The chimps discovered that the lids come with thin peel-off strips around their circumference, and they were very entertained by peeling them off and using them to floss their teeth. There’s nothing particularly dangerous about these strips of plastic but they weren’t meant to be given to the chimps so we decided to retrieve them.

Most chimps will trade for juice. But Cy had to raise the stakes…

New Boot Goofin’

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While the bipeds were keeping very busy around the chimp house today with enclosure cleaning and meetings, Jamie remained perfectly unbothered by all the commotion. In true Jamie fashion, she spent her morning meticulously crafting the perfect nest, arranging it just so for her daily reading session.

But the real highlight came later when caregiver Kelsi arrived with a special surprise: a brand new pair of thigh-high boots. If you know Jamie, you know there’s nothing she loves more than her boot collection. You can check them out in today’s blog video!

New Puzzles, New Challenges

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Today’s blog is all about enrichment! We are so grateful to the many supporters who helped make it possible for us to purchase new enrichment and craft new food puzzles thanks their generous support during our Comfort and Joy online auction. Some of the donated supplies are still waiting to be turned in to their final form, so stay tuned for a future blog to share more. Today’s video and blog will highlight the newly made giant holey lids courtesy of Tricia M. and new troughs thanks to Kathleen C.!

I love watching the chimps meet a new challenge, and find their own ways to accomplish the task at hand. Some puzzles require a demo by the humans, but most of the time we let the chimps try on their own first. As you’ll see in the video, Honey B has come up with a very different approach to the new troughs. Honey B’s method comes as no surprise, and she accesses the treats in record time!

Below is Lucky showing off her mostly clean trough! We put sugar free strawberry pudding in the bottom, and tossed some pomegranate arils on top which stuck to the pudding, requiring that she use the bamboo stick in her hand (or a different tool) to get the pudding and pomegranate. These troughs are the perfect depth, as the chimps cannot simply use their fingers to reach the bottom, which encourages the use of a tool and engages them with the puzzle for more time. Lucky was the first to master her method, which Willy B and Terry also utilized. Sometimes we put seeds, cereal, or other non-sticky food items in the troughs, which they can access by tipping the trough towards themselves (or using the Honey B method!).

Below is a newly made giant holey lid, ready for it’s first use by the chimpanzees! I cut several holes into the large (brand new) trash can lid, and bolted a frisbee to the middle of the lid. The frisbee can easily be rotated to cover the different holes, thus allowing one chimpanzee to control access to the other holes in the lid. Peanut butter has been smeared on the back of the lid, around each of the holes. I created this with the intention of using it as a social enrichment device with Cy’s group as they continue to undergo their reintroduction. If you’d like to learn more about social enrichment, see here! The below photo is what the puzzle looks like from the chimps’ point of view.

This photo show the back of the puzzle with smeared peanut butter, and is what the humans see after hanging up the puzzle for the chimpanzees.

Willy B was the first to try out the new puzzle today. He quickly figured out how to access the peanut butter, and moved the frisbee slightly. When a conflict started in the group which required Willy B’s attention, Rayne was quick to seize her opportunity and worked on the puzzle for quite a while. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the chimps get to experience this new food puzzle, and hope to see them move the frisbee more intentionally in the future! Thank you again to Tricia M. and Kathleen C. for your generous gifts to the chimpanzees!

Fun for One

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I’ve known few chimpanzees (or humans, for that matter) that could entertain themselves quite like Burrito. He’s not always playful but when he is, he is as close to pure joy as I’ve witnessed.

While Chad and I were cleaning Playroom 1 this morning and Jamie and the gang were grooming on the greenhouse platform, Burrito was keeping himself entertained with “Celestino,” a Squishmallow that was donated by Monica B. and purchased for the chimps by Sherry R. in our 2024 Comfort & Joy Online Auction. Cleaning stuffed animals like these, not to mention the 150 blankets that we make sure the chimps have at all times, requires some durable washing machines. That’s why we wanted to extend our sincere thanks to the many donors who contributed to our Commercial Washer Fund, which will allow us to replace one of our aging residential washers with a machine that can withstand being used 8 hours a day, seven days a week. Thank you, Vicki F., Jamie R., Kathie J., Sarah H., Patti S., Julie A. O., Deborah J., Nancy D., Margaret L., Rebecca Z., Rosalie A., Chloe G., and Ellen V. for helping us keep the blankets and stuffed animals clean so that the chimps can continue to experience comfort and joy!

The Fortunate Demise of Three Snowpersons

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For a little caregiver fun, we would like you to decide which snowperson is the best. You can base your decision on whatever subjective aspects you choose (though please do let us know how you based your decision).

All three seemed equally enjoyed by the chimpanzees. Please leave your votes and commentary in the comments!

Hat Snow Person:

 

Reclined Snow Person:

 

Lettuce-Head Snow Person:

Thanks for playing along!

The Key to Enrichment Part Deux

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Last week, I wrote a bit about enrichment and some of the challenges of finding enrichment that is safe and suitable for certain chimpanzees with a proclivity for chewing on all manner of materials.

Today I am expounding on that a bit as a thank you to everyone who gave towards the Media and Enrichment Fund in the Comfort & Joy Auction (I listed everyone below!).

Enrichment is fun – it’s toys, and friends, and structures, and food puzzles, but it’s one of the most serious and important parts of caring for chimpanzees in captivity. Chimpanzees did not evolve to live in captivity. Captivity limits their lives, and chimpanzees need things to do! I am sure that enrichment coordinator Ellen would tell you that coming up with and giving the chimpanzees enrichment is extremely rewarding.

Seeing a chimpanzee interact with and be entertained and engaged by their environment is a uniquely fulfilling experience. Like Cy with his magazines. It’s difficult to imagine him without them, to be honest.

It’s quite obvious when Cy has been enriched with a magazine. He leaves evidence.

Volunteer Sarah C. was commenting about such evidence today while looking at one of the security cameras in the Marmot Mountain Playroom.

Here is the before security camera shot:

During:

After:

Huge thanks to the following donors for giving to the Media and Enrichment Fund in Comfort and Joy to support not just Cy’s magazine habit, but also books for Jamie and enrichment for all of the chimpanzees: Monica, Vicki, Jamie, Shelly, Arlen, Anne, Linda, Diana, Nancy, Julie, Jessica, Jayne, Deborah, Sue, Jackie, Jane, Deborah, Kevin, Jennie, Debbie, Nancy, Ionna, Lisa, Elena, Amy, Susan, Debbie, Martine, Zoe, Marisela, Regina, Cheryl, Linda, and Dora!

I have good news for those donors – the bookmarks celebrating our resident bookworms have arrived, and I’ll be sending them out this week!