Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.
If you watched The Queen’s Brunch virtual event last month, you saw a short clip from this video of Foxie getting two new Orange Blossom dolls.
I’ve been wanting to share more of the video since then, and I’m finally doing it today.
We’ll be holding our annual gala, HOOT!, as a virtual event this year. Mark your calendars now for Saturday September 12th so you can join the fun!
I have to admit, with temperatures pushing 100 degrees it’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit. But after receiving dozens of items from our wish list over the past week, you can’t help but feel the spirit of giving in the air.
We’re so grateful for the support you’ve shown us – you helped stock our shelves with office and cleaning supplies; you gave us new medical equipment so that we can keep the chimps healthy; you sent food and treats for the chimps to enjoy and toys and enrichment to keep them occupied; and you gave us two gently used GoPro cameras so that we can give you a different perspective on life at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. We are truly humbled and grateful for your generosity.
This morning, we collected many of the items we’ve received so far and threw a little party for the chimps. I hope you can see the difference you make in their lives.
By the way, if you sent an item from our wish list and you don’t hear from us in a reasonable amount of time, please drop us a note. Packages from Amazon don’t always include information about the donor and we’d love to be able to thank you!
Merry Christmas in July!
It’s important to have priorities in life, and the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest are good at deciding what is top priority (usually food) and what is a close ranking second, as you’ll see in the video below.
Here’s what the back of the lower mount for the GoPro camera looks like. I caught this photo last week of Annie standing next to it. The steel mount, custom made by J.B., has a hinge and opens up to slip the camera in and then has a padlock to secure it.
We put the GoPro camera out on Wednesday to film some of the forage. I shouldn’t be surprised by anything the chimps do anymore, but I’m still amazed at how quickly they notice that the camera has been placed in its housing. You can’t get anything past them.
If you follow the sanctuary on Facebook, you’ll know that this is posting a bit later than usual because Jamie decided she wanted to take several post-dinner walks around Young’s Hill tonight.
It’s a beautiful end-of-summer evening, so of course I could not refuse the request. Once she was satisfied, I came back in to review the footage the GoPro captured this morning.
The GoPro revealed that Jamie had quite the day. She spent a good 30 minutes on the termite mound, then decided to check out the GoPro camera, which is securely locked in a steel casing (you’ll see why below). Foxie took her turn at the camera too.
We provide food to the chimps in a variety of ways. Sometimes we serve them individually, either hand to mouth or hand to hand through the caging. This ensures that everyone is getting their fair share and gives us a great opportunity to monitor and evaluate the chimps’ health up close. Other times we put food in puzzles like the termite mound or raisin boards, giving the chimps a chance to use tools and their incredible problem-solving abilities. But my (and Burrito’s) favorite method is the forage. For a forage, we cut the food into small pieces and spread it throughout the enclosure while the chimps are locked out. Then we let them back in and they proceed to search for their meal. Foraging encourages activity and usually discourages stress and aggression because it’s difficult to steal or hoard food when it is spread out over such a large area, though Jamie sometimes tries her best.
The GoPro camera provides an interesting glimpse into a forage on the hill and it also allows us to hear all the groans and food squeaks that we would otherwise miss.
If you’ve liked us on Facebook, you’ve probably seen some posts recently about Foxie’s reaction to the new GoPro camera in news articles around the world. Today, the article was posted on Huffington Post. (Click the link to go to the article).
Just to correct a misunderstanding—Foxie does still love trolls and other dolls (like Dora!) but she is not still carrying around Trixie, her original troll. She will sometimes find a troll or doll that she likes enough to carry around for a few days, but not much longer than that. (Also, as many of you know, the chimps were rescued close to four years ago—not just last year like that article says. However, it was just last year that they were given access to a 2-acre habitat of relative freedom).
In this picture, Foxie’s got her tongue out, and both a troll and Dora doll in her hand.
