Today, our excavator laid the driveway that will lead up to the gate on Young’s Hill, the chimps’ new 2-acre enclosure. Tomorrow, we’ll begin digging the 1,200 foot long trench along the primary fence line. Spring is finally here!
northwest
The chimps’ stuff
We leave out a lot of toys, blankets and other stuff for the chimps each day, and they pick what they want out of it. It’s interesting to me that there are such individual variations in what the chimps’ choose to hold on to for the day, or sometimes just a moment. I often think of the years and years before they came to the sanctuary when they had nothing.
Here’s Annie staking claim to a couple of clean blankets:
and enjoying her spoils:
Jody with a new piece of enrichment – woven and coiled jute from new Canadian friends:
Burrito usually chooses things he can put in his mouth:
and here’s Negra lying in her nest of blankets – Jody’s not the only chimpanzee who does the yoga “happy baby” pose:
Lazy Play
The chimps were very playful this morning, but after breakfast, full bellies and a warm greenhouse threatened to put everyone to sleep. Thankfully, they found a way to relax and play at the same time.
greenhouse lounging
This is the time of year when the “greenhouse” (the outdoor area converted to a solar oasis with lexan panels) really shines – literally and figuratively. Spring is really windy in Cle Elum and today was particularly blustery. But the greenhouse is completely protected from the wind. Since it was sunny, it was downright balmy in there. Perfect lounging weather.
Burrito, who once shunned the greenhouse, spent the entire day out there. Here he is getting every last morsel of food from an avocado peel:
Jody also relaxed outside in the greenhouse all day, enjoying the fresh straw:
Glamour Magazine article
Sarah, CSNW’s Executive Director, appears, along with Burrito, in the May issue of Glamour magazine. The article is not online, so go get your copy today!
Here’s the title and description of the article from Glamour: (p. 211) She’s a Hero to Animals: One woman’s undercover work to expose the shocking abuse of show business chimps.
And here’s a photo of Sarah getting prepped for the photo shoot back in December:
Boomer Balls
Another good decision
Another company, Capitol One, has pulled their ad which had a chimpanzee “actor” and has pledged not to use primates in advertising again!
Read the full announcement sent out to Primate Patrol members a few days ago.
Thank you to everyone who reaches out to these companies to let them know why they should not use chimpanzees and other primates in their advertisements. You are making a difference!
