Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

tool use

Jamie is not “most chimpanzees”

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This morning, I was sweeping paper and other garbage into a pile in the playroom when Jamie started gesturing towards to me. It’s typical of her to ask for drinks from the hose while we clean but we hadn’t pulled the hose out yet. I soon realized that she was gesturing towards the pile of garbage, and upon closer inspection I saw that I had swept up some torn out and crumpled pages from one of her boot books. She wasn’t done with those yet! I picked them up and she ran excitedly to the day nest she had made in the corner of one of the front rooms. As I handed the pages to her, she emitted a low moan and stuffed them into her pelvic pocket.

Later, while scrubbing the floors, Diana pointed towards Jamie in the front rooms and suggested that I come take a look. She had filled a bucket with water from the lixit fountain, dumped her primate chow into the water, and was stirring the concoction with a plastic tube. She then used to tube to sip the chow water from the bucket and emitted a low moan each time she popped a soaked chow biscuit into her mouth.

She’s definitely her own person. So it should have come as no surprise when Diana caught Jamie taking carrot-peeling matters into her own hands the other day.

Willy B and his Dipper Tube

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Willy B is quite the tool-user! As you can see, enrichment doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated to be effective.

It was a busy week for the block masons working on the new playrooms. You can see the walls taking shape now that the scaffolding has been taken down. Next week – fingers crossed – the roof goes on and we get ‘dried in’, so to speak. That should ensure that construction can continue even if the weather turns bad. This morning’s dreary snow/rain was an ominous start to the season.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ranch, the cows were thrilled to regain access to their winter pasture. I’ll have to share the video of them running through the fields in another post.

Change of Plans

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This afternoon I was photographing Jamie as she chewed and wadged some cattails.

While I was hoping to write a blog post about wadging, she soon decided that she’d rather groom the camera with her cattails.

There’s no way to ever be a fly on the wall when photographing chimps.

Thankfully, Jamie was in a very laid back mood today so she let me continue taking close-up pictures while she groomed the camera, my phone, and my boots.

Eventually, a bit of drama between some field mice outside the Greenhouse got Jamie’s attention, and she chose to finish wadging her cattails where she could watch it unfold.

Cleaning Up

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Honey B, like many other sanctuary chimpanzees, enjoys cleaning. Last week, we did a “deep clean” of one of her indoor enclosures and spent time scrubbing the track to the door that leads to the upstairs play area. Honey B watched us intently and later decided that the door track needed just a bit more work.

Cuddle Puddles and Tricky Puzzles

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There was a lot of activity in the Chimp House on this busy Sunday, but this post just focuses on the happenings in the newer part of the sanctuary’s main building.

In that wing of enclosures, Honey B, Mave and Willy B have continued to settle in and seem to grow more comfortable with each passing day. Mave, of course, is an expert nest-builder and can make herself comfortable in any place, at any time, and with any partner. This was true on her road trip from California, it was true when we introduced her to a group of strangers, and it remains true each and every morning.

Willy B

During the late morning hours, Mave sprawled out on the heated floor in a beam of sunlight and lazily picked through the remnants of breakfast. She was soon joined by Honey and Willy in what became a massive raft of fuzz. Grooming is done for more than just hygiene and maintenance; it is the glue that bonds chimps together and also serves to alleviate stress. It certainly seemed to be doing all of the above as the three chimps took turns dozing off while gently picking through each other’s hair.

The Cuddle Puddle

Afterwards, though, the chimps began to act goofy and rambunctious. Lately, Willy B has been making raucous displays using a pink toy car that he can drag and push around the front rooms. Last week, he used this unusual object to make constant noise for the entire duration of our weekly staff meeting. Even with the doors between the chimp area and the foyer closed, we still had to shout just to hear each other. He continued to drag the little car around today, but he seemed to be in a good mood. He interspersed the loud drumming with quick play sessions. During these bouts of play, Willy waits for a caregiver to approach the caging and then skips away with his characteristic double stomp serving as a figurative exclamation mark. I tried to take photos of him and Honey B chasing us around the building, but both were fascinated by the camera and kept trying to groom and kiss the lens.

Honey B’s intense stare
Honey B’s nose hairs
Willy B’s pink lower lip
Willy B’s nose hairs and inquisitive gaze

The day ended with a challenging set of enrichment puzzles that today’s volunteer crew worked hard to stock with nuts, seeds and raisins. Chimps don’t seem to have the finely-tuned dexterity that most humans have, but they still tend to do quite well for themselves and can even learn how to use simple tools for grooming and foraging.The three new chimps were skilled with such tasks long before the even arrived at CSNW, but it’s still fascinating to watch them solve the puzzles in order to extract the valued snacks that are tactfully hidden inside. Today’s smörgåsbord of hanging puzzles included raisin boards, boomer balls, shake bottles, and drop-down puzzles; each type requires a different perspective and strategy, but the chimps are intelligent enough to figure most of them out eventually. The seven original residents are experts at these tasks and even last year’s arrivals are not far behind, so the pressure is on us caregivers to devise novel challenges that also meet our standards for safety and durability. Kelsi recently highlighted some enrichment activities on the blog, and we also curate a public enrichment database on our website.

Honey B teases peanuts out of a ball puzzle
Willy B shakes nuts and raisins out of a bottle puzzle
Willy B uses a plastic tool to drag the raisins into the enclosure for optimal snacking accessibility
Honey B uses a chopstick to work raisins out of the board puzzle
Honey B successfully punches a raisin out of the board

Provisioning the chimps with a steady stream of enrichment objects, foods and materials is a massive endeavor. For blog readers and Facebook followers, the best ways to ensure the chimpanzees have ample enrichment are to purchase items directly from our wish list or to become a Chimpanzee Pal. As Diana highlighted yesterday, an amazing supporter will be giving us bonus donations for every new Chimpanzee Pal and Bovine Buddy who signs up before the end of this month. Honey B, Mave and Willy B (the three chimps mentioned in this post) are all available to be sponsored. Of course, we appreciate all the generous people who have already made contributions to the sanctuary!

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P.S. I mentioned that Mave is an expert at maintaining a constant state of warm comfort. As I sit here putting the finishing touches on this blog post, I can see her silhouette on the security camera. Even with the limited night vision, her Ewok frame and hobbit feet are easy to distinguish. She’s snuggled up in a giant blanket nest on the heated floor of Front Room 7 and her right leg is propped straight up on the caging. She’s one of a kind.

P.S.S. Mave just lazily rolled over and I’m shutting down the Chimp House for the night. It’s easier to leave when you know that the chimps will be safe and warm in their nests until morning. I hope that you all do the same!