Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jody

An afternoon in the greenhouse

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Grooming is an important part of chimpanzee culture and whether in the wild or captivity, chimpanzees spend a lot of their time engaged in this behavior. If you think about it, so do we humans! Chimpanzees will groom each other or themselves to remove dirt and debris, attend to wounds, during times of relaxation, and most importantly to build and maintain bonds with one another. Grooming is key to social interactions and is often used by chimpanzees to gain support and remain in good standing not only in the community, but with higher ranking chimps.

The chimp house was very quiet this afternoon before lunch so I went to check on everyone and found several people grooming Jamie, as she basked in her role as the boss lady. (Clockwise: Jamie, Burrito, Foxie and Jody):

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Jamie being groomed by Burrito in background:

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Jody appointed herself the paparazzi police and immediately positioned herself next to me, at the ready to poke the camera should I continue to take photos of the boss. Though she eventually decided it was more fun to play a game of tickle (a rare Jody happening!):

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Lunch service arrived and after a lot of excitement everyone headed up to the top of the greenhouse. (L to R) Foxie, Annie, Jamie, Negra (barely visible in between the blue chairs) and Jody:

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Each of the chimpanzees has their way of attempting to gain the server’s attention, especially when they see something they really want (or want more of). Because Jamie is the most dominant in the hierarchy we typically offer things to her first. And she has no problem gesturing if she wants us to serve something other than what’s being offered at the moment for something she prefers on the tray. She will also let us know if there is a particular piece, or color, of fruit or vegetable she wants. For example, she will ask for red peppers over green if she sees them in the bowl and she refuses carrots that aren’t peeled. She will even gesture for us to return any offending carrots to the kitchen for peeling.

Foxie blows incessantly loud raspberries, Negra claps and sometimes clacks her teeth on the caging, Annie blows raspberries and stomps her feet, Missy shakes her head vigorously, and Jody just positions herself in front of the server. If someone is being served something she wants more of, she will just move in front of them or reach across to take it from the less dominant chimps. (This is all part of a normal chimp hierarchical society.) And then there’s Burrito who shakes, rattles and rolls, with a soundtrack of raspberries for pretty much everything on the menu. Just so we don’t forget he’s there…

Annie above and Burrito below (hair standing on end with excitement):

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Missy pulls up a chair for her lunch:

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On the other side of the caging was their server today, Whitney, one of our volunteer caregivers extraordinaire, getting a workout. Chimpanzees make for a rowdy lunch crowd.

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Burrito:

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Foxie decided to eat her lunch with me and made her way back to me with each serving to sit in the sun as I took photos next to her.

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First course: tomatoes!

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Back again with the second course: green peppers!

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And finishing up the meal with primate chow in to-go bags:

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Burrito, very pilo (hair on end), is often high arousal during mealtimes. Food is just very exciting if you’re Mr. B:

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Jamie headed back inside with her chow to make an lunch nest:

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Nests

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Each day we give out at least 60 blankets for these chimpanzees to use as nesting material. It’s not uncommon for some of the chimps to use over 20 of these blankets and sometimes even 30 for a single nest (Negra)! However, nests are not limited to just blankets. Often times paper, bamboo and other plant material brought in from Young’s Hill, straw, a variety of clothing, stuffed animals and even some of the fire hoses in the various enclosures will be incorporated into these nests as well.

In the wild, individual chimpanzees construct a nest each evening to sleep in. Nests can also be made during the day as a place to rest. Youngsters that are not yet weaned will share a nest with their mother, from whom they learn to build their own nests. Most often, nests are made in trees by bending and lacing together branches from one or more trees. Leaves are then used to line the nest, perhaps to add comfort, provide insulation in cooler temperatures and protect from insects.

In the following photos Katelyn took yesterday, Jody demonstrated that a comfortable nest can be made with fresh straw to get the same effect as a blanket nest here at the sanctuary. Of course, the key to any nest is the testing phase, which Jody seems to have perfected in the last photo.

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Lazy Days

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After lunch is the laziest time of the day here at the sanctuary. The chimpanzees have a few hours between lunch and dinner, and they usually spend it in quiet pursuits like grooming, nesting, and napping. This afternoon we set up a lunch forage on Young’s Hill, and after all that activity and excitement, Jody was ready for a little solitary grooming.

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After awhile, even grooming took too much energy and she settled in for a nap.

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Foraging Strategies

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There was quite a bit of excitement around today’s forage on Young’s Hill. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited about raw kale, tomatoes, lemon wedges, carrots and primate chow? Once they saw what was on the menu, all seven chimpanzees headed out to the Greenhouse and anxiously awaited for us to open the door to give them access to the hill. As soon as I opened the door, Jamie lead the way. But, it was Foxie who stayed out the longest.

There seems to be a variety of strategies these chimps use to forage, as you will see in the photos below. Some of the chimps will eat the food items as they find them, while others seem to prefer to gather as much as they can before heading back to the Greenhouse to feast. Take Jody, for instance. Today she gathered so much food in her mouth and both of her hands that she has to walk upright (bipedally) in order to hold onto everything as she made her way back to the Greenhouse. And Missy went for the food items that were up high (on top of the various structures). And then there is Foxie, who took her time eating each piece of food as she found it.

Annie
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Burrito
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Foxie
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Jamie’s strategy was to put all her lemon wedges in her mouth in order to keep her hands free.
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Jody
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Look at her cheeks; they are completely full!
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Missy
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Negra
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Christmas in July

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The day after a big party can sometimes be pretty mellow as the chimpanzees “recover” from all the excitement that comes with celebrating a birthday or holiday. But, thanks to Jeani Goodrich (who sponsored today in honor of her family) and her friend Tora, today was filled with more excitement as the chimps celebrated “Christmas in July.”

Celebrating Christmas in July is similar to celebrating Christmas in December. Stockings were hung, presents were wrapped and a lot of red and green streamers, decorations and blankets were spread throughout the enclosures. We also made sure to include foods that kept with the red and green holiday colors. Green onions, tomatoes, red peppers, brussel sprouts, kale and radishes were spread out in the Greenhouse and Young’s Hill for the chimps to forage at lunch.

The party setup in the Greenhouse just before the chimps entered.
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Annie went straight for the presents before taking her cup of ice out to Young’s Hill to forage for more food.
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Burrito doing what he does best…eating.
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Foxie enjoyed her cup of ice (a good substitute for egg nog when it’s 90 degrees outside).
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Jamie took her cup of ice to the windowsill.
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Jody, wearing her festive sock, searched through the various Christmas enrichment items.
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Missy searched through most of the Christmas stockings.
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Negra dined on peppers, tomatoes and green onions before grabbing her cup of ice.
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Snippets

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Some of the most important things we can provide the chimpanzees are choices. The choice to explore their outdoor area or to nest inside. The choice to play with their chimp and human friends or nap. The choice to play with enrichment or ignore it. The choice to stay in one area or not when we are trying to shift them for meals or cleaning. The choices are many and we particularly love it when the chimps take it upon themselves to engage throughout the day in what they find interesting as long as we provide the options.

Choices relieve the inevitable bouts of boredom these intelligent, curious and active people experience at times being in captivity. And choices of how the chimps wanted to spend their moments and days was not something they often received prior to living in sanctuary. Yes, they are still in captivity and ultimately, the humans control their environment and schedule, but we do our very best at all times to work cooperatively with the chimps and give them choices at every possible opportunity. We want the chimpanzees to feel as much as possible that they finally get to call the shots. And really, they do.

These photos will hopefully provide an idea of how the chimpanzees choose to spend their days, in snippets:

Negra, dozing in the morning sun in the greenhouse when I first arrived:

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Foxie and Dracula troll enjoyed a toothbrush while waiting for breakfast:

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After breakfast, Burrito headed up Young’s Hill to climb one of the structures:

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He is exhibiting a fear grimace here (notice it looks very similar to a human smile, but means quite the opposite for chimpanzees – when chimps smile they only show their bottom teeth). Burrito sometimes fear grimaces when doing new things on the hill until he feels more comfortable. He may be feeling a little nervous as he courageously walks out to the end of the plank:

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Feeling more comfortable back on the platform:

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Jody wasn’t far behind Burrito, but decided to survey the area for some wild greens instead:

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Success! And she decides to head back to the greenhouse:

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Annie chose to head straight for the new structure and enjoy a little quiet time and the view from Carlene’s Tower:

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Missy decided to take the swinging bridge over to the other side:

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Jamie decided to join Missy on Jamie’s Tower, but climbed the pole as opposed to taking the “simple” way up of the ladder:

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Foxie joined Jamie a bit later:

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While all this was occurring on the hill, Negra changed nests and took a post-breakfast nap:

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Back inside later in the day, Jamie was thrilled to find one of her favorite enrichment items out – her “kitchen sink” filled with water and paper towels at the ready. She immediately wiped her nose:

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And washed and dried her hands:

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In between lunch and dinner the chimps also enjoyed checking out their growing garden and sampling some fresh peas and green onions, playing chase and grooming with caregivers and each other, cooling off with an ice cube snack, and napping throughout the day. And Jamie went on to check out new boots and enjoy an evening of walks around the hill while the other chimps headed to bed in the cooler playroom after dinner.

Annie, utterly relaxed:

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As caregivers, continually providing the chimpanzees with new and interesting options of how to spend their time is one of our biggest challenges. And seeing them utilize all their options and sometimes create their own, is one of our biggest joys. And hopefully, one of their biggest joys as well.

Lunch with the chimpanzees

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Most meals at the sanctuary go remarkably smoothly considering we have seven hungry and eager chimpanzees to serve at once. Occasionally, someone swipes someone else’s food or a scuffle breaks out, but more often than not, peace reigns.

That’s not to say that all the chimps always wait patiently, though. In this video, you’ll see some of the ways the chimps get our attention during meals and tell the server to please hurry up – hand clapping (Negra), vigorous head nodding (Missy), and blowing raspberries (Foxie). This video is longer than most of the ones we post, but hopefully it will give you some idea of what it’s like to be present at mealtime at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.