Chimpanzee Parkour

Last week, I posted a photo of Missy on her Facebook page leaping off of the termite mound. Her friend Debra Durham commented on the photo, “parkour!” I thought to myself, “exactly!”

If you haven’t heard of parkour, well, you can thank me for letting you in on what, just two days ago, ABC news called, “the new sport that has everyone buzzing.” It’s basically people using the “urban landscape” as a playground. The people who are good at it make leaping and jumping and rolling on concrete and rooftops look effortless (unlike how I would look if I tried it). In many ways, it really is similar to the way Missy moves everyday.

Whenever I see Missy on Young’s Hill – running at full speed, leaping off of the termite mound, climbing  log posts or the tall bamboo (usually with a huge playface), or grabbing her friend Annie’s ears in playful joy, I am reminded of what Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has given this group of chimpanzees who lived for decades in small cages within windowless rooms.

For each of the chimpanzees, sanctuary has provided something unique to them. For Missy, perhaps it’s parkour:

Thank you for being a part of making Missy’s life in sanctuary exactly what she chooses it to be.