Jamie
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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.
I’d like to serve her some tea (or whatever she wants!), pull out the other chair and sit & have some conversation with her — if she could talk, I know she’d have lots to say..
she would probably teach me a few things too
Trust me. Give her a glass of wine….
“Could I get a glass of lemon icewater and a menu, please?” 🙂
I think she’s waiting for us to join her at the table and then invite policy-makers to sit down with us and sign into law, the end of medical experimentation on animals and the end of using primates in the entertainment industry.
Maybe if each of us does only one thing every day towards this, even if that one thing is to say a prayer or talk with one other person, we can make it happen. And maybe we can sit across the table from Jamie and let her know that we are not betraying her by our silence.
BRAVO Shelly K………………..I agree 100% I am doing my part and hopefully in the future I can do tons more! She looks so content sitting at that table….Finally peace in her life, that is what she is thinking. Maybe they neee some artist boards and paint, i hear Chimps love to paint and their painting sell for a nice sum! I also read about one chimp (thats all I read about these days) she was rescued from the devils labs and loves to watch tv, soapoperas and talk shows….I wonder how these 7 would like tv??? love to the 7 XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Jamie does look so peaceful and I think painting is a wonderful idea. I hope though that they never get a chance to get used to watching TV. Man has done enough to these beautiful creatures without turning them into couch potatoes! I don’t mean to rain on your idea Shelly, I just think we all watch too much TV and don’t need to encourage anyone else. Love to the 7 XOXOXOXOXO
Is it just me…or, is Jamie’s hair growing in full, shiny and black? She looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!
Kim ~ I agree with you! I went back to some of the first posts when they arrived at the sanctuary & I think they all definitely look healthier & their eyes look brighter! Jamie does look so beautiful in this picture!
Shelly K ~ I love the comment you made! I think we can all do one thing every day…its the least we can do! I want to do even more than that….!!! By the way, Jim said that in the picture above, Jamie is saying “Hey, where is my raisin board?” 🙂 I think your idea about what she would like is much better!
It’s so much fun to read everyones comments & ideas on this blog! Maybe we can all get together again soon for another enrichment party…it’s nice to meet everyone & share thoughts & ideas in person too! I learned so much at the last enrichment party…there were so many people there who were very knowledgeable about primates & what we need to do to help them. And it was fun to make enrichments for Negra, Annie, Missy, Jamie, Foxie, Jody & Burrito too!
yeah, I also meant to say that I would apologize to her profusely for each and every thing that ever happened to her, her family & to all her friends (not that it would help or make a difference) .. I’d beg for her forgiveness (she doesn’t have to forgive anybody & rightly so) and I’d let her know & proclaim that I am not worthy of her presence
AMEN Sue & Shelly K
So many thoughts and emotions this photo of Jamie brings up ~ all the photo’s are great and some are exceptional, like this one. She really is gorgeous…Kim thanks for your comment, it opened my eyes to how much better she looks ~ amazing the miracles that love and care can work.
Dee ~ thanks a MILLION for the WONDERFUL information about ending research on chimpanzees (hope you got my email). Shelly C ~ I really hope that you’re able to create a way to spend more time supporting the cause (Audrey and I are going to collaborate to see how we can do the same).
Heartfelt thanks to all of you bloggers ~ I so enjoy reading your comments and knowing how much you all care about the chimps. I’m honored to be in the “blogging company” of such compassionate people.
Audrey ~ tell Jim that “his scent has worn off now” so he’ll need to send them a new enrichment! ;-0 Hope he doesn’t kill me for that comment, we live on the same island, no where for me to run and hide……;-)
What a great photo of Jamie. Looks like she is waiting for someone to join her for a game of cards or something.
I wish I could sit with her and tell her how much she means to me. I have a picture of her at home next to my clock so the first thing I see in the morning is Jamie wrapped in a blanket looking out the window looking very content. It warms my heart when I see her looking healthy and happy.
I have fallen in love with our 7 beautiful souls and I would do anything in my power to make sure they never have to go back to their former life if it ever came to that.
God Bless all of you for doing this wonderful work.
i dunno all the colorful plastic has a carnival circus feel to it for me. what about tree logs and durable natural items too? these guys have been so reduced in terms of their natural behaviors and environments. i can’t wait to see them heal to behave more truly as themselves and to live in surroundings and with things more like the homes they would have had in the outdoors. i’m not an expert (obviously) and please don’t misunderstand, i am in love with you all for what you have done and are doing and know you have visions that would be glorious for these guys if budget were no option….i just wanted to share the feeling i get when i see them amidst all that colorful child plastic all the time. Is it just me?? kx
Hi Kate,
I’m glad you have that feeling. Chimps don’t belong in captivity, surrounded by plastic furniture and children’s toys, so it should make us a bit uneasy to see them this way. But hopefully I can explain our philosophy on enrichment so that these images make more sense.
There are a few reasons why we provide the environment that we do for the chimps, but the most important is their need for constant stimulation. Free-living chimps have a lot going on – they live in large, complex societies and they often walk miles in a day in search of food. Chimps in captivity, no matter how large their enclosure might be, lack much of this natural stimulation. And there are only so many things you can do with a log or a rock before you succomb to boredom. That’s why we give them mirrors, toys, clothes, magazines, and many other objects that aren’t a natural part of the chimpanzee world. Some zoos spend millions of dollars creating enclosures that look natural, but a lot of that is money wasted from the chimps’ perpective if it doesn’t provide something to do.
It’s even more of an issue when you are caring for chimpanzees that have been raised in a human environment. Jamie, for example, spent the first 9 years of her life in the entertainment industry. This has had a lasting impact on her interests and preferences. In fact, one of the most popular activities among the many captive chimps that I have known is cleaning – with a broom and dustpan, scrubbing with soapy water, etc. They spend decades watching humans clean, and they want to join in.
We do have plans to expand in the future, possibly including a large, open air enclosure encompassing 3 or 4 acres, in addition to the outdoor enclosure we are completing next week. But even then, you will probably see Foxie carrying her troll doll through the tall grass 🙂 Or maybe not. Hopefully we’ll get to find out!
I have really come to appreciate this blog community, not only for the support but also for the thoughtful comments and questions, so please keep them coming!
JB
I have only recently found this blog and it is often the highlight of my day! Thanks to the wonderful caregivers and all my fellow blog fans!
As to natural vs. behaviors learned in captivity: if any of you are familiar with The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee (http://www.elephants.com) you will know that they deal with the same issue, since all of their elephants come from circuses and zoos. It’s a transition, one they allow the elephants to make in their own time; at the same time, as they get to know each new arrival they gently encourage her to explore, play — and just be an elephant, something that many of them have never had the chance to be!
As to whether Foxie will need her troll doll when she goes outside: perhaps this is similar to Sissy at the Elephant Sanctuary. She had always lived alone and a tire was her only companion. When she arrived at the Sanctuary in 2000, they had a huge pile of tires of all sizes awaiting her. She used to carry a tire with her all the time. Now, however, she has various tires scattered around the habitat and carries them only when she feels the need.
oh Amy, Sissie’s story breaks my heart. Good God, I just cannot wrap my brain around how people are capable of treating animals so inhumanely. A tire was her only companion. I can’t imagine how on God’s green earth people justify that and sleep at night.
Elephants are such family oriented creatures, when they hurt the elephanst to train them to perfrom OMG I cannot even tell you because it is a major SIN what I wish for any and ALL people that ABUSE ANY and ALL animals. Animals want to live, just like us, they want to eat ,just like us, they want to protect their families, just like us…etc. etc. etc. I pray to God and I know God is not a Vengeful God BUT, I pray he has a very special palce for people that abuse animals….I hate those people, and I wish they would send animal abusers and gang members to the front lines of the war and let our children come home, send the ones that want to fight and kill the ones that have evil in their soul….Okay thanks, I am done venting, I just get so sick and cry many many tears for the animals that are jsut treated like objects…sorry everyone!!!! It hurts and it hurts really bad!
yeah Amy – Carol & Scott are phenomenal, just like the folks here at CSNW … all the beautiful elephants are very special & unigue so it’s difficult to pick a fave, but the grand, resilient & strong Shirley is my favorite .. love them all .. Tarra and her canine companion(s), love it!
Shelly K & Shelly C – I hear ya
JB, Thank you for your thoughtful response and everyone else here who feels the same as I do. The animals’ suffering is my greatest suffering. Only soy ice cream, human and non human reality TV (Project Runway and the Cle Elum Seven are my faves) and activism helps but always only for a little while before i’m furious again and have to eat, watch and act and on and on and on, like sisyphus! KD ox
My thanks, also, JB. You do a great job of describing what goes on in the minds of these seven (and others) and how we can help to keep their minds active and healthy. Count me in for a donation for a heavy duty washer and dryer. Patty C.