Watch the video below in celebration of 5 years of sanctuary life for Queen Negra, Jamie, Jody, Annie, Missy, Foxie, and Burrito.
Archives for June 2013
Negra’s story
Today is the fifth anniversary of Negra and the Cle Elum Seven’s new lives in sanctuary. It’s amazing what sunshine and good food and comfort can do for these inspiring and resilient chimps. Today is the day to Give Five for our Queen on her birthday! Stay tuned for a video that we will be posting in just a little bit in celebration of five years of sanctuary.
Negra’s History:
Negra was captured from the wild, presumably in 1973, however she could be even older. Buckshire leased her to White Sands Research Center in March 1982 where she got the tattoo “#CA0041.”
WSRC started breeding Negra with Mack right away in April 1982, just one month after her arrival. Mack was a popular breeder – he was also paired at WSRC with Annie, Foxie, Jody, and is Burrito’s father. Tarzan, Rufus, and Spock are just a few other male breeder names we see in many of the chimps’ records. In between transfers to breeding pairs the females were sometimes housed alone, and sometimes with another female. At different points Annie was with Foxie and with Jody, Foxie was with Jody, Jody was with Negra, and Negra was with Karen, who was Burrito’s mother. The cross-over that we read about in these records is interesting, but also very sad. It only emphasizes how much these chimpanzees were used over and over to create more generations of lab chimps.
On November 29, 1983, technicians discovered Negra was pregnant. She gave birth to Heidi in January 1984.
1/8/84 – Delivered healthy female infant #91 Heidi. Removed & taken to nursery.
Heidi was taken immediately away, but Negra was able to stay with Angel (see below) for five whole days.
9/4/85 – Healthy infant born this date.
9/9/85 – Healthy infant removed and taken to nursery – female #126 Angel.
In early 1986 the scribbled notes indicate the lab techs believed Negra has some kind of infectious disease due to loose stool and negative parasite tests, and she was moved to isolation on March 31, 1986.
3/31/86 – Dr. ordered animal removed from main colony and placed in isolation for further testing.
The lab technicians took blood from Negra regularly, knocking her down each time. They took liver biopsies, which meant surgery. They tested her for hepatitis C on June 2, 1987, and for some reason the results did not return until over six months later on January 12, 1988. The entry for that date concluded that there was no evidence for the suspicion that Negra had hepatitis C. Negra had been housed in isolation for over a year and a half due to incorrect blood work. At this point, they transferred her back to the main chimp colony.
1/14/88 – Transferred from Quarantine to Bldg. 300 (Main colony) this date.
1/14/88 – Enter cage #28 by herself. Home again.
Negra was transferred away from quarantine but was put back into the cage she had been in during that year and half, by herself. At this point it was considered her home to be alone in cage #28. Being alone didn’t last long, though. The next week, she was thrown back into breeding pairs.
10/17/89 – Infant born approximately 10:00am, taken from mother and removed to nursery. Infant boy. #205 Noah.
Even after living in isolation, undergoing tests, and having babies taken from her, WSRC still took more from her. In early January 1992, they used her in a study that involved injecting a serum near her lymph nodes in her left leg. By March they had done this five times, and prepped Negra for surgery to remove the nodes. As if that weren’t enough, just a couple months later, Negra was transferred again to another breeding pair. She did not have any more babies however, and left WSRC/Coulston with Annie, Foxie, and Jody to return to Buckshire on August 12, 1996.
Before coming to Cle Elum, Keith, J.B., Diana, and Sarah all met the chimps while they were still at Buckshire. Read this post to see what Diana said about Negra back then.
Negra, arriving at CSNW exactly five years ago today:
Jamie and Negra at the barn doors:
Cage #28 is no longer Negra’s home. Now her home is Young’s Hill, where she’s really finding her place under the sun. It has taken her a little while to be fully comfortable on the hill, but this summer, she’s exploring and spending more and more time outside. Some days she’s hard to find! Seeing Negra, the honorary Queen of CSNW, able to relax and enjoy her home fills everyone around her with joy. She is the epitome of CSNW’s philosophy: Hope. Love. Home… Sanctuary.
Negra getting some reassurance from Jamie:
Happy Anniversary CSNW from Tracy!
Today was sponsored by Tracy Headley. Tracy was the first person to respond to our Give Five Day campaign and chose to sponsor this very special day in honor of our 5 year anniversary. We have so much to celebrate today because not only is it the sanctuary’s anniversary, it is also our beloved Queen Negra’s 40th birthday! None of which would be possible without the support of so many wonderful people. Thank you so much for such a wonderful start to the day, Tracy! And speaking of our amazing supporters, we also have a second sponsor for today which will be posted after the celebrations get under way!
Missy’s story
Missy cracks us up every day.
She is super active, but at times can be calm, gentle and is very intense and serious about grooming sessions. She also likes to use tools to groom herself. She doesn’t sit still for long though—every day she runs so fast around the playroom chasing Annie or on the hill just for the fun of it. Like Burrito and Foxie, she’s pretty goofy, has a great sense of humor, and will even sometimes crack herself up. She’s very energetic and has the ability to get just about anyone to play with her.
On Young’s Hill she seems to prefer to be an acrobat, and often times will walk along the firehoses like a tight rope rather than the structures themselves. To her that probably is just more fun. It’s awesome so see her enjoying herself so much.
Missy’s birthday is unknown but it’s estimated she was born in 1975, and Buckshire purchased her from a private breeder. Missy has two tattoos: “CH504” on her chest, which was from LEMSIP; and “#133” which is from another lab, possibly White Sands. We only have a few records from Buckshire and LEMSIP, and nothing prior to 1987, though it is likely she was either at LEMSIP or another lab previously. While at LEMSIP she was used in hepatitis vaccine trials and used as a breeder. In 1987 she gave birth to her first infant on record:
April 25, 1987: Male infant live born Day 229 of gestation. Showed a great deal of affection towards the infant but did not know now to carry him to breast or suckle him. Her behavior did not improve over the following week, during which time nutritional maintenance was given, and the baby was removed permanently to the nursery for rearing.
December 12, 1987: Small amount of placental tissue aborted, accompanied by uterine bleeding (very early gestation.)
June 11, 1989: Female infant born Day 229 of gestation. Did not pick up infant at all, which was therefore removed to the nursery for rearing.
July 14, 1991: Stillborn female infant Day 225 of gestation.
In Late 1992 she moved back to Buckshire, where she lived, warehoused, until being rescued by Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in 2008. Though her records do not indicate she was being used in any active biomedical research protocols during these years at Buckshire, just like the other chimpanzees there, Missy was routinely knocked down for blood draws, physicals, and tuberculosis tests.
Missy arriving at CSNW in 2008:
Missy and her best friend Annie playing in the early sanctuary days:
Today Missy is brave, easy-going, playful, and full of energy. It’s very hard to think of her stuck in small cages no bigger than a coat closet when she runs, full speed, across the open-air enclosure of Young’s Hill and scrambles up tall posts without a second thought.
Annie and Missy now get to play with no cage above their head:
And at the end of the day, she can relax in peace:
Give Five for Missy. $5 pays for one meal, and Missy loves fresh produce that provides her the calories she needs to keep her speed up!
Jody’s story
We are continuing with our chimpanzee profiles leading up to Give Five Day and the five-year anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to sanctuary on June 13th. Today we feature Jody.
Jody has a unique personality. She’s very serious and independent, but also caring and kind, and will happily greet her caregivers every morning. She has beautiful, soulful eyes (something J.B. noticed when they first met at Buckshire). She loves to lounge around in the afternoon in the warm greenhouse, and builds the most fantastic nests. Seeing Jody nest is really fascinating. She is very diligent in the process—she seems to take it pretty seriously and sometimes she will have very elaborate nests. Lately, she’s been interested in nesting with the bamboo we planted in the greenhouse.
Jody was a little timid to go out on Young’s Hill at first, but after some encouragement she became fearless and will spend a long time out there—sometimes she is hiding behind structures and we have trouble finding her!
She is also very helpful. She will sometimes pull blankets out of doors when we ask nicely so that we can close them, and she will also “round up” stragglers at meal times, to get them to come out to the greenhouse for breakfast.
We celebrate Jody’s birthday on Mother’s Day, in honor of the 9 infants she had but was never able to properly care for as their mother. Jody’s records say that she was born in 1975, possibly from the wild, and that she may have spent a few years in a circus. Buckshire purchased Jody, and then in 1981 she was shipped to White Sands to be used in hepatitis research and for breeding. On her tenth day, she had her first knock-down. If her birth year is correct, she was six years old. She was given a new tattoo – “WSRC #37.”
Over the next year and a half, Jody was regularly transferred between cages. Sometimes she was with another female, sometimes by herself, but usually she was with a male for breeding purposes—Max, Mack, John, Magoo, and others all in an attempt to create the next generation of lab chimpanzees.
In January 1983, Jody gave birth for the first time. She was eight years old. The technician’s notes read:
1/4/83 – 4cc Ketaset IM. Delivered infant baby male – taken away to nursery… Baby – Male WSRC #66 OPY – appears healthy.
Jody never got to nurse Opy, or hold him, or carry him on her back, or teach him about the world. She was immediately knocked down with ketamine (a.k.a. Ketaset) and her baby was stolen. The “IM” in these notes stands for “intramuscular” meaning she—like all the other mothers—was being stabbed with syringes or shot with darts.
Six weeks after delivering and losing her first baby, Jody was put into a cage with a male named Rufus for breeding, and the cycle continued. She would go on to have eight other babies—Levi, April, Cliff, Clay, Adam, Andrea, Bart, and Taylor—as well as two miscarriages in just ten years.
11/23/83 – 4cc Ketaset IM. Delivered healthy infant male #88… removed and taken to nursery (Levi).
6/20/84 – Found approx. 2-month old fetus + placenta in cage this a.m.
4/26/85 – Delivered healthy looking baby at 10:30pm… 3cc Ketaset IM. Not taking care of baby. Infant removed to nursery (#119 April). Animal does not appear to be feeling well. Did not eat any fruit this date.
3/15/86 – Delivered healthy infant early a.m. this date. 3 1/2 cc Ketaset IM. Mother was leaving infant on the floor – infant removed + taken to nursery. Appears to be a healthy animal #142 Cliff, male.
5/20/87 – Delivered healthy male infant between 11:30 and 12:00 pm… 5cc Ketaset IM. Infant male #162 Clay removed and taken to nursery, Mother leaving infant unattended.
4/26/88 – PATHOLOGIST’S NOTE: Bloody mass found in cage – test indicates spontaneous abortion due to acute, hemorrhagic placentitis
1/4/89 – Arrived for night checks at 10:15pm… found infant alive in cage no more than one hour old – mother not taking good care of infant. 4 1/2 cc Ketaset IM. Removed infant male #0187 – appeared healthy.
9/30/90 – Delivered healthy infant female approx. 4 to 6 a.m. this date. Mother not taking good care of infant- leaving infant on floor unattended. 4 1/2 cc Vetalar IM, infant removed to nursery (#215 Andrea).
1/14/92 – Delivered healthy male at approx. 2:50pm this date. Mother not taking good care of baby. Leaving baby on floor unattended. 4.5 cc Vetalar IM Infant removed at 4:05pm, taken to nursery. Drew milk out for baby. (#226 Bart).
2/19/93 – Delivered infant early a.m. this date. 0515 hrs found infant on cage floor. Infant very cold. Removed infant immediately to nursery, mother not caring for infant. Infant male #236 Taylor.
Jody had the potential to be a great mother, but after being stolen from her own mother and forced to live in a lab, where baby after baby were taken from her, she was not attending to her infants the way she would have in a more natural environment. It really isn’t at all surprising that Jody wouldn’t create a bond with her infants when she had never had one with her own mother. She deserved to be raised with her mother and to learn what it is like to be loved unconditionally, and she deserved the chance to show her own children the same love.
Jody, upon arrival at CSNW:
We sadly can’t make everything right again, and we can’t undo what’s been done. But what we can do is honor Jody and make every day more interesting and more exciting than the last. Now she can build elaborate nests with blankets and paper and bamboo shoots if that’s what she prefers, she can play wrestle with chimpanzee friends and groom in the comfort of a safe home, and she can explore her expansive open-air enclosure and feel the sun over her—something she likely hasn’t felt since she herself was a baby in the forests of Africa.
Jody after five years in sanctuary:
For five years Jody has been in sanctuary, free from all the horrors of the lab. Give Five in Jody’s honor today.
Take Action Tuesday: Split-listing may be removed!
This morning the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that they are proposing to remove the split listing between captive and free-living chimpanzees, making ALL chimpanzees endangered. This potentially will have a major influence on how chimpanzees are treated in this country. It will certainly have an impact on invasive research and most likely entertainment as well.
Read our press release on the proposal and see this news article featuring a photo of CSNW’s resident, Jody (read her story here).
At this moment, the FWS has only made a proposal and this does not guarantee that it will be passed. The FWS is currently accepting public comment, so we need your help! Please leave a comment here to express your thoughts on this issue. Let them know that chimpanzees should be regarded as an endangered species and that the hundreds of chimps still in labs and entertainment truly deserve to be in sanctuaries. Spread the word!
Jamie’s story
Jamie is probably the smartest primate you’ll ever meet. Her exact birthdate is unknown, but she was likely born in 1977. We celebrate her birthday on Halloween every year – it fits her mischievous personality. Jamie’s early years were spent around humans. She lived with a trainer and was probably used in some form of entertainment. She was clearly exposed to a lot more human-like things than most lab chimpanzees are.
Jamie’s records are really scarce. What we can decipher is that Buckshire likely purchased Jamie in the mid 80s, after she was with a trainer for about nine years. After that, she may have been leased to the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) in New York, where she was given the tattoo “#CH522.” She was likely used in hepatitis B vaccine trials, and possibly as a breeder, though we have no records of any offspring.
Jamie’s tattoo on her chest reads “522.” On her first day at CSNW, you could still make it out on her pale skin:
All of the technician notes from Jamie’s physicals including something along the lines of “pulls hair from stomach.” In captivity, and especially in dismal conditions, chimpanzees will develop stereotypic behaviors such as over-grooming by pulling their hair. Diana noted Jamie’s bare belly on their first visit to Buckshire. In the lab, Jamie had very little choices and zero control over her life. She resorted to pulling her hair out due to pure boredom.
Unfortunately, Jamie still exhibits this behavior. For the first year she was at the sanctuary, we saw no sign of her hair plucking. Now it varies from no sign at all to a small, bare patch. Though her environment has improved exponentially, the habits that chimpanzees pick up in situations of deprivation often continue even when their environment improves. And no captive situation can provide the rich social, emotional, and mental stimulation that chimpanzees evolved to experience. It is unfair that Jamie has to live in captivity, and we think she knows that.
It’s impossible to imagine Jamie in a small biomedical cage with nothing to keep her mind stimulated, and we’re so happy that we can now provide ways for her to stay active. Whether it’s drawing, putting together tools, taking things apart, working on a tricky project, getting a new boot, or expressing her innate chimpanzee-ness on Young’s Hill, these are all things that she did not have during her decades when she was viewed as a mere tool for biomedical progress.
Jamie enjoying a piece of fruit from her breakfast forage:
Jamie and Jody investigating something on the hill:
Jamie, quite content, taking a nap with a boot:
Celebrate the “boss lady” and her amazing new freedom she has in sanctuary. Give Five today and share with your friends!