Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

tool use

Born in Africa

by 13 Comments

We’ve all been thinking a lot about Negra lately. You too, I know. Her ups and downs with her health and mobility have mostly been gentle waves. Some days, some moments, better than others. Dr. Erin created a new daily welfare assessment form that can capture more subtle and nuanced changes with plenty of room for writing down observations. On this assessment, the staff that day make note of her mobility, which remains her primary concern, as well as continence, gastrointestinal monitoring including periodic sampling for any signs of internal bleeding (so much of care comes down to poop, doesn’t it?), appetite and eating, what we offer for hydrating foods, social interactions with both humans and other chimpanzees, respiratory rate, and any other observations of the day. She’s still socializing with at least one, and more often two or three friends a day, climbing to the top of her beloved greenhouse structure, and occasionally weighing in on the drama from the other group in her classic “you kids quiet down over there” manner. She’s still our Queen Negra.

We’ve rigged up a portable watering spigot so she can access water while lounging on the deck of the greenhouse, and it’s become a popular device for all of the chimps.

Something I’ve been contemplating lately is what Negra remembers of her past. Not of the trauma she experienced in the lab–having her children taken away, being isolated, and living in a basement holding facility–but of her very early years. What were her very first memories?

We don’t know how old she was when she was captured in Africa. It’s not even possible for me to fathom that actually happened, to be honest. Perhaps it’s because I’ve always lived so far from that world of wildlife trafficking, knowing some of the results of the exploitative process, sheltered from the process itself. When Negra was captured, whether that was in 1973 as our records indicate, or as early as 1969 as other records seem to show, it was not an uncommon occurrence. There was a demand for chimpanzees for the space program in the United States and a supply of wild chimpanzees living across the world to fill that demand.

However old she was, Negra was born a wild chimpanzee. Did she know her mother? Her siblings? Did she spend enough time in her native land to learn about the best plants to harvest and where to find the ripest figs? Did she learn to nest high in the trees by watching her family make their beds? Did she learn how to fish for ants or termites?

That last question is what I was wondering while I watched her expertly use a chopstick to extract peanut butter from a PVC tube. It’s not the same, yet the elements are all there.

Was she thinking of Africa?

 

Thanks goes to Katelyn and Erin for the photos in this post. The feature image, taken by Katelyn, is Negra enjoying some chives and roses while lounging in the greenhouse.

World Chimpanzee Day Forage

by

We celebrated World Chimpanzee Day with a forage that included young coconuts in their husks—a chimp favorite! In this video, we follow Burrito, Foxie, and Jamie as they gather their bounties, attempt to crack them open, and try to keep them from getting stolen. See if you can spot some examples of reaching – what do you think the chimps are saying with their extended arms?

Doll Head Screwdriver

by

We love when the chimps find comfort or enjoyment in human toys—so long as they’re safe, of course. While all new toys are checked by two staff members to ensure they will withstand the chimps’ strength and destructiveness, everyone once and a while they chimps are able to, um, modify their toys in ways we didn’t anticipate. Let’s just be thankful that the building isn’t held together with doll head screws.

 

Smoothie Bandit Strikes Again!

by

A recent study added to vast knowledge we know about chimpanzees. One area in chimpanzee studies that keeps surprising us is their use of tools. A recent study added to what we know about chimpanzee tool use. The study conducted by Dr. Alejandra Pascual-Garrido and team at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania; the same area Jane Goodall first observed chimpanzees using tools to complete a task.

The task at hand? Fishing for termites. What Dr. Pascual-Garrido and fellow researchers determined that chimpanzees don’t just use any ol’ stick lying around. Their tool is carefully selected based on what the chimpanzee wants to accomplish. For instance, with termite fishing, chimpanzees were found to use certain sticks/stems based on their qualities and features. Since termite mounds are a series of long, winding tunnels, the chimpanzees will use tools that are more flexible to better weave through the tunnels to find the colony.

If you are an avid blog follower, then you know we have a handful of chimp residents here who use tools for various things. Whether its a stick Jamie picked out that is sturdy enough to groom caregivers’ boots, or Honey B ripping the bamboo out of the ground in her greenhouses and cutting it down to size, we have some pretty amazingly intelligent chimpanzees. A few years back we found some chimps who found new use for these long, plastic straws they are given as enrichment.

One new use that had the entire blog following rolling in laughter was Annie’s use of the straw to siphon Jamie’s smoothie right out of her hands. Well, seems like someone found this use and decided to try to get Negra’s morning juice supplements as she was drinking it… TWICE! On two separate occasions!

Be sure to watch the video to find out who!

New Puzzles, New Challenges

by

Today’s blog is all about enrichment! We are so grateful to the many supporters who helped make it possible for us to purchase new enrichment and craft new food puzzles thanks their generous support during our Comfort and Joy online auction. Some of the donated supplies are still waiting to be turned in to their final form, so stay tuned for a future blog to share more. Today’s video and blog will highlight the newly made giant holey lids courtesy of Tricia M. and new troughs thanks to Kathleen C.!

I love watching the chimps meet a new challenge, and find their own ways to accomplish the task at hand. Some puzzles require a demo by the humans, but most of the time we let the chimps try on their own first. As you’ll see in the video, Honey B has come up with a very different approach to the new troughs. Honey B’s method comes as no surprise, and she accesses the treats in record time!

Below is Lucky showing off her mostly clean trough! We put sugar free strawberry pudding in the bottom, and tossed some pomegranate arils on top which stuck to the pudding, requiring that she use the bamboo stick in her hand (or a different tool) to get the pudding and pomegranate. These troughs are the perfect depth, as the chimps cannot simply use their fingers to reach the bottom, which encourages the use of a tool and engages them with the puzzle for more time. Lucky was the first to master her method, which Willy B and Terry also utilized. Sometimes we put seeds, cereal, or other non-sticky food items in the troughs, which they can access by tipping the trough towards themselves (or using the Honey B method!).

Below is a newly made giant holey lid, ready for it’s first use by the chimpanzees! I cut several holes into the large (brand new) trash can lid, and bolted a frisbee to the middle of the lid. The frisbee can easily be rotated to cover the different holes, thus allowing one chimpanzee to control access to the other holes in the lid. Peanut butter has been smeared on the back of the lid, around each of the holes. I created this with the intention of using it as a social enrichment device with Cy’s group as they continue to undergo their reintroduction. If you’d like to learn more about social enrichment, see here! The below photo is what the puzzle looks like from the chimps’ point of view.

This photo show the back of the puzzle with smeared peanut butter, and is what the humans see after hanging up the puzzle for the chimpanzees.

Willy B was the first to try out the new puzzle today. He quickly figured out how to access the peanut butter, and moved the frisbee slightly. When a conflict started in the group which required Willy B’s attention, Rayne was quick to seize her opportunity and worked on the puzzle for quite a while. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the chimps get to experience this new food puzzle, and hope to see them move the frisbee more intentionally in the future! Thank you again to Tricia M. and Kathleen C. for your generous gifts to the chimpanzees!

Total Recall

by

What did we do to incur such a biblical plague of snakes this year? It seems we are constantly recalling the chimps, though, mercifully, nearly all intruders have been of the garter or racer variety. But rattlesnakes abound in this canyon, and to keep them out of the habitats we have to ensure that not even a 1/2″ hole has formed in or underneath the fence that surrounds these five acres. Over the years, including this year, rattlesnake incursions have occurred, and we fortify those rodent tunnels where we suspect they enter with concrete and hardware cloth. Thankfully, Burrito appears to be far more cautious around snakes these days and the rest of the gang seems to know to keep some distance, though that doesn’t stop them from throwing dirt or rustling the bushes with sticks. They are also better at recall, which allows us to remove the snake before anyone pushes their luck.

Please remind me of all this when I am complaining about snow in a few months.