It’s snowing right now at the sanctuary, but this morning the sun was out for a bit and five of the chimps were hanging out on Young’s Hill. JB got some photos of Burrito giving himself a back massage on top of the platform:
Sanctuary
All we want for Christmas is…
Can you believe it’s already December?! The holidays are fast approaching and supporters are always asking us what we need or want. This year, we came up with a pretty comprehensive list and added a ton of stuff to our Amazon Wishlist. There are a variety of things on there, both for the chimps and for the humans, including our biggest need: a new external hard drive. Ours is apparently no longer backing up our data, which is scary when you think about how many amazing photos and videos we have on this computer! Four years of memories! So, we would love a new hard drive that will protect all of those awesome images, like this one of Ms. Foxie:
If you peruse the wishlist, you’ll see we’ve added everything from cleaning gloves to new plastic chairs for the chimps (they love to sit on the chairs during meal times). I also found a few new food puzzles (like this one) that I added to the list. As you may already know, Jamie is the smartest person on the planet. She loves a challenge, so finding projects to keep her busy and enriched is my daily goal, and a lot of times (because she is so much smarter than me) my daily challenge. But I think I’ve found a few things to help occupy her (and everyone’s) mind. Check them out!
You’ll probably notice that some of the goodies on the list are more “fun” than others, but we added a lot of things that are key parts of our daily routine – pens for example. But actually the pens are not just on there for human use. With Jamie’s love of drawing, we are always in short supply of pens. So having extra pens around the chimp house will enrich both the chimps’ and the humans’ lives. It’s a win-win for everyone!
So, check out our wishlist and feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions or other ideas of things we might need. Thanks so much!
An unobstructed view
Replacing the playroom window cages with chimp-proof glass has really paid off. Removing the caging from in front of the windows lets much more light into the playroom and gives the chimpanzees an unobstructed view of the world beyond the sanctuary. Negra, in particular, really seems to appreciate this. There is nothing she loves more than gazing over the valley (well, she might love peanuts more).
This is approximately the view that Negra is enjoying in the above photo.
Troll games
I took the camera out to the greenhouse this morning and found Foxie chilling out on a tire. After a minute or two she ran over, passed me her troll doll, and ran back to the tire. Pass-the-troll is a favorite game of Foxie’s. She tosses a doll through the caging to a caregiver and watches closely to see what the caregiver will do with it – the more ridiculous, the better. In this photo she’s watching me balance the troll on my head while trying to handle the camera.
Eventually, she’ll let us know she’s ready to have her troll back by holding out her hand for it. Once the troll has been returned to her, she often inspects it closely as if looking for signs of damage. Foxie knows that her dolls aren’t alive, and she often treats them as the inanimate objects they are, but she can also be very nurturing toward them. It seems that the mothering instinct that she didn’t have an opportunity to express toward her own babies in the lab has finally found an outlet. Sometimes it even appears that Foxie likes to put her dolls in “dangerous” situations — entrusting them to a caregiver, or pushing them off a beam of a climbing structure — so that she can then “save” them.
Missy and Annie steal Negra’s spotlight
Today was full of play! It’s amazing what a visit from the sun will do.
Relationships
The relationship between captive chimps and their caregivers is endlessly fascinating. Some chimps are very human oriented, and many even prefer the companionship of humans to that of other chimpanzees. Other chimps couldn’t care less about humans – we’re good for providing food and cleaning up, and that’s about it. Usually, it’s the chimps who were raised by humans who prefer humans, and it’s not hard to see why. We make more sense to them.
Take Burrito for example. He was born in a laboratory in New Mexico and, like many lab chimps, he was taken from his mother shortly after birth and reared in a laboratory nursery. At age 3 1/2, he was shipped to Pennsylvania where he lived in a human home as a pet. Six months later he was leased to Jungle Larry’s circus and a year after that, he was back in a lab cage, where he would remain for another 20 years.
He spent most of his life either alone or with humans. I think it’s a miracle that he can get along in a group of other chimpanzees.
Imagine if it was the other way around…if you were raised in a group of chimpanzees and then two or three decades later you were thrust into a group of humans. You might find that your new office mates don’t appreciate your loud dominance displays, or the way you stick your rear end in someone’s face when you are seeking reassurance.
In the 4 1/2 years that Burrito has been at CSNW, he has matured a lot. He is starting to understand the rules of living in a chimpanzee community. He loves to play with some of the other chimpanzees, and he is even starting to understand his role in the hierarchy. But I think that some human oriented chimps like Burrito feel a sense of relief when interacting with us. They understand us better than they do other chimpanzees. And they know that we won’t get upset or retaliate if they break one of the complex rules that govern life in chimpanzee society. Or maybe Burrito just gets sick of his chimpanzee family. Those reality TV shows always take seven people and stick them in an apartment for a year and that always ends badly.
We’re careful not to overstep our bounds with the chimps, however. Ultimately, we want them to rely on each other for support and in a social system as complex as the chimpanzees’, it takes a lot of work to build those relationships. But from the chimps’ perspective, it’s also good to have a positive relationship with the people you rely on. So we consider these little games of chase and tug-o-war just part of the job.
Happy Birthday, Anne Little!
Today is Anne Little’s birthday, and she has sponsored the day for the chimpanzees. Thank you for thinking of the chimps today, Anne! We hope you have a fantastic day.
(Burrito thinks snow days are fantastic.)