Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for September 2016

Negra Unleashed

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A few days ago was the five year anniversary of the chimpanzees going outside onto Young’s Hill for the first time. For many of the chimps, it was probably the first time they had ever been outside in their lives, and it took some adjustment.

Out of all the chimps at the sanctuary, Negra has probably had the hardest time adjusting. On her first day out, she accidentally touched the electric fence and received a shock. For someone who was already predisposed to feel some anxiety at being outdoors after decades in lab cages, this certainly didn’t help. For several months after that Negra refused to step foot outside. Eventually she decided to try again, but she wouldn’t venture far from the greenhouse, and at the first strange noise or gust of wind, she would run back inside with a fear grimace on her face.

This year has been a turning point for Negra. This spring she started hiking straight up to the top of the two-acre Young’s Hill with no apparent anxiety to enjoy some of the wild greens growing up there. Today we set up a lunch forage on the hill and Negra headed outside with the rest of the group, calm and confident.

Welcome NAPSA!

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Today was an exciting day! Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest had the honor of hosting some amazing passionate humans of the primate sanctuary community! This past week, the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) held their 2 day conference (this year in Tacoma, Washington). Sanctuary founders, directors, coordinators, caregivers and allies discussed a diverse number of topics such as the founding of primate sanctuaries, visitor policies and their effects, and compassion fatigue.

This morning, many of the conference attendees loaded onto a bus and made the drive to our sanctuary for a visit to the chimpanzees. We aren’t normally set up for larger group tours,so there were a few things that needed to be rearranged first..
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We also set up a lunch tent for the humans to relax in.
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Upon arrival, visitors split into smaller groups so they could eat lunch, get a look at some behind the scenes spaces, walk around Young’s Hill, and view the chimps enjoying multiple lunch forages.

Here, part of the group watches the chimps forage on Young’s Hill.
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Negra and Annie during the forage:
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Foxie and Dora:
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After our visitors left, JB returned an important item to its rightful place next to the barn, and the chimpanzees continued to leisurely forage on this beautiful early fall day.
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Thanks to all our visitors, volunteers, and staff for making today possible! Thanks also to NAPSA for arranging this fantastic 2016 workshop!

Annie:
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We Like What We Like

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Jamie spent her childhood living in a human home, and like all chimps who begin their lives in human homes, she quickly grew too strong and unmanageable. Jamie was sold to a research lab when she was about nine years old, and spent the next 22 years in hepatitis vaccine trials and possibly other invasive studies.

Jamie is one of the lucky ones. When she was 31, she was “retired” from research and moved to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Chimpanzees who have lived with and around humans often pick up human habits and interests – Jamie files her nails, ties knots, and loves (and sometimes wears) boots. Jamie is different from the chimpanzees you see behaving like humans in movies and on TV; those chimps are trained – brutally – to perform and are often duct-taped into their clothes. At the sanctuary, Jamie chooses the objects she likes from the various enrichment items we provide each day and she does what she wants with them: nests with them, plays with them, ignores them, destroys them, or wears them.

A few days ago we had a visitor whose beautiful boots Jamie was clearly obsessed with. In a moment of overwhelming generosity, our visitor left Jamie the boots she came in with and walked out of the sanctuary barefoot. Jamie couldn’t resist giving her new boots a test run.

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Welcoming autumn

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Last night as the chimps were all curled into their nests for the night, I stood watching the last of the summer sun setting over the sanctuary. My heart beats a little faster during these moments, already pining for the passing beauty of one season, while leaping about in anticipation of the beauty to come.

After eight years in sanctuary, it’s been amazing to observe the chimpanzees beginning to make clear connections between the seasonal changes and favorite things to come. For example, the moment that the snow melted last winter they began running to the windows in anticipation to check their garden each day, seemingly hoping it would sprout up overnight.

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As we welcomed the first day of autumn this morning, I found dear, sweet Annie sitting in front of the barn doors, enjoying the late morning sun and gazing out over the remainder of the chimps’ garden, seemingly lost in thought. I hope it was all the good thoughts:

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Annie sat like this for several moments and at one point the breeze picked up and she just closed her eyes, letting it blow through her hair. And yes, my heart just melted:

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Even Ellie, our wild and sassy neighborhood elk, was dozing in the breeze:

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We’ve written about it before, but Annie is a different person after eight years in her sanctuary home than when she arrived. Having gone through many seasons of her own, it’s actually more probable that there is finally safe space for her true self to emerge, more at ease with the world around her, serene and comfortable in her own skin and able to hold hope and joy for what each day and season brings:

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Happy autumn everyone (or spring, as the hemispheric case may be)!

In memory of Ron and Betty Kreuscher

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Ronalyn Huenergard in honor of her parents, Ron and Betty Kreuscher. Ronalyn shared this message about today:

“On my parents wedding anniversary, who didn’t have a chance to meet all their great-grandchildren and vice versa, this is on their behalf – all 13 of them.”

Ronalyn, what a wonderful way to honor the memory of your parents and the family they helped create. Thank you so much for sharing this gift for the chimpanzees on behalf of Ron and Betty’s great-grandchildren. May you all celebrate their lives and legacy with joy today! And thank you for helping to ensure the chimps spend their days surrounded by a family to call their own.

Jody and Missy:

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Jamie and Negra:

Negra kiss Jamie

Burrito, Jamie and Foxie:

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Jody, Missy, Annie, Foxie and Burrito:

bunch of chimps on a structure

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Mirror Mirror

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It may be hard for some to believe, but Jamie chimpanzee can be a bit, ahem.. self centered. A good example of this is when she is watching videos (generally displayed on a phone or tablet). She has a general interest in most videos, but as soon as she sees herself in one of those videos, she is utterly fixated. This is where the forward facing camera on a phone comes in handy. A firm grip on my phone (outside her reach), a scratch resistant screen, and a bamboo tool for Jamie, make for a pretty interesting interaction.

Watch for some pretty subtle lip smacking as Jamie grooms her reflection: