Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for July 2014

Nesting, Napping, and Sharing

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Today is hot, hot, hot here in Central Washington and the chimpanzees are making the most of the day by relaxing in style. Each chimpanzee has been resting and nesting according to his or her personal preference.

Jamie enjoying the cool, shaded front rooms and, of course, a boot or two:
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Negra relaxing in one of her favorite playroom hangouts, the catwalk with a view of the valley:
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Jody resting comfortably beside the open barn doors of the playroom with a view to the garden:
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Burrito lying on his back in the warmth of the greenhouse:
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Foxie lying on her side, also in the greenhouse:
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Missy took quite a while to construct the absolute perfect nest for herself in the greenhouse:
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And almost immediately upon completion of it, promptly ran off onto Young’s Hill. So, while Missy was off on an adventure, Annie took full advantage of her friend’s skilled nest building.

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Treats

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This weekend marked the start of our summer visitor program. During the guided observation of the chimpanzees, while the chimpanzees foraged for their lunch, I found myself talking a lot about food with our guests.

One thing that we discussed was how easy it is as a caregiver to want to give the chimpanzees “exciting” food all of the time. Chimpanzees, much like humans, love food. Witnessing their excitement as they see food being presented and hearing their food grunts and squeaks is incredibly rewarding.

We made the very conscious decision before the chimpanzees came to the sanctuary that we would not give them processed sugar and we would avoid food with added salt. In the last few years, we’ve even gone further, and rarely give them processed foods of any kind (with exceptions for certain holiday parties, like 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and their primate biscuits). Their diet therefore is almost entirely fresh produce with some seeds and nuts, peanut butter, air-popped popcorn, and a small amount of commercial “primate chow.”

The result of our somewhat strict rules on food is that the chimpanzees remain extremely excited about fresh produce. We hear food grunts and squeaks everyday over fruits and vegetables, even produce that they get on a frequent basis like apples and tomatoes.

If we had decided that it was okay to give the chimpanzees things like cookies, cake, pizza, ice cream, and all of those foods that we humans tend to have a love / hate relationship with, the chimpanzees would have grown accustomed to that diet and might look down their (rather flat) noses at lettuce, kale, cucumbers, radishes, and all of the produce they truly love now.

We recognize that we are responsible for the health of the chimpanzees, and we try to ensure that we are doing everything we can in the way of preventative health care, which means providing a healthy diet and opportunities for exercise.

We’re very happy that something like a single fresh raspberry, picked from the bushes right outside of the greenhouse and still warm from the sun, is a huge treat for Foxie (pictured below) and for all of the chimpanzees:

Foxie eating a raspberry

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bowl of rasperries

 

Today Jamie savored the broccoli that was spread on the hill as part of the lunch forage, bringing it into the greenhouse to slowly eat:

Jamie with broccoli

Jamie eating broccoli floret

 

Dinner tonight included lettuce, watermelon (a special summer treat), and peppers:

dinner tray

 

Jody in particular likes to supplement the diet we provide with plants that she picks herself, including this bamboo that she brought into the playroom this afternoon and ate the leaves, one by one:

jody with bamboo

Our friend Zarin, who has written guest blog posts about her work at the Kibale National Park in Uganda, shared research they did that examined the nutritional profile of food that the chimpanzees in Kibale eat. One interesting thing they found was that even ripe fruit that the chimpanzees eat in the wild at that field site contain about the same amount of natural sugars as the carrots found in grocery stores and gardens here.

This information led us to serve more vegetables and less fruit to the Cle Elum Seven, and we now often sneak veggies into the chimps’ morning fruit smoothie. No doubt our policies will continue to adapt as we learn more, and hopefully the result will be healthy, happy, and long-lived chimpanzees.

Happy 4th!

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Volunteers Patti, Lynn, and Andrew put together a great feast for the chimps’ 4th of July celebration. It all started with a lunch forage on the hill. Then for dinner, they had corn, potato salad, watermelon, and Field Roast veggie dogs in the greenhouse. Throw in a couple of pinatas and some inappropriately dressed troll dolls and you’ve got a real 4th of July party! You should have heard the food squeaking and screaming as we were setting up the forage in the greenhouse.

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Burrito:

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Jody:

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Missy:

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Annie:

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Foxie and her new trolls:

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Negra:

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Jamie:

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Thank you, Virginia!

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Today’s 4th of July day of sanctuary was sponsored by the chimpanzees’ good friend, Virginia Keulen! (You may have noticed that Virginia also generously sponsored yesterday in celebration of her birthday!)

Freedom and independence represent many things to many people. Virginia, thank you so much for sponsoring today for the chimpanzees so that they may continue to define and experience what these things mean to them.

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The chimpanzees have the best friends and we are profoundly grateful for all of our supporters and everything each of you do to make the chimpanzees’ lives better. Happy 4th of July everyone! And be sure to check out the chimps’ celebration later today!

Freedom

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Freedom is a tough concept. You recognize it more by it’s absence than it’s presence, and it’s easier to describe when comparing one situation with another. Yet most people agree that freedom is one of the most important aspects of life for individuals and for groups.

It’s clear that the chimpanzees lacked even the basic freedoms when they were in the laboratory. And it’s clear that the sanctuary has provided them with immense freedoms, like the freedom to chose how and when you want your day to end, like Katelyn wrote about Jamie on the blog yesterday.

One of the things that really struck me about Monday, when Jamie decided to extend the day, was the choice that Annie made to stay in the greenhouse. While all of the other chimpanzees (minus Jamie, of course) were inside the building in their nests, Annie decided to camp out. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned about what Jamie was doing, she was just making her own decision.

This morning, as volunteers Denice and Sandra were finishing the daily cleaning of the front rooms, I grabbed the camera and headed to the greenhouse. Though it was windy, I was expecting to find several chimpanzees out there. Instead, I found just Annie. And this is how I found her:

Annie sleeping in her nest

 

Just like the other night, she was perfectly relaxed, nesting comfortably, with no one else around.

Annie sleeping arm under head

 

I think each day the chimpanzees are discovering more and more of the freedoms afforded by a life in sanctuary. It’s such a beautiful experience to be able to both witness and share this process.

Annie holding her foot

 

It’s especially poignant with Annie, because she was so anxious when she first arrived at the sanctuary. Her confidence just seems to keep growing and growing.

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Tomorrow we will have a party for the chimps in celebration of the United States’ Independence Day, but, just like everyday, we will also be celebrating the independence of seven chimpanzees and welcoming, as each day passes, their discoveries of what freedom in a sanctuary means to them.

Happy Birthday, Virginia!

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Today was sponsored by Virginia Keulen! Today also happens to be Virginia’s birthday and she shared that she wants to celebrate by giving her “favorite chimps” a day of sanctuary! Virginia is a long-time supporter of the sanctuary and does so much for the chimpanzees (and the humans!).  It comes as no surprise that she would choose to spend her special day making the chimps’ lives better. At the same time, it never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful friends the chimpanzees have and how many people want to celebrate their own lives by honoring the chimps.

Happy Birthday, Virginia! Thank you so much for including the chimpanzees in your celebration! In honor of two of your pals, you could do a lot of running around for the sheer joy of running around, or you could do a lot of bossing others around for the sheer joy of bossing. Or maybe just eat a lot of cake and food grunt. 😉 We hope you have a wonderful day!

Missy and Jamie, having some fun:

Missy and Jamie playing with hose

And as if today weren’t enough, Virginia also sponsored the chimpanzees’ 4th of July festivities! Be sure to check in tomorrow to see what the chimps get up to!

What sanctuary means to Jamie

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Sometimes it’s hard not to look at the chimpanzees through our sorrow. We’ve spoken often here on the blog about what each of the chimpanzees have lost and endured. The ghosts of themselves they were when they first arrived. For me while Jamie’s “before sanctuary” photo is one of the most difficult to look at, I have always thought that her indomitable spirit can still clearly be seen in her eyes. Despite all she had been through, her strength and completeness was still there. But I sometimes think that in our intent to be compassionate, we must be cautious not to risk doing the chimpanzees a great disservice by seeing them only through the sometimes tragic circumstances of their lives.

There is no doubt that with each passing day in sanctuary we are able to see the chimpanzees becoming more and more their chimpanzee selves. As their stress, fear and anxieties fade into the background, their personalities are materializing in front of our eyes. Something I am learning to do more and more is not to hold each of the chimps to behaviors I have come to expect. I want to hold the space for them to grow and change in their own time and space. Provided with choices, an enriching environment, and a healthy, loving home, every day they show us another facet of themselves. And earlier this week Jamie gave us a perfect example of what sanctuary makes possible.

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Typically the chimpanzees’ evening routine involves dinner being served at 4:30 while the playroom is closed for evening spot cleaning. We put out additional blankets for nesting and a food puzzle for evening enrichment. We then return access to the playroom so the chimps can enjoy their enrichment while Young’s Hill is closed off for the evening. The chimpanzees know the routine and normally and are more than ready to come in and start building their nests for the night. Usually by the time we leave, the chimps are in bed and if we’re lucky, offering nest grunts to us as we say goodnight and leave for the day at 5:30.

But a couple of nights ago, Jamie had other plans. It was a beautiful summer evening and she made it very clear that she was not ready for the door to Young’s Hill to be closed. And so it wasn’t. All the other chimpanzees were enjoying their evening enrichment and preparing their nests. But Jamie decided we should walk. And so we did. Caregiver Lisa and I took turns walking the perimeter of the hill with her again and again. At 8:00 J.B. and Diana (on their day off) came up to relieve us and wait for Jamie to decide she was ready to come in for the night. Occasionally, a few of the other chimps would get up to see what was happening or step onto the hill. Annie eventually built a nest in the greenhouse seemingly wanting to wait for Jamie to come in. Jamie finally decided she was ready for bed at 9:15.

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While some people may not appreciate staying after work I think I speak for us all when I say I cannot think of anything that makes me feel as happy and privileged to do than to be able to provide the chimpanzees these choices. After all, isn’t that what sanctuary is all about? Loving them means respecting them and listening to them as the already complete individuals, with their own purposes, that they are.

In the well known words of naturalist Henry Beston, “For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”