forage

Keeping things interesting

October 30, 2015 by J.B.

We’ve always considered Young’s Hill a work in progress. This was partly out of necessity, because it started as an empty horse pasture and it would have taken a lot of time and money to build everything at once. But it was also in part by design, because life in captivity can be boring, and adding even a few plants or a simple climbing structure to the hill each year keeps things interesting for the chimps.

The structure we built last weekend is a big hit.

Annie:

Foxie:

Jody has been sampling the new bamboo plants, but it seems they are best enjoyed while relaxing in the greenhouse, so each day she breaks off a new cane and hauls it downhill. Yet another reason why we need to keep planting more…

Taking advantage of the good weather

September 7, 2015 by Keri

What a gorgeous day it turned out to be; not too hot, not too cold and not too windy. That’s a pretty good combination for spending time on Young’s Hill (the chimpanzees’ 2-acre outdoor enclosure) if you’re Negra chimpanzee. She tends to be pretty particular about when she chooses to venture out onto the hill and how long she will spend out there.

So, we took advantage of the great weather and set up a lunch forage on the hill. All of the chimpanzees spent quite a bit of time foraging. Some focused on gathering their favorite food items and eating those first, while others went more for the “sampler menu.” Lunch consisted of green onions, red cabbage, potatoes, green beans and primate chow.

As you can see in the following pictures, green onions were a big hit with Negra, Missy, Jamie and Annie.

Negra

Missy

Jamie and Annie (in the background).

Burrito. Both he and Jody had their mouths and hands full of an assortment of food items.

Jody

And Foxie carried around two troll dolls in her mouth after she was done foraging. One of them was the same doll she carried yesterday.

Foxie and her troll dolls

September 6, 2015 by Keri

If you have been following the blog, you may already know that Foxie has a deep fascination with troll and dora the explorer dolls. Most days she can be seen carrying at least one in her hands, feet, mouth or on her back. It’s not very often that she is without at least one doll. This morning she actually had three different troll dolls in her mouth and hands, two with red hair and one with bright pink hair.

Sometimes she has a hard time keeping track of that many when other chimpanzees are trying to play with her. That was the case this morning. Burrito and her laughed while playing in the Front Room area of their enclosure and she lost track of all three. After they were finished playing, she picked them up again and carried them into the Playroom. It wasn’t long after that I heard laughter again and when I went to see who was playing this time, it was her and Jamie. Jamie had both of the red-haired dolls and Foxie had the one with pink hair. After their play session was over, both red haired dolls were left on the ground and Foxie carried her pink-haired doll out to the Greenhouse. And she carried that same troll doll around for the rest of the day.

Foxie foraging for lunch on Young’s Hill.

Here is another moment with Foxie and her pink-haired troll doll from this morning. Jamie is in the background eating lettuce.

Waiting for the rain

August 28, 2015 by J.B.

After a hot, dry, and smoky summer, there’s a chance we will finally get some rain this week. Though we didn’t get any today, the clouds were a nice change of pace and the chimps took advantage of the cooler weather to spend more time outside climbing and foraging.

Annie:

Jamie:

Missy in the foreground, Foxie in the background:

Burrito, Jamie, and Foxie:

Burrito:

Foxie keeping an eye on the cows:

Jody harvesting bamboo:

Jody with a wadge:

Negra and Jody foraging during lunch:

Jody:

Foxie and Dora’s friend:

If you haven’t done it yet, go check out our online auction, which began today at noon. Things are going fast, but there’s still plenty of bidding left!

Love on a Windy Day

August 15, 2015 by Diana

Three members of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest family had weddings today – the brides are new staff member Anna and dedicated volunteer Becca, who is marrying Lars, also a volunteer. I wanted to wish them a special congratulations using photos of the chimpanzees taken on this windy day, so here goes:

Anna & Andy and Becca & Lars, may your love be…

As sweet as Annie:

As endearing as Burrito:

As playful as Foxie:

As strong as Jamie:

As unique as Jody:

As loyal as Missy:

And as inspiring as Negra:

A little backstory on the photo of Missy above – in honor of the couples, I put out two sunflowers from the garden as part of the chimps’ lunch forage. I expected Jody to be the one to get them, but it was Missy!

Here are a few more photos:

Happy wedding day to all four of you!

Foraging for food and a doll

August 9, 2015 by Keri

While setting up a lunch forage on Young’s Hill, the chimpanzees’ 2 acre outdoor enclosure, volunteer caregiver Patti spotted an “abandoned” French Dora doll. After some deliberation, we decided to leave the doll on the hill and see who would rescue her. Hint: the answer is in the video below.

Burrito had a hard time deciding between which to grab more of, small bell peppers or primate chow.

Jamie and Annie shared time on the treat rock foraging for cherry tomatoes (straight out of the garden), eggplant pieces, peppers and primate chow.

Negra spent time in her cabin on the hill before making her way back to the Greenhouse.

Missy never misses a chance to climb the various structures in search of food.

Don’t worry, Foxie (who has an obsession with dora and troll dolls) had her own stash of dora dolls from her birthday party yesterday!

Jody to the rescue

July 27, 2015 by Keri

In order to help Burrito’s recovery from his recent dental procedure, we have been giving him and all of the chimpanzees soft foods. So, today we roasted a variety of fruits and vegetables for all of their meals. And to take advantage of the cooler temperatures we’ve been having, we put out a forage on Young’s Hill for lunch. Let me just tell you, there has been a ton of food squeaking going on over these roasted treats!

As soon as we opened the door to give the chimps access to Young’s Hill at lunch, all seven of them quickly made their way outside, gathering everything they could find. I watched Jody gather roasted onions and beets and quickly put them in her mouth. She went after roasted carrots next and had her mouth completely full before making her way back to the Greenhouse with her treats. Then she stopped, paused for a minute and looked behind her, then turned around and went back up the hill a few steps. I thought maybe she spotted another tasty morsel, but no, she saw something else and quickly snatched it up and practically ran back to the Greenhouse. Can you guess what it was? Hint, take a look at the photos below.