One thing that’s quite clear about the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees is that they are each unique individuals with different tastes, activity levels, and habits.
Though for most of their lives they didn’t have these things, it’s hard to fathom Foxie without her troll and Dora dolls, Jamie without her boots, and Negra without her blankets, which she puts over her head and shoulders – something she’s done from her first day in sanctuary.
Today I tried (fairly unsuccessfully) to get a photo of Negra as she lay on the heated catwalk with a Halloween blanket wrapped around her. Here’s the best photo I got:
As I was watching her, she got up suddenly. Curious about the suddenness of her motion, I followed her. She traveled down from the catwalk, across the playroom, and into the front rooms, then went out into the greenhouse.
She was clearly on a mission, and was still moving quickly as she climbed up to the top of the platform in the greenhouse.
And this was the result of her mission:
Apparently she knew of another blanket with her name on it.
Because she seemed to be in a black and white mood today, here is a black and white photo of Negra after she got the blanket just how she wanted it:
Long live Queen Negra. We hope she has many more years and many more blankets in her future.
