Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Some days there just isn’t quite that perfect thread of words to tie all your photos together. Today is one of those days.
We give the chimpanzees gum as a cavity fighting treat. Here’s Dora savoring the sugar free chewing gum on her lip:
Majestic Rayne:
Rather than stirring up some group tension this afternoon, Willy B decided to join Terry and Rayne for a long grooming session in the greenhouse. Here he is looking a little more angelic than is perhaps his norm.
The chimps love gum! We hand out sugar-free gum that is good for their teeth (not Hubba Bubba, that was just the blog title), to the chimps as a special treat or to reinforce a positive behavior. Lately, we have been passing out gum to Cy’s group when all 9 of them shift enclosures. Sometimes, we have stragglers, like Honey B, who doesn’t always shift to where we would like her to go. Which is okay! We are flexible with the cleaning schedule. However, the days she and the rest of the group shifts on their own, we try to reinforce it by handing out gum, a treat loved by all! Some swallow the gum fairly quickly, and some keep it for over an hour, chomping away (like Lucky).
Photos of the chimps enjoying gum from the past!
Honey B:
Terry:
Cy:
Willy B:
Dora:
Missy from 2011:
Burrito from 2011:
Photos from today!
Cy in a Greenhouse:
Burrito with a giant play face with volunteer caregiver, Krissy:
Jamie’s saved book page:
The chimps at CSNW love chewing gum and each has their own style. Negra likes to stretch hers out as far as she can.
When we give out gum, we usually give each chimp a few pieces. Negra decided that she either couldn’t chew that much at once, or that she’d rather keep the different flavors of gum separate. Either way, she held one wad in her hand while she chewed the other, and them swapped them every couple of minutes.
Turn the sound up and you can listen to Foxie laugh at her own antics. And notice the nice new paint job on our outdoor caging, thanks to our volunteers!
