Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Here’s Negra earlier today, at one of her favorite lookout spots. She spends a lot of time gazing out the windows here. Early next year we’ll have an exciting project: replacing some of our “caged” windows with bullet-proof glass so that the chimps can look out upon the valley without having to see bars. We can’t wait!
Annie is the most anxious member of the Cle Elum Seven, but you wouldn’t know it from the photos we take. She always looks so serene:
Missy rivals Foxie for “most playful member of the group”. Here’s Missy in the middle of a game of tug-of-war with me today. She always looks like she’s up to no good:
There was a short break in the gloomy weather today, so Foxie made sure we got in a good game of pass-the-troll outside. Even though she’s in her 30’s, she has the spirit and energy of a little kid. The last photo captures the look she gives just before she does some crazy twirl or flip.
Turn the sound up and you can listen to Foxie laugh at her own antics. And notice the nice new paint job on our outdoor caging, thanks to our volunteers!
For today’s afternoon enrichment, we filled bowls with tea, soy milk, soy yogurt, peanut butter, and ketchup, and placed the bowls on the outside of the chimps’ enclosure. Then we gave them tools to fish for the food.
Its fascinating to watch the different personalities in action. Burrito has no patience, and he’s not a very adept tool user either. Negra will use someone else’s straw once they’ve fished it into the bowl, but she won’t do it herself. Missy, Annie, Jody, and Foxie are all very patient and skillful. But Jamie is by far the best. I didn’t catch this on camera, but Jamie found a clever way to get the last bit out of her bowl. After she had gotten all of the yogurt that she could, she went to the water fountain to get a mouthful of water. She spit the water through the caging and into the bowl, diluting the remaining yogurt. Then she fished her straw through and drank the liquid.
In a shocking turn of events, Foxie was a goofball this morning.
(I think we have the best job in the world.)
The chimps were in such playful moods yesterday! I could hear laughter coming from the playroom, so I grabbed the camera and caught Foxie and Jamie in a 10-minute long game of “steal the troll”. Thankfully, Foxie won in the end and the troll was returned to its rightful owner.
What a difference a day makes…when we came in this morning, the group had clearly been fighting and they had that look that says We can’t wait to take our frustration out on you, J.B., when you serve us breakfast!. Needless to say, I got drenched. But that’s what I’m here for!
