Annie has changed in many ways since arriving at the sanctuary eight years ago. As the chimpanzee who occupies the lowest position in the hierarchy, Annie has plenty of reasons to be cautious. When she first moved here from the lab, she was anxious, shy, and prone to panic attacks. Nowadays, we see a much more confident and outgoing Annie.
But one thing that hasn’t changed is that Annie remains possibly the sweetest chimp you’ll ever meet. Chimpanzees are not known for being gentle. Any chimp caregiver will tell you that they’ve been poked, spit on, or worse by the chimps they take care of countless times. That’s all normal chimp behavior – particularly among captive chimps who have limited power over their environment – and we see those behaviors every day from the Cle Elum Seven. All except for Annie, that is, who doesn’t seem to have an aggressive bone in her body.
