Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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training

Training with Rayne

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Someone recently asked for an update on Rayne’s forehead, and here it is! As many of you who follow the blog already know, Rayne has a chronically dry forehead. It is a distinguishing feature that makes her easy to identify within her group, but can also be itchy and we assume somewhat uncomfortable for her. Because of this, Jenna wrote a plan (awhile ago) to apply lotion to Rayne’s forehead in an attempt to moisturize it and help with the dryness.

Rayne with a magazine and box of enrichment items

The update is that Rayne is a genius and has been allowing us to regularly lotion her forehead, using a paintbrush! She is especially helpful during these sessions as once we paint some of the lotion onto her head, she quickly rubs it in. Rayne’s favorite part of these sessions seems to be the juice she gets as a reward, and she especially loves getting to finish off what is left of it by the end of our session as a jackpot for a job well done. Immediately following these sessions, her forehead appears shiny and well-moisturized, making her look almost like a completely different chimp. We will be continuing to apply lotion to her forehead regularly using a paintbrush, and may try using different lotions to see if they provide more lasting effects.

Rayne’s forehead after lotion application

Enjoy some bonus photos from a forage with Jamie’s group today. The weather has been beautiful today, and both humans and chimps are enjoying it.

Foxie and her doll

Jamie with as many mini peppers as she could carry. This looks very similar to a different photo of Jamie we posted recently…Jamie loves her mini peppers!

Missy in motion

Training with Gordo

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One of my favorite parts of this job, besides building and maintaining relationships with my chimpanzee friends, is getting to participate in our Positive Reinforcement Training Program. Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) means we use rewards (food, praise, play, etc) to reinforce and encourage desirable behavior. We do this to provide the chimps and cattle with the ability to participate in their own care, and make necessary tasks (such as preparing for a sedation or even serving of meals) as stress free as possible for everyone involved.

Recently we were discussing the need for Gordo to have a routine physical exam to get a better understanding of his current heart health and health overall. This posed a bit of a daunting task as our goal before completing the exam is to have him comfortable with being separated from his group, and participating in training with a focus on injection training. At the time of the discussion, Gordo had only trained a handful of times and generally did not show interest in participating when we asked him to. Here comes the fun part…making a plan to achieve this goal, tweaking the plan as we encounter obstacles, and most importantly – making the whole experience positive and enjoyable for Gordo and strengthening our relationship along the way!

You may be wondering, why does he need to be comfortable being separated from his group? In order to safely sedate and then remove a sleeping Gordo for his exam, he needs to be alone. This is both for his safety so he is not vulnerable to others as he falls asleep, and for our safety as we then have to enter his room once he is asleep to take him to the clinic for his exam. Through PRT, we can work to make being separated from the group a positive experience (for example, being by himself means he gets a jackpot reward of several of his favorite things) which will help him feel less stressed as we prepare for his exam. Without training him for separation, it would likely cause much more stress for him when being separated as there would not be an existing positive experiences under these circumstances. We also have the goal to focus on injection training so that when the time comes, he will hopefully present his arm or leg for his injection to begin the sedation process. This is less stressful and easier to accomplish than having to use a small dart gun to administer the sedatives.

The first step was to write a shaping plan – a step by step guide for how we hoped to accomplish these goals. Jenna wrote a plan, and we were quick to get to work on it! Only one problem, Gordo was not as eager as we were to start the training. Most of his group is incredibly interested in training, so we had to have two trainers – one to occupy everyone else, and one to train with Gordo. We quickly altered our plan to train with him during meal time, when he often separates himself from the group naturally and comes up readily to receive his meal. We use a frisbee with hooks on the back of it to show him where we would like him to stay during the session (this is called a station marker), and he got the hang of this quickly! He comes up to his station marker, and to my surprise and excitement, he was very interested in training within just one training session!

Gordo stationing (in a box he pulled up to sit in, of course!)

We use both verbal and visual cues to communicate what we are asking of the chimps. For example, if I were to ask Gordo to present his left hand, I would hold up my right hand (mirror image) with my fingers pointed towards him and say “hand.” I would expect him to put his left hand up, sticking all of his fingers (except his thumb…that would be hard to accomplish since it is so small!) through the caging towards me. Gordo was quick to recognize that we were having a training session during the meal, and he started offering up several different behaviors he had learned during his time at Wildlife Waystation and seemed eager to participate. This may sound simple, but for a chimp who just a few weeks before was not interested in coming up to train, this was a big breakthrough and very exciting! As often is the case when working with chimps, we needed to be creative in order to find what worked best for Gordo. We are continuing to work with him on stationing (staying in one place) while doors are being operated, and have been focusing on his arms and legs during training sessions as these are ideal locations for injections. He is doing very well presenting both of his feet, his hands, and his right arm and leg so far! So long as he continues to do well, we will start progressing in his injection training (the next step is simply bringing a capped needle along to our sessions for him to observe), and asking him to move to different locations to station to be sure he understands that the same concept applies in a variety of situations.

Gordo presents his foot

Gordo touches his station marker

Gordo presents his leg and allows for a gentle touch with a chopstick!

PRT is such an amazing tool to have as caregivers. It helps us build stronger relationships of trust and cooperation with those in our care, and also allows them to actively participate in their own care. Through PRT you can get many important diagnostic values that may even prevent a need for sedation and can allow you to monitor existing conditions more regularly. It is incredibly rewarding to make progress in PRT with any trainee, but especially someone like Gordo who was not always interested or motivated to participate in PRT, and who this training can so greatly benefit him by decreasing his stress around a necessary procedure! Go Gordo, go!!!

Identifying Gordo

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Today I wanted to continue my chimp ID series that I started on Wednesday. Above you can watch the Gordo video I made to help trainees get to know his physical features a little bit better. Gordo is smaller than the other male members of his group. He has a white beard that covers lighter skin on his chin and mouth. His eyes are slightly closer together (and a little watery) and his face often has a bit of a “smirk” on it. He is also missing a toe on his right foot.   After you watch the above video, what features might you use to identify Gordo?

Teamwork

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Bite wounds are probably the most common injuries we see in chimps. Our treatment protocols for these wounds tend to be fairly conservative: administer analgesics for pain, clean frequently with antiseptic spray, and monitor closely. There are a few reasons for this. First, chimps have a superhuman (literally) ability to heal. Wounds that would send me racing to the ER for stitches will close up on their own in chimps with little to no treatment in a matter of days or weeks, remaining uninfected and leaving no visible trace once healed. Second, because of the frequency of wounding in captive groups, there’s always a risk of antibiotic resistance if antibiotics are over prescribed. And third, many forms of diagnostics and treatment require the chimps to be anesthetized—something we avoid whenever practical out of concern for their overall safety and well being.

Once and a while, though, there are wounds that require a bit more than the typical conservative approach—like recently, when Rayne received a bite to her third digit (middle finger) that resulted in some swelling. When the swelling persisted even as the wound appeared to heal, Dr. Erin wanted to rule out an underlying fracture. Thankfully, our Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) team was able to train Rayne to hold her hand in the x-ray box so that we could get some images without the need for anesthesia.

Here, Jenna asks Rayne to hold her hand flat in the box so we could get the first in a series of shots.

Jenna then withdraws her hand and Rayne holds hers still (while that other hand is trying to investigate the x-ray generator!).

The good news is that Rayne did not have a fractured digit. Interestingly, you can see an old healed fracture on her 2nd digit (index finger).

Though the swelling soon began to subside, PRT also made it possible to treat Rayne’s finger with a therapeutic laser to help encourage the healing process. For this, Rayne needs only to sit at her station marker and respond to Grace’s command to present the fingers of her left hand through the mesh. It was Rayne’s choice to pull up the orange ball and sit on it.

Sabrina is then able to program the laser, at Dr. Erin’s direction, and apply it to Rayne’s finger.

The only problem? Everyone wants a turn!

Positive reinforcement training requires a lot of staff time but these little opportunities to apply all that effort can really add up in the form of improved diagnostics, more effective therapies, and fewer trips to the clinic. Even if we learn that a chimp will require a more complex exam or treatment under anesthesia, we can often go in with a head start given the information we are able to obtain.

For her part, Rayne seems pretty happy to participate.

You want me to rotate my hand 90 degrees for a lateral view?

Here, you can laser my feet, too!

Just keep that juice coming.

 

What Makes Us Tick

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We’ve written a lot about that ways that Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) can improve the lives of captive animals, including—or should I say especially?— chimpanzees. Chimps are so powerful and so strong-willed that often the only way to get them to reliably engage in certain behaviors, whether it’s allowing the stick of a needle to administer medication or leaving an enclosure so it can be cleaned, is to ensure that it is by their own choice.

One area where PRT is particularly useful is during meals. Some dominant chimps take a What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is also mine approach to food, leaving other chimps in their group hungry, anxious, or both. A technique known as cooperative feeding can encourage dominant chimps to allow their group mates to eat their meals in peace by rewarding tolerance for others eating nearby. The trick is not to forcefully assert our own sense of fairness but to show certain chimps that it can be worth their while to chill out a bit. Sure, you could steal someone else’s food, but if you allow everyone else to eat you’ll get something even better for a whole lot less effort.

We’ve been using this technique with Jamie lately, as she has been giving both Foxie and Annie a hard time during meals. It’s certainly not unheard of for Jamie to steal food to assert her dominance, but the recent uptick has had her group mates on edge and unwilling to even take certain foods. Why all of a sudden? It’s hard to say for sure, but it’s possible that Jody’s passing left some ambiguity within the hierarchy and Jamie may have been feeling the need to remind everyone that there will be no changes at the top. Subtle, she is not.

One of the keys to effective training is finding the right unconditioned reinforcer, which is the natural reward that often follows the click or whistle, telling the animal that behavior is worth doing again. In almost all of the training we do—that is, the training the occurs during formal sessions—that reinforcer is food. Sips of juice, pieces of chopped up fruit, and bits of primate chow are all effective, though each individual will be motivated according to their own preferences. For Jamie, that means a click! and a piece of preferred food or drink every time she watches Foxie or Annie receive something she might want to steal. And if she stays at her station throughout the entire meal, she may even get a special treat, such as a whole clementine, at the end.

But food is such an efficient reinforcer that we sometimes forget that it’s not the only one. For Jamie, flattering her ego may be an equal or even greater reward. That’s not to say that Jamie doesn’t appreciate the special treats, but the extra attention from her caregivers and special status at mealtimes may being doing some if not most of the work. Perhaps when you are recognized as the boss by the humans in front of all your group mates, there’s less need to constantly remind everyone.

We’re all motivated by a handful of basic desires – to be noticed, to be appreciated, to be respected. Figuring out what makes someone tick can go a long way toward influencing their behavior. Because in the end, Jamie isn’t as complicated as she would appear: all she needs is the unquestioning loyalty, unreserved admiration, and complete and thorough submission of all those around her, human and chimpanzee, at all times. That and a few extra pear slices and she’ll be happy to mind her own business at lunch.

Welcome Sabrina!

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Last month we added our newest staff caregiver Sabrina to the team! Sabrina comes to CSNW with a wealth of  experience from her former job at Chimp Haven in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The last few weeks she has been learning our cleaning and safety protocols and starting to sow the seeds of friendship with the chimpanzees.  Next on the training docket she will learn to operate the remote doors and shift the chimps around their enclosures for cleaning.  At that point she will also take on the task of blog writer and get the opportunity to thoroughly introduce herself to all our followers.

Welcome aboard Sabrina, we’re so lucky to have you!

Lucky and Terry investigate Sabrina’s boots:

Sun’s Out, Puns Out!

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Today’s weather was consistently sunny and a bit warmer than usual: a merciful break in what has otherwise been a wet and gloomy winter season.

The chimpanzees spent the day lounging in the greenhouses, grooming each other, and even doing a bit of reconnaissance from the taller structures on Young’s Hill. The embedded video and following photos show some glimpses of their peaceful afternoon.

Jody:

Rayne:

Meanwhile, back in the foyer, Jenna, Grace and I had a difficult time coming up with a title for this post. Obviously, there should be some connection to be made between the weather and the chimpanzee activities. “Something to do with sunshine?” Can you do anything with the word ‘season’?” “Does anything rhyme with ‘greenhouse’?” Still, the inspiration didn’t quite come to us.

Lately, I’ve felt pressured to create corny puns and obscure references since that is apparently what I will be remembered for as a contributor to the blog. So many of you kindly wished me well in my next endeavor (more on that next week) but it shocked me how many people said they will miss my puns. I have cautiously pushed back against this claim given that the other caregivers also spit out some amazingly awful, groan-inducing titles, but get none of the backlash from our peers who are fervently anti-pun (see: J.B. Mulcahy).

As always, I’ve taken the time to provide examples of other peoples’ campy titles:

Terry: The Whole Tooth and Nothing but the Tooth, Cold November Rayne, Let Tree-dom Ring, Grapes n’ Roses, This Is A Bit Munch, Sani-Terry Grooming, Missy, I Love You From My Head To-ma-toes, Be Right as Rayne, Chimpanzees in the mist(er), Alpha Cy-chology, Leeked Photos, Twosday, Pretty Fly for a Shy Guy and Fantastic B’s And Where To Find Them

Those are just the ones from this last year! I can think of other egregious ones, like the time Sam called an Independence Day blog post Corn in the USA, but it would take a long time to retrieve all of them from the archives.

My point here is that the whole team is in this together. I am being unfairly singled out for getting on board this trend well before it took off.

Anyway, I hope you all appreciate these photos and video clips as much as we all appreciated a bit of a respite from the dreariness of this winter.

One more photo, this one from last week:

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P.S. Check out the following event and don’t forget to sign up here!

Virtual Visit -Let’s Learn about Positive Reinforcement Training!

January 22nd, 2023
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm PT

As Jenna explained yesterday in her post that blatantly referenced lyrics to a classic Eminem song, the sanctuary will be hosting another virtual event on this upcoming Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 at 1pm PT. The two of us plan to explain how we caregivers use Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) to facilitate chimpanzee health and wellness here at the sanctuary. The virtual event will include a live visit in the Chimp House with a Q&A session to follow. You can reserve your spot by clicking here. We hope to see you there!