Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Today’s enrichment theme is Rainforest Day, and we did our best to turn the sanctuary into a tropical paradise. Volunteer caregiver Becca arrived this morning with her arms full – she brought a giant roll of green paper for a canopy and many rolls of streamers.
The chimpanzees enjoyed a breakfast forage in the greenhouse. They searched the forest for apples, oranges, peanuts, and primate chow.
Missy:
Jamie:
Negra:
Foxie:
Burrito:
Annie, stockpiling some chow:
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:
And Missy, too:
Negra delicately drank from the little shamrock glasses:
Burrito had filled his hands with chow so he had no choice but to lean over and use the straw for sipping:
Annie also enjoyed every last drop of the drinks:
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.
Negra:
Burrito:
Missy:
We also hid some peanuts in little green boxes. Annie was the first to find them:
Burrito:
Missy:
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!
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:
Jamie:
Jody:
Negra:
After Missy went through a couple of boxes, she surveyed the situation to see if anything else was up for grabs:
As Katelyn mentioned in her post the other day, Jody is known as Jody the Harvester.
Though we have been having a very mild winter, there isn’t much new to harvest on Young’s Hill yet. Today, instead, Jody turned her harvesting attentions to the Christmas tree.
We’ve been getting a lot of use out of that Christmas tree – using it to hide goodies during various foraging parties. It’s in a big pot right now in the Greenhouse, and we are hoping to plant it on the hill in the spring, but we weren’t sure if the chimps would allow it to survive until we can plant it.
For the most part, they’ve ignored it, aside from getting treats out of it during parties. Every once in a while, however, Jody decides to take a few samples:
We’re always looking for a reason to celebrate and throw a party here at the sanctuary. What better reason for a party than to join fans in cheering on the Seattle Seahawks for Super Bowl XLIX today?
So, how exactly do we throw a Super Bowl Party for chimpanzees you may ask? Well, nothing says a party like green and blue streamers, blankets and toys. Throw in some Seahawks cups, plates, napkins, a football, 12th man socks, t-shirt and arm sleeves. And finally, to top it off (and quite possibly the best part if you ask Burrito) we set up a lunch forage in the Playroom, consisting mostly of green colored foods (lettuce, green peppers, cucumbers and potatoes) and blue drinks (watered down gatorade).
Here are photos from the set up:
Be sure to watch the video at the end of the blog to see who ended up drinking these!
And now, the chimpanzees enjoying the party.
Here’s Jamie
Missy
Missy and Jamie
Jody
Burrito (with Missy in the background)
Annie
Foxie during the party.
Foxie after the party. She may have partied a little too hard.
Negra
Who drank most of the drinks from the blue and green cups? Watch the video to find out….did you guess right?
GO HAWKS!
We’re all a little stunned by the gorgeous weather we’re having today. The chimpanzees are in great moods and are making the most of their day. Here are our favorite photos from this morning and afternoon. (Don’t let these photos fool you; these all happened to be taken indoors, but the chimps are enjoying a ton of time outside today in the sunshine.)
Foxie inspecting a chow biscuit:
Negra looking out the window:
Jamie with a toothbrush:
Jody with a mouthful of chow at breakfast:
Missy wading through a box of enrichment:
Annie:
Burrito during today’s breakfast forage:
Today I have for you a video of the chimpanzees enjoying food. Now, we all know that Burrito is pretty irresistible, especially when he’s excited about food (see exhibits A and B photos below):
But I think my favorite part of the video is Jamie’s look when she’s enjoying the last bit of smoothie from a dixie cup. See for yourself:
