Enrichment
Snake!
Given their history in captivity, the chimps here at CSNW (unlike their free-living counterparts) have probably never encountered a real snake before, but when this toy snake (see video) went out as part of their enrichment one day, they treated it with a healthy dose of caution.
Foxie and Jamie playing with Diana
The other day, Diana was playing chase with Foxie when Jamie decided to join in on the fun. Many of the chimps at CSNW will wear clothing when they are feeling playful. In this video, you’ll notice Jamie tying a sarong around her waist just before she invites Diana to chase her.
Foxie- the next “Lord of the Dance”
Today, I popped in a video of “Lord of the Dance”, donated by one of our many wonderful supporters and volunteers, Stephanie Perciful. We put it on our wishlist in hopes that Negra would enjoy it, because she sometimes enjoys watching her caregivers’ dance. So far Negra hasn’t shown much interest in it and is usually too far away to see it. Foxie on the other hand, seems to thoroughly enjoy it and looks like she kind of wants to join in! Someone recently commented that Foxie may be musically inclined- I think I agree. Thanks, Stephanie! I’d say Foxie seems pretty enriched!
Note- I orginally said that the video was donated by Tamela, but it was actually Stephanie who donated it! So sorry Stephanie and Tamela for the confusion! Guess I am indeed human. 🙂
Foxie nesting
Today Foxie nested in straw, following Jody’s lead. I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve seen Foxie nest with straw! See video:
Missy’s icy chase game
Yesterday, Missy spent some time outside playing chase with JB. It was a bit of a slippery slope for JB, though! 🙂
Nesting, Nesting, Nesting…
Today, Jamie built herself yet another nest using a blanket and a box. This sparked a conversation between Diana and I about the similarities and differences of nesting behavior of captive vs. free-living chimpanzees. We couldn’t find many videos on the internet of free-living chimpanzees nesting, however, Jane Goodall’s Discover Chimpanzees Website has a behavior glossary, complete with video footage of the chimpanzees in Gombe engaging in a variety of behaviors, including this clip of nesting. If you compare the following video clips of Jody, Missy and Jamie (in order of appearance) to the video clip from the Discover Chimpanzees Website, you can see many similarities. Notice how the free-living chimpanzee (named Fifi) pulls the branches into her nest and pushes them down to make her bed more comfortable. It truly is an exact science.
