Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
After a raucous Thanksgiving celebration yesterday, which included lots of fun and lots of food, most of the chimpanzees are laying low (I think many of our followers in the U.S. can relate, am I right?).
Burrito isn’t generally one to “lay low”, but today he did most of his playing on his back! It’s always a pleasure to watch Burrito entertain himself 🙂
Burrito is one of the most fun chimpanzees I have ever met and, don’t tell my other chimp friends, but he is absolutely the funniest. One of the most endearing things to me about Burrito is how he can have fun with just about anything. A sock? Perfect for playing tug with the humans. A headband? Get over here Missy, let’s see how far we can pull it! A slinky? Obviously the perfect accessory for the foot or leg. A stuffed animal? The best for tossing around. A bandana? The ideal size for covering your face while playing with your friends. It goes on and on! Burrito is also, to my recollection, the only chimp I have ever heard laugh while playing by himself. I have heard him laughing and gone over to see who he is playing with, only to find him laughing at the silly things he is doing all by himself.
A very silly upside down Burrito
We recently received 3 stuffed knots, which each form a ball shape, as a gift for the chimpanzees from a generous donor. Since they have stuffing, we gave them to Burrito’s group as some of the members of the group of 9 eat stuffing, and therefore can’t have it. We started by giving them one ball, and Burrito had the BEST time with it! He quickly discovered every possible way to play with it. He stretched it out so it could fit over his body, he knocked it around like he was kicking a soccer ball, he put one of the stretched out bands around his foot and pulled it around behind him, he threw it as high as he could into the air and caught it on the way back down, he hugged it tight, and he bounced on it! We gave him the other two toys today, and he has been enjoying them throughout the day, somehow finding even more new ways to have as much fun as possible with them. Check out today’s video to see Burrito with his beloved new toys. Many thanks to the donor that sent them to us!
If you’d like to spread more joy and fun like this among the chimps, the cows, and their caregivers, consider joining us in celebrating summer by helping to empty our three wish lists for Christmas in July!
Willy B never seems to tire of playing with his slinky.
On any given day, Burrito usually has some sort of enrichment object that he carries around with him. Some days it’s a wooden toy…
Last week, it was a plastic toy bucket….
and a toothbrush…
Today, it’s a white and green scrub brush.
Both Foxie and Jamie have their “thing” (dolls and boots, respectively). Burrito has his toys. And, when he’s feeling playful, he will put the toy in his mouth and bite it. This is often accompanied by a quick nod of his head and a foot stomp directed toward one of his human caregivers. It’s Burrito’s invitation to play a game of chase and it’s pretty hard to resist!
One of the first nearly chimp-proof enrichment items the chimpanzees had after arriving to the sanctuary was a “boat bumper” donated by long-time supporter Kathy Benson, who found it at a garage sale.
Below is a photo of Annie (yawning) holding the toy. This was taken in July of 2008, less than a month after the chimpanzees arrived.
Recently, I searched on amazon for the same thing, remembering how much fun it had been for the chimps all those years ago. It turns out the big ones are fairly expensive, and I didn’t know if it would last as long, so I opted to get a small version and see how things went…
I do like how portable this version is –
but given Jamie and Missy’s keen interest in “opening” the ball, I’m not sure how long it will last. What do you think?
Missy seemed to be having a great time working on a food puzzle this morning. Chimpanzees engage in solitary play quite often, but I can’t remember seeing anyone smile so much in the process.
