Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
It’s important to have priorities in life, and the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest are good at deciding what is top priority (usually food) and what is a close ranking second, as you’ll see in the video below.
Here’s what the back of the lower mount for the GoPro camera looks like. I caught this photo last week of Annie standing next to it. The steel mount, custom made by J.B., has a hinge and opens up to slip the camera in and then has a padlock to secure it.
Last week, a squabble broke out during dinner. Since we’re always talking about how we never capture conflicts on video, I decided to sit quietly and record the whole thing on my phone.
I’m always amazed at how much is going on during a fight. Alliances are being forged, tested, and sometimes broken. Old grudges are being dug up and rehashed. Some subordinate chimps are engaged in proxy fights on behalf their superiors, others are playing mediator and trying not to harm the alliances they’ve worked so hard to build, and some, like Burrito, are doing all they can just to stay out of the way. And that’s just the fight – as soon as it’s over, it’s on to reconciliation phase.
It’s easy to miss all of these things amidst all the screaming, so what follows is my attempt at a play-by-play.
We celebrated Annie’s 40th birthday today! Her exact birthday is unknown since she was captured in the wild, but her records indicate that she was born sometime in 1974, and today is the day we picked to celebrate it. Annie certainly doesn’t act 40 at all! She’s still very young at heart—she shows her playful side daily when wrestling with Missy or running around Young’s Hill.
We wanted to celebrate her special day with some of her favorites—green grass, beets, green onions, piñatas, buckets of water, shovels, and chow! Thanks to some supplies Lisa Stuverud brought us we had a fun colorful party with new enrichment, too. We set up a breakfast forage first, and then volunteer Becca served Annie’s favorite veggies at lunch.
Here’s the party setup:
I love this photo — you can see the juice from the tangerine spraying to the side! Good shot by Elizabeth.
Annie with a mouthful of chow (she loves to wadge chow!)
Annie loves green grass, so we picked some for her and included bunches of it in their breakfast forage:
Some of her favorite veggies are green onions and beets:
The other chimps enjoyed the party too! Burrito the charmer practically posed during the forage for this photo:
Everyone loved the fruit! Here’s Jamie:
Jody:
Foxie:
Missy loved the green grass:
And Jody ended up getting the piñatas (there was a Dora the Explorer piñata too, but that was torn up before we could snap a photo!)
Foxie got a new troll and some knuckle rubs from Diana, which made her laugh:
And Negra spent a lot of time in hard-to-see spots during the day, but I did get this picture of her beautiful relaxed face:
Happy 40th Birthday, Annie!
There’s always been a lot of tension between Jamie and Jody. Though Jamie is the alpha of the Cle Elum Seven, she’s never been secure in her leadership. She views everyone as a potential threat to her status as leader, and every action they take as a potential sign of disrespect. Jody, however, is strong willed and independent, and she refuses to submit to Jamie’s incessant demands for obedience.
Most of the mealtime conflicts here at CSNW follow the same script: Jody takes food that is rightfully hers. Jamie is upset that Jody took food. Jamie screams for ten minutes straight while following Jody around and demanding the food.
In their first few years at the sanctuary, Jody would break down and acquiesce. But over time she discovered that Jamie was more bark than bite, so she learned to hang onto the food in contention. And just the other day, when Jamie began her screaming routine over a piece of celery, Jody decided that she’d had enough, and she chased Jamie out onto Young’s Hill. Jamie was forced to take refuge on a climbing structure while Jody returned to the greenhouse to enjoy her celery in peace.
This one interaction doesn’t mean that Jody has taken over the alpha position in the group. She just doesn’t seem to have the drive or the backing to follow through with it. But it’s a good example of why the two might not always enjoy each others company.
Unless, that is, there is trouble afoot.
This morning, Jody was spooked by something out on the hill.
The others sensed her alarm and began to gather around.
But Jody wasn’t looking for their help. She knew exactly who she needed on her side in a situation like this.
She walked down the hill to meet Jamie, who was just coming out to check on the commotion. As soon as they met, Jody offered Jamie a kiss and embraced her in a request for reassurance.
Together, they joined up with Foxie and Burrito to patrol the area.
Jody may not always consider Jamie her best friend, but when the going gets tough, who are you going to turn to? The guy who hides behind a tree?
Or the boss?
I’ve just added a few more awesome items to the Summer Biddin’ Online Auction!
I couldn’t let it go without having a portrait of each of the chimpanzees available for bidding on, could I? The photos are being printed on metal, which gives them a really neat luminescent quality that I know everyone will love.
So, don’t delay in getting your bids in on the below items and all the other items too, and don’t forget to give a little towards the Summer Lovin’ party too!
Bidding ends at 7:00pm PT unless an item goes in to a Bid War. Be sure to watch – it’s going to be fun to see which items continue to get bids after the closing time!
Thanks to everyone who made the Summer Biddin’ Online Auction possible and to everyone who is participating! The chimpanzees really appreciate your support!
Foxie, as you probably know, is quite the charmer. She is apparently also muse to several artists. Did you notice the Foxie theme in the Summer Biddin’ online auction? Take a look at the photo below that launched a thousand (ok, more like three) paintings:
In addition to those three Foxie-inspired art pieces, the below two pieces are also available for your bids!
And if that’s not enough Foxie for you (how could anyone have too much Foxie?), here are a few photos taken today, when Foxie was out with the gang foraging for lunch during a light shower. If you look closely, you can see the rain:
Happy bidding, everyone! The online auction ends Monday at 7:00pm PT
I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve walked around Young’s Hill today. We started just after breakfast, with Jamie frantically gesturing towards the bin of boots in the kitchen, letting us know that is was time to begin the daily ritual. After exchanging one of my sneakers for a bright red cowboy boot, we set out together to patrol the perimeter of her two-acre enclosure. There was another walk before lunch, and then another just afterwards. Steph and Debbie went on a patrol with Jamie in mid-afternoon, and then I rejoined Jamie for another before dinner. As soon as dinner was over it was time to head out again for a couple more. And just a moment ago, at a little after 7pm, I handed my red cowboy boot to Diana, who will walk with Jamie as the sun starts to set. This might be the last, but somehow I doubt it.
