Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Taking advantage of the good weather

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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
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Missy
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Jamie and Annie (in the background).
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Burrito. Both he and Jody had their mouths and hands full of an assortment of food items.
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Jody
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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.

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Foxie and her troll dolls

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

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After a summer full of heatwaves in Cle Elum, we’re greeting this week’s cooler temperatures (and even rain!) with open arms. Today the chimpanzees have been making the most of the break from the heat and spending lots of time outside on Young’s Hill. While adventure is great, it’s important to mix in some quiet time here and there. Here are my favorite portraits of the day.

Negra:

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Missy:

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Jody:

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Jamie:

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Foxie:

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Burrito:

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Annie:

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Rainy day activities

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Today’s forecast called for rain and cooler temperatures, so we thought about what sorts of rainy day activities we could set up for the chimpanzees. The enrichment theme for the day was Fort Day, which seemed more than appropriate, so staff and volunteer caregiver Lizz set about building forts in the Greenhouse and Playroom with blankets.

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Jody is usually the one to take the forts apart in order to gather blankets for her nest, which is exactly what she did.
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Jamie took it upon herself to find the perfect rainy day activity in one of the Front Rooms. Notice the boot and magazines within her nest.
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Grooming is another perfect rainy day activity.
Jody
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But, it didn’t take long before the weather changed. Instead of more rain, the skies cleared up and the sun came out. So much for rainy day activities; the chimps moved on to foraging and spending time on Young’s Hill instead.

Burrito
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Foxie
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Jamie
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Don’t forget to check out the Summer Biddin’ online auction, which ends on September 1st. Bid on your favorite items and donate to help us exceed our fundraising goal!!

Jamie’s latest project

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Chimpanzees use a variety of tools for a variety of different projects. In the wild, they have been seen using sticks to fish for termites, stones for breaking open hard shells to get at nuts inside, and have even been seen using mashed up leaves as sponges to soak up water.

Here at the sanctuary, Jamie chimpanzee is no stranger to using tools to get what she wants. For example, we often put pieces of food outside of the caging and just out of finger reach to give the chimps a project to work on. Jamie will often use long plastic straws, pieces of cardboard or even sticks that she brings in from Young’s Hill to get the food items. But, sometimes she seems to love using tools just for the sake of using them. Today she took the enrichment tools we set out to work on one of the doors in her indoor enclosure. After some initial inspection, she got right to work.

Maybe she was just making sure the door was properly maintained.

Happy Birthday, Missy!

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It’s hard to believe that youthful, exuberant, energizer-bunny Missy is turning 40 today. She might be in the running for World’s Most Sprightly 40 Year Old Chimpanzee. Missy makes us smile everyday with her enthusiasm for life, her legs that never stop running, and her complete devotion to her chimp family. Today, we celebrate her.

Volunteer caregiver Patti put together an 80s-themed party for Missy’s big day. Naturally this included leg warmers, socks, and sweatbands in neon colors (including a few for caregivers to wear), and homemade Rubik’s Cube pinatas. We firmly believe a party is not a party without streamers, so we decked out the greenhouse with those too. Fruit smoothie “shots” in Dixie cups, apples, plums, tomatoes (Missy’s favorite), and primate chow rounded out the celebration.

Missy:

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Negra:

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Annie:

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Jody:

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Jamie:

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Foxie:

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Burrito:

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For Missy, no day is complete without some serious adventure, so we scattered a lunch forage on Young’s Hill. And adventure she did:

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To everyone who contributed to Missy’s party, sponsored today, or just sent happy thoughts to the birthday girl, thank you!

Thank you, Christine!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Christine Ponticelli! Christine, thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees and giving them a special day as they celebrate life as they choose. We hope your day is full of all that sanctuary means to you and is one that is full of the love and joy you help ensure for these amazing chimpanzees.

Sanctuary probably means more to the chimpanzees than we could ever fully imagine. But here are three of your friends embracing their lives:

Jamie, finally gets to call the shots on how, and with whom, she spends her time:

Jamie in the tall grass

Jody gets to explore and forage for her own wild snacks to bring back and enjoy in the comfort of her nest:

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And Negra gets to discover a new definition for solitude, surrounded by loved ones in a safe and comfortable home to heal at her own pace:

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