Foxie might be the silliest being I’ve ever met. She truly can brighten anyone’s day with her bouncy head nods and loud laughter—even Jamie—the most serious being I’ve ever met, is entranced with her charm and playfulness. Foxie steals peoples’ hearts with her love of trolls and Dora dolls, especially when she rubs their belly on her own. She’s sweet, kind, and truly resilient. Read what Diana said about Foxie when they first met at Buckshire.
Foxie was born on August 8, 1976 at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in Texas (which became Texas Biomedical Research Institute and still houses chimpanzees for research). Buckshire purchased Foxie in 1983 and then leased her to Michale E. Keeling Center, another biomedical lab also in Texas. She was there for two years before being shipped back to Buckshire in October 1985. We don’t have any records of her early years, just that she was used in hepatitis A vaccine trials. In November 1985, she was shipped down south again to White Sands Research Center in New Mexico. Foxie was known as “#CA0130” at Buckshire and WSRC. At SFBR her tattoo was “#4-051.”
In two years, Foxie moved from one lab to another, back to Buckshire, and then to yet another lab. At WSRC she was used as a breeder. On December 21, 1987, she gave birth to Angie (who now, thankfully, lives at Save the Chimps in Florida) who was taken from her right away. Foxie also gave birth to Kelsey in 1989 and a set of twins, David and Steve. All were taken away from her within days of their births. She left Coulston on August 13, 1996 and remained at Buckshire for the next 12 years.
Foxie is known at CSNW for her love of troll dolls (and also Dora the Explorer dolls). Though it can seem endearing how she loves and hugs her dolls, it’s also a sad reminder that Foxie was never able to keep a baby of her own. She would get knocked down, and wake up with her babies stolen from her. After being traumatized in the lab, Foxie not surprisingly has likely suffered some psychological distress. She doesn’t really nest with blankets like the other chimpanzees do, and she doesn’t care about a lot of other enrichment unless they are her dolls that she adores.
Foxie is extremely forgiving. For all that humans have done to her—shipped her around, injected her with vaccine tests, and stolen her babies—she’s surprisingly very energetic and interactive with the humans. She can make anyone smile with her playful spins and pirouettes. She probably would have made an excellent mother if she’d been given the chance, but at least in sanctuary she is able to take her dolls with her outside, forage for fruit which she loves, and do somersaults and acrobatics that she never had the space to do in the labs she was caged in.
When Foxie first came to CSNW she was curious about the outdoors, which she’d never really experienced before.
Now, Foxie confidently takes her precious dolls with her on adventures around Young’s Hill.
Give Five today to keep Foxie’s belly full of delicious fruit smoothies! (her favorite).
To me Foxie is my girl. I love her. I know how it feels to lose babies. I lost 3 of them, and was never able to have children after that. I personally feel that Foxies love for the troll and Dora dolls is a mother instinct even though she was never able to care for her own babies.
It truly is a shame that the CE7, and many others, have had to endure so much in their lives. I am so thankful and grateful that the CE7 have so many wonderful people that love them. Thankful that they now have the freedom they deserve. Bless all of you!
By the way…isn’t it rare for Chimps to have twins?
Ivy – yes, it is rare for chimps to have twins. Like humans they typically have single births, allowing the mothers to devote all of their time and attention to a baby who are 100% dependent and can’t really do much for themselves. But, also like humans, it does happen occasionally! Good observation though.
I keep wondering if these chimps have hepatitis since they were used to test vaccines? That would be such a grim thought, but a possility.
They were all used in “safety” trials, meaning the vaccine only and not the actual virus. They wanted to see if there were any bad side effects of the vaccine, so they would do liver biopsies to check the chimps’ health after getting vaccinated. None of the Cle Elum Seven have hepatitis. Primarily, they were used as breeders, but have definitely been through a lot of stuff. So glad they never had to worry about that again!
I’ve also noticed Foxie is quite a gymnest. I’ve seen a couple videos where she swings quite adeptly and, as some have observed, “break dances.”
In the first picture you can see those eyes I spoke of earlier. Just nothing there. These are not the eyes I see now. Foxie is a playful sole, who likes to keep the peace within the group and really doesn’t like a lot of drama. Foxie lots to spin and do fun things, she likes to play spit at you so you will do funny things like dance or play peek a boo with her. She enjoys the hill and all it has to off her and her beloved babies. It is a real honor when she will entrust one of her babies to you even for a very short time before wanting them back. She may be small but she has a big personality.
It’s hard to pick my favorite chimp, even from my three most favorite, but Foxie was my first favorite girl. My heart went out to her the moment she started adopting troll dolls. I could see right away her mothering instincts with these little goofy-looking babies. I love that she is so endearing to everyone but more than that, I love that Foxie now has green grass on which to run and things on which to climb, and food to forage and friends with which to play. Thank you CSNW.