Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Old Friends

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When former CSNW Executive Director Sarah Baeckler left the organization early last year for her new position as Director of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, she couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye to the chimpanzees. So even though she and her family relocated to Portland, she stayed on as a volunteer caregiver and drives up to the sanctuary regularly to help clean enclosures and hang out with her chimpanzee friends. As you can see from these photos taken this morning, they’re always happy to see her.

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Lots of love for the chimpanzees!

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As you may have read this morning, thanks to the compassion and generosity of our friend and supporter, Monica Best, today is our fifth annual Love a Chimpanzee Day! So of course, a party was in order! The chimpanzees had a lunch forage with pomegranate juice in fancy cups, cantaloupe, corn, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes and grapes in gift boxes, and whole heads of lettuce (the hit of the party!).

Annie did quite well for herself:

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Missy was a little more elusive and chose to enjoy the celebration from the stairs:

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Burrito was the charmer of the party, as usual:

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Here is he watching his buddy, Foxie, stroll by:

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Foxie continuing her forage:

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And finding a mouthful of cantaloupe:

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And of course the boss of the party, Jamie, made sure to enjoy herself with an armload of lettuce, food grunting the entire time:

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Still food grunting with delight:

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Jamie is serious in pretty much all she does. Even when there’s a party going on. Though she may have slipped into what we endearingly refer to as her “party police” role and suggested the paparazzi leave the event, I can assure you she was pretty happy with the Love a Chimpanzee Day happenings!

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Negra and Jody both grabbed a couple heads of lettuce and made themselves scarce, preferring to celebrate in solitude. But I think it’s safe to say everyone had a great time. Thank you so much, Monica, for loving the chimpanzees and honoring them with such a special day!

Happy Easter!

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I will admit that we went a little over the top for today’s Easter party, but it just kind of happened. A couple of days ago we got a delivery of three (large!) boxes of Easter party supplies and favors from supporter Jayne R. It was everything we needed to throw the chimpanzees an amazing Easter party. And then this morning volunteer caregivers Stephanie and Patti showed up for their shift in the chimp house with their arms weighed down with piñatas, veggies, and other goodies. The chimps really do have the best friends, near and far.

We started the morning with a party in the greenhouse. The piñatas, as always, were a hit.

Annie:

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Missy:

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Jamie had to lie on her belly in the hammock to reach the piñata hanging underneath, but it was worth the effort:

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Negra loved the treat tubes and other enrichment that Jayne sent:

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Missy did, too:

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Burrito:

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Jody:

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Jamie:

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Foxie checked out the new goods:

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and found a new Dora the Explorer! Thanks, Jayne!

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Foxie took Dora for a stroll on Young’s Hill:

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Negra was more interested in the veggies we “planted” in the ground all over the hill:

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Jody harvested a carrot from the treat rock:

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and another:

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Her arms were so full that she had trouble managing her haul, and had to stop every few feet to regroup:

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But she worked it out:

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Thanks again to Jayne, Patti, and Steph. Happy Easter, everyone!

Whole apple forage

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Jamie really cleaned up in today’s breakfast forage. We put out whole apples and she was absolutely beside herself—carrying them around in hand and in foot. Thankfully the other chimps were able to get some as well—I posted photos of Annie, Burrito, and Missy on their Facebook pages. I saw Foxie and Jody with some too but couldn’t get a good photo. And Negra? Well, she was preoccupied with the peanuts that were scattered around. Not surprising at all 🙂

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Losing your head

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As you might imagine, routine is very important for the chimpanzees, especially after spending decades in the uncertain environment of labs. We all feel a little better knowing what to expect from our environment and the other beings in it, especially when someone else might have certain control over a situation that we don’t. One example of the chimpanzees’ routine here at CSNW is how we invite them to move from one area to another so that we can clean their enclosures. After we clean the chimpanzees’ play room in the morning we scatter a treat for them to forage for when they are given access to the room again. The chimps know to expect this and as they see us nearing the end of cleaning they start getting excited and want to see what we’re are going to put out for them. This not only helps us encourage them to move to different areas, but also gives them something to look forward to as well as to encourage their natural foraging behavior. But it’s always the chimpanzees’ choice to leave an area or not and if someone wants to stay where they are, well then, we just wait it out until they are ready to leave the area.

Today we decided to give the chimps a special treat by putting out entire heads of lettuce. For whatever reason, the chimps get pretty excited over lettuce in general and of course, it’s extra exciting to be able to have a whole item to yourself as opposed to pieces (kind of like me and chocolate bars, for example).

Jamie, enjoying her lettuce and mildly tolerating the paparazzi:

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Despite it being an exciting forage item, the chimpanzees were all generous with one another and at some point, choosing to share their spoils with each other. In this photo, Jody had just asked Jamie for permission to have this lettuce and you can see her glancing to the side where Jamie is sitting out of frame:

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Unfortunately, the light wasn’t cooperating for pictures of Negra but I can tell you that she had so many heads of lettuce that she had to scoot across the floor on her bottom all the way back to her nest because her hands and feet were full! Here is Burrito cautiously reaching toward Negra’s stash which she kindly allowed him to do:

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Foxie finds some blueberries:

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Annie scooped up her lettuce and headed for the greenhouse. But her plan to avoid the crowd failed and she found herself the center of a lot of food peering. Foxie is in the background here:

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Foxie and Jody were very persistent in their attempts to convince Annie to share. But Annie was equally persistent in keeping her lettuce for herself. Even if she had to enjoy it in a rather awkward position (you can see Jody waiting patiently behind her):

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Annie was surrounded as Foxie continued to peer from above:

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Annie eventually did share her last bites with Jody and Foxie. It was probably all the “peer” pressure (sorry, I couldn’t resist). I didn’t catch any photos of Missy because she was smartly cornered away in the top of the playroom, out of sight. But in the end, everyone was able to enjoy some lettuce, whether they found their own, covertly took it from someone else, or found a friend in an altruistic mood.

Relaxing

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I found some photos on the computer taken by Elizabeth and Lisa a few days ago. Just looking at these pictures makes me feel so relaxed!

Jamie

Burrito

Missy

Foxie