Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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First Impressions: Jody

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Last week I had every intention of doing a blog about Jody, but Jamie stole the show. Jody can be a tough chimpanzee to get to know. She will put up boundaries between her caregivers (especially new ones) that are easy to respect. She has the admiration of her chimpanzee family and is high ranking (although not as high as Jamie). Jody is a lover of large nests and will sometimes leave them in the doorways of the enclosures making it a challenge to close off. If you ask her nicely, she may oblige and move her blankets. On other days, she may stay posted in an area so there is no chance to clean it. Jody is also an amazing forager. She will go out on Young’s Hill and fill her mouth and hands so full of produce that her wrists bend into a shovel shape and her impressive lips are extended to capacity. She finds delicious things to eat on the hill, even when we haven’t specifically put out a forage. Whether it be bamboo branches, weeds, or grass, she will find it and enjoy it.

Today I took some photos of Jody as she lounged in the playroom. She had the beginnings of a nest built and a bamboo shoot ready to be snacked on. She also had a green-haired troll in her pelvic (hip) pocket.
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Burrito was on standby as I photographed Jody. Keeping a watchful eye on her and making sure I didn’t step out of line.
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Beautiful, tough, and respected, this is Jody chimpanzee.
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Negra and friend

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Negra spent the day hanging out with a new friend. And if you’ve been following the blog recently, you may be able to guess who that might be. Diana got some great photos of the Queen enjoying a leisurely morning in the greenhouse and it didn’t take long to spot her new companion.

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You can just see a tuft of white hair sticking out from under Negra’s hip pocket:

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Negra heard the train coming and one of her favorite things to do is watch it go past in the valley below. She also loves to bang on the window at it as it passes by and today she seemed to be telling her little friend all about it.

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Similar hairstyles…

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For reasons unclear to the humans, trolls are the “it” item du jour in the chimp house again. Jody has been wearing a scarf with several trolls tied onto it for two days! She even ran back in before breakfast to retrieve it and put it on during her meal. But no worries about Foxie, she’s been spending her time with Dora today.

Negra braves the heat

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It’s difficult to catch Missy in an action shot because she moves so fast.

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It’s even harder to catch Negra in an action shot because…well, she’s just not very active. But even temperatures in the high 90’s couldn’t stop Negra from parkouring her way through Young’s Hill, troll in hand, to grab some broccoli and cauliflower during today’s lunch forage.

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Foxie has been holding on to a new troll with its purple hair still intact. She treasures these while they last (Jamie and Jody usually rip the hair out).

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Speaking of hair, a lot of people have trouble telling Annie and Foxie apart, so here’s a good side-by-side shot to help you out. Annie looks like someone just rubbed a balloon on her head. Not unlike a troll doll, come to think of it.

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And Burrito has been showing off a bit more of his physique, thanks to his recent exam. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t build muscle on a diet of fruits and vegetables. Your results may vary, however, unless you also stick to Burrito’s daily workout routine that includes leaping, swinging, and banging on everything in sight as you terrify everyone around you in a formidable dominance display and then running for your life as six angry girls chase after you.

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Negra in the Portrait Studio

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I try to take photos of the chimpanzees whenever they are in the “the portrait studio” (an area in one of the front rooms that has great natural lighting). Negra was the first chimp I spotted there this morning, but the first two times I went to grab the camera and came back, she was gone. So, when I spotted her sitting on the ledge a third time, I debated getting the camera, thinking the same thing would happen again. Instead, she stayed there, stretched out her legs and let me see what she was “hiding” in her pelvic pocket.

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This is not the first time that Negra has taken a liking to troll dolls. Take a look at the blog Diana wrote from last fall, when Negra brought a troll doll with her while foraging on Young’s Hill.

Foxie gazing at Dora

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One thing that has become clear to me during my years of working with chimpanzees: there is often no answer to “why” questions, such as “why is Foxie so enamored with troll and Dora the Explorer dolls?” Or, similarly, “why does Jamie want her caregivers to put on cowboy boots and “join” her on her walks around Young’s Hill?”.

Maybe rarely having access to answers for “why” questions makes the chimpanzees endlessly fascinating. And maybe it also allows us to concentrate on the “what” and the “how” questions, like, “what can we do to enrich Jamie’s life today?” or “how can we make sure that Foxie always has a choice of dolls?”

Today, this was the doll Foxie picked:

Foxie stroke dora

 

The bite test:

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The gaze test:

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and this is Foxie looking at me holding Dora before the three of us started playing chase:

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Why does Foxie like her caregivers to play chase while holding one of her dolls? I don’t know. But, as more time passes, the better I get at figuring out what makes her particularly giddy when we’re playing these games.

 

Foxie on a troll stroll

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Foxie takes her dolls with her almost everywhere. She holds them during meal times, she plays with them (both on her own and with friends), and she rests with them. She even takes them on brief outings onto Young’s Hill. A lot of times she carries them on her back like a mother chimp would carry their infant around, but sometimes she is able to manage with them in her hand or mouth as she walks. In the last photo, you’ll see she’s rubbing the troll’s belly as they head back into the greenhouse.

Though it can seem endearing how Foxie loves her dolls, it’s also a sad reminder that Foxie was never able to keep a baby of her own.

Foxie was used as a breeder in the lab. When she was just 10 years old, she gave birth to twins, David and Steve. Steve is deceased, but David is currently living at Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) in New Mexico. Foxie had two other babies, Angie (who now thankfully lives at Save the Chimps in Florida) and Kelsey (who lives at APF like David).

Though we can never make up for all that Foxie has lost, we are so glad that in sanctuary she has found a great deal of happiness and companionship in her dolls.

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