Games of tug of war happen pretty frequently between humans and chimps here at CSNW (any guesses as to who always wins?), but extended bouts of chimpanzee-chimpanzee tug of war are less common.
Enrichment
What did the Cle Elum Seven do today?
Pine browse and ice block enrichment
Sparkling Cider Enrichment
Today we loaded up a spray bottle with sparkling cider for the chimps. Everyone enjoyed the spray, although Negra had to take a break to spy on us in the mirror, and Missy and Jamie decided they would prefer theirs in a cup.
Play!
Put up your feet and watch this looong and lazy video of Foxie and Jamie’s looong and lazy play session. Turn up your volume for lots of chimpanzee laughter.
Novelty
Here’s a video of Annie and Jamie exploring a cool new toy:
Caregiving
One of the more fantastic things that has happened in the last year is that the chimpanzees have new caregivers – staff and volunteer. Jackie is our newest staff person, and she is just finishing up chimpanzee care training. It is so fun to see the chimps react and interact with new friends. Today I spied on Jamie and Foxie playing with Jackie through the barn doors. Jamie had a stretchy hose-like thing that she was using to play tug-of-war. Being Jamie, she naturally wore a bikini top draped around her neck (complete with trolls tied to the strings).
In addition to playing with the chimps, which is a very important job, Jackie’s been hard at work caring for the chimps’ garden beds. Check them out!
