Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Enrichment

Picking the Right Boots

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Sometimes it can be hard to figure out exactly what Jamie wants and other times she makes herself quite clear. Many of you who follow the blog know by now that Jamie loves her boots. She especially loves having her caregivers put them on and join her on a walk around Young’s Hill (humans on one side of the electric fences and Jamie on the other side).

But how exactly does she let us know that she wants to go for a walk? And how does she let us know which boot or boots to wear? Sometimes we pick the right boot on the first try. Other times it takes a while to pick the right one. That was the case today. It took a good ten minutes to pick what turned out to be the right combination of boots to wear around Young’s Hill.

I love that final look on her face when we finally figured it out!

Sink enrichment

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Recently we got some toy sinks in the mail, and I knew right away Jamie would be interested. Sure enough, we filled up the sink with some soapy water, along with some dishes and scrub brushes, and she began her inspection.

First, she tried to take the thing apart. When that proved to be more work than she expected, she went to using the brush to dip into the bubbly water and wipe on her tongue. Mmm, tasty soapy water! (We use all plant-based, non-toxic soap, so it’s okay if the chimps decide to eat it).

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Once she had explored the sink thoroughly, she grabbed a pencil and picked up the assembly instruction sheet we left behind.

St. Patrick’s Day 2015

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As Katelyn mentioned in the sponsor-a-day post this morning, we love to find any reason to throw a party for the chimpanzees. So today we filled little shamrock cups with almond milk which was dyed green with food coloring, as well as their usual fruit smoothie which we also dyed green. We picked green apples and kiwis for the breakfast forage—and threw in some oranges because the chimps love them! Add some streamers and St. Patty’s day decor, and you have the perfect recipe for a great party!

Everyone loved the drinks. We added little straws to the cups, and some chimps used them while others tossed them aside while they licked the cups clean! Foxie was especially great at getting every last drop:

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And Missy, too:

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Negra delicately drank from the little shamrock glasses:

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Burrito had filled his hands with chow so he had no choice but to lean over and use the straw for sipping:

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Annie also enjoyed every last drop of the drinks:

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Of course, the fruit was a big hit! Jody was so motivated to get some that she took on some unusual (for her) acrobatic moves to get to the high windows to get a snack.

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Negra:

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Burrito:

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Missy:

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We also hid some peanuts in little green boxes. Annie was the first to find them:

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Burrito:

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Missy:

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Jamie, quite uncharacteristically, was not the center of everything during this party! She grabbed a stash of food and drinks and stationed herself in a corner where we couldn’t get any photos of her. But she certainly enjoyed the forage, and we saw her still searching around for leftovers hours later!

Thinking inside the box

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Last night, volunteers, interns, and primate behavior students from Central Washington University got together to make some enrichment for the chimps. Their club is Primate Awareness Network—if you’ve been following the blog for awhile, that might sound a little familiar to you—they’ve hosted talks by CSNW staff during their annual spring speaker series several times.

We are so appreciative that they spent some time putting together boxes for the chimps, with nuts hidden in paper inside. The chimps seemed to enjoy their fun forage!


Annie:

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Jamie:

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Jody:

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Negra:

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After Missy went through a couple of boxes, she surveyed the situation to see if anything else was up for grabs:

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President’s Day Equals Jamie’s Day

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Since today is President’s Day, we decided to make it all about the “president” of this group of chimpanzees. As many of you may know by now, Jamie is the leader; the one to call the shots around here. She is certainly one of the most determined, demanding, project orientated ladies I know. So, today’s enrichment was focused around Jamie’s love of boots, brushes, scarves and walks around Young’s Hill.

When I arrived this morning, I went in to greet the chimpanzees and Jamie had tied a scarf around her neck. Apparently she knew it was boss day and was dressed for the occasion. She drew the line at me taking any photo evidence though. Burrito may have known it was going to be her day today because he spent the better part of yesterday late afternoon grooming Jamie in the Greenhouse and joined her in a walk around Young’s Hill.

Here’s the two of them sitting next to one another looking out onto Young’s Hill.

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And here’s Jamie rescuing Foxie’s troll dolls this afternoon. She spotted them on the ground near the top of Young’s Hill (I think Foxie left them there yesterday when she went for a walk), picked them up, sniffed them and decided to carry them back to the Greenhouse with her. Once in the Greenhouse she dropped them and walked back outside to go for another walk around the hill.

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Sanctuary is love.

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Today has been all about love! We threw a big party in the greenhouse for Valentine’s Day with the help of decorations and enrichment donated by Lisa S., Carol M., and volunteer Patti—plus delicious food donated by Anne R. and Patti, including some tasty buckwheat waffles with walnuts and carrots. They smelled delicious! Patti excluded the sugar and salt from the recipe, but the chimpanzees didn’t mind one bit. They wolfed them down!

Here’s some photos from the set-up:
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During the party, Foxie started to whimper a little bit. Jamie swooped in and comforted her and even shared a waffle piece with her. Now that is love! Jamie is the boss of the group, and in the chimp world, that means she doesn’t have to share anything if she doesn’t want to. In fact, she can take anything from anyone to assert her dominance. So for her to share something with Foxie is a true gesture of friendship.

Negra especially loved the waffles:
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Jamie loved the drinks—we had red gatorade watered down plus smoothie in little shot glasses!
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Foxie:
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Jody:
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We all appreciate your gestures of friendship and love for the chimpanzees and are blown away with how we surpassed our Share the Chimp Love goal! It warms our hearts to know that these chimpanzees mean so much to all of you that you would share your generosity with them.

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note: Patty Clark’s name should have also been included in the heart above!

 

You all have played a part in a second chance at life for these chimpanzees.

As supporter Kathleen C. put it in her sponsor-a-day message for today, “Sanctuary is love.” Just watch the video below to see how much love they had for sanctuary today!

 

 

And here’s the final Share the Chimp Love image of what love is for Negra

Love is for Negra

The favorite spot

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As I was walking around Young’s Hill with Jamie the other day, I was thinking about how she’s created a trail for herself (JB does mow the grass down during the summer, but there’s still a beaten path where Jamie walks several times a day) and it reminded me of when I visited the Louvre in Paris many years ago. One of the stairwells had worn down on one spot on each step because so many people walked that path every day. The favorite spot. I’m not really sure why I was thinking about that, but maybe because it’s just another way chimpanzees and humans are alike—we find a path we like taking, and stick with it.

The favorite spot phenomenon doesn’t just apply to pathways, but also places to rest or eat. Jamie has a few favorite spots, depending on the activity at hand. For her morning snack in the front rooms she likes to sit on her barrel in room 2, and she almost never strays from that spot for that activity. Foxie and Burrito both like to sit up on the lazy susans, and Negra will sit on a blanket just below.

Missy, Jody, and Annie all sort of move around during meals, but they do have favorite spots for resting. Annie and Missy like the catwalk by the bridge—it’s a popular spot for grooming. Negra has two favorite spots—her summer spot in front of one of the catwalk windows, and her winter spot in the middle of the loft. Jamie likes to rest in the corner of room 3 against the fencing, or near the playroom door. And Jody likes the bench in room 4—as we’ve dubbed it, “the portrait studio” because it has really great lighting. We have lots of photos of Jody lying down in this spot, both snacking on browse like cattails or bamboo, and taking a quick nap in a blanket nest.

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Jody nesting

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Whatever it is that motivates us to find our favorite spots—they represent comfort and safety, which is something that is so valuable for ex-biomedical chimpanzees. This is their second chance at life, and what better way to spend their day than in the comfort of their own home.

Watch the video below to see more ways the chimpanzees find comfort in their sanctuary home, and please Share the Chimp Love!