Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Lunch in the sun

by

Diana and I took some photos this afternoon while the chimps enjoyed a lunch forage outside. It was great to see Burrito enjoying the sunshine.

Burrito greenhouse sun resized_MG_5458

Negra stuffed as many onions in her mouth as she could and headed back to the play room.

Negra onion mouth greenhouse resized_MG_5475

Jamie went after the brussels sprouts, but apperantly not before contemplating them first.

Jamie greenhouse inspect brussels sprout resized_MG_5483

She also spent some time dipping her onions in buckets of water, and then pouring the water from one container into another. This is typical Jamie. She has such an active mind, and she will often make projects for herself to keep busy.

Jamie greenhouse platform wash onion water bucket resized_MG_5491

Jamie greehouse platform pour water bucket resized_MG_5495

Sun, how we’ve missed you!

by

The sun has finally returned to central Washington! Today was gorgeous, with blue skies, temperatures in the high 40s, and lots of glorious sun. The beautiful weather has put all of us, human and chimpanzee, in great moods. The chimps spent much of the day playing, swinging, and laughing outside in their (very nearly completed) greenhouse.

Annie and Missy

by

Annie and Missy have such a strange relationship. They are nearly inseparable, but when Missy decides to groom or play with someone else, Annie appears to be jealous. Its very predictable – if you see Missy playing with another chimpanzee, you can bet that Annie is watching her every move from a distance. Sometimes Annie will sit back on her butt and tap her heels on the floor, which is a behavior she often displays when she is anxious. And while Missy likes to interact with the other chimps, Annie mostly keeps to herself when Missy is not around.

Today I was taking photos of Missy and Jamie grooming and playing together outside:

Jamie Missy groom platform OA resized_MG_5374

Jamie Missy play blanket brachiate OA resized_MG_5382

And sure enough, there was Annie in the doorway, keeping an eye on things:

Annie doorway to OA resized_MG_5368

Tool use

by

Chimpanzees are famous for their ability to use tools, but some individuals are more skilled than others. We know that human talent is a combination of genetics, early life experience, and practice, and the same is true with chimpanzees, I believe.

Jamie loves using tools. She could spend all day working on a project. I don’t think she’s as interested in the end result as she is in the process. Sometimes, when we are serving food, we accidentally drop a few pieces on the floor outside the enclosure. Jamie will spend the rest of the mealtime working to get those pieces, even though her caregivers are still giving out food.

Burrito, on the other hand, is just not a tool user. He has very limited patience, and he doesn’t seem to get that same flash of insight that spurs chimpanzees like Jamie to go fetch an appropriate tool. This doesn’t necessarily mean he is less intelligent. Most of the time, begging humans for help works just fine. But it does give you an idea why Burrito is not the alpha that he would like to be – Jamie is always one step ahead of him!

Snake!

by

Given their history in captivity, the chimps here at CSNW (unlike their free-living counterparts) have probably never encountered a real snake before, but when this toy snake (see video) went out as part of their enrichment one day, they treated it with a healthy dose of caution.