Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Foxie’s not the only chimpanzee with a doll. In addition to countless examples of other captive apes carrying trolls, Sponge Bobs, and stuffed chimps, there is now evidence of wild chimpanzees treating sticks as dolls.
Knowing how intelligent and imaginative chimpanzees can be, this shouldn’t be surprising. But I can’t help being amazed. One young chimp was actually seen making a second nest, just for his doll…
When we give out gum, we usually give each chimp a few pieces. Negra decided that she either couldn’t chew that much at once, or that she’d rather keep the different flavors of gum separate. Either way, she held one wad in her hand while she chewed the other, and them swapped them every couple of minutes.
The chimps aren’t the only ones receiving gifts this holiday season. Our Board of Directors has generously donated the digital SLR camera from our wishlist. It’s similar to Diana’s personal camera that we have been using, but it has the added capability of recording video.
Because it accepts all of the same zoom lenses, we can now film the chimps in areas of the building that were previously out of range for the point and shoot camera. Plus it will allow us to get great close up video when they are roaming their two-acre enclosure this summer. Take a look:
We know a lot of the people who regularly read this blog also support other great ape sanctuaries and zoos. And we know you all really enjoy seeing the Cle Elum Seven enriched, so we are seeking your ideas, perhaps things you’ve seen at other facilities, for what we have been calling “enhanced enrichment” – enrichment that creates a challenge and encourages exercise and/or tool use. Jackie put together a great video yesterday (see at end of post) that shows a few of the things that we do already.
Below is a photo of our enrichment calendar. We have themes for our regular enrichment (toys and such put out after cleaning in the morning) and projects for enhanced enrichment (usually set up in the evenings after dinner). The scheduled enhanced enrichment all began with a desire to consistently keep smart Jamie from getting bored. As you’ll see from the video, all of the chimpanzees can appreciate a challenge. Free-living chimpanzees spend hours each day traveling, looking for and acquiring food, so presenting food puzzles is a good way to keep those innate parts of their brains exercised.
Are you ready? We now have $1,225 pledged or received towards the MacBook Pro! The current price on our amazon.com wish list is $1,705.99, which means we only need $481 to make the purchase!
Big, big thanks to Candy Crannell for spearheading this fundraising and making a large pledge yesterday, and to Kathy B., Gayle, Leslie, Theresa, Catherine M., Jeani, and Pam!
Consider joining this group of supporters. You’ll keep the blog going strong by replacing our dying computer in the chimp house. You can mail a check (PO Box 952, Cle Elum, WA) or donate online. Just send me a quick email: [email protected] or leave a comment on this post to let me know your pledge.
We’re close!
Grooming is one of the most important activities in chimpanzee society. The caregivers at CSNW play an important role in the chimps’ social world, so we also groom with the chimps when they request it. Some of the chimps like to be groomed by their caregivers, but others, like Jamie, prefer to do the grooming.
A couple of weeks ago I had the camera as Jody was walking towards the pool full of snow. Before reaching her destination, she stopped to try to close the mouth of this alligator. It wasn’t realistic enough to warrant fear of a predator (as in the Predator in our Midst post from two years ago), but Jody still didn’t like the looks of that gaping jaw.
