Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for August 2017

Queen Negra

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Negra spent 30 years in laboratories, being poked and prodded in the name of research. In 1986, during her 13th year in a lab cage, it was suspected that Negra had some kind of contagious disease, so she was placed in isolation – possibly the worst thing you can do to a social animal. Here is the note in her record from that time:

3/31/86 – Dr. ordered animal removed from main colony and placed in isolation for further testing.

It’s unclear why, but it took almost two years for the lab technicians to realize, after extensive testing, that they had isolated Negra for no reason. In 1988 she was returned to her regular cage.

1/14/88 – Enter cage #28 by herself. Home again.

It’s possible that this was the low point in Negra’s life in the lab, but even the “good” days were filled with needles, dart guns, fear, and loneliness. Twenty years after Negra was returned to her “home” cage post-isolation, she finally moved to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

You might think that the life Negra experienced in the lab would make for a timid, docile individual. But Negra is anything but docile. We call her “the Queen” of the sanctuary, because she is regal and imperious. When Negra wants something, you’d better not stand in her way. She’s cranky, self-assured, and determined. Negra is strong.

Perhaps equally surprising, given her history, is that Negra has not written off humans. Though she will let you know when you’ve disappointed her, she does not hold grudges. And even though she has every reason to hate and fear our species, she gives out kisses freely.

May we all strive to be Negra.

The Birthday Tomato Queen

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Today we celebrated Missy’s 42nd birthday and the amazing chimp woman she is, so naturally we’ve been partying all day long!

If you know Missy, you know that she thinks tomatoes are the.best.thing.ever! So naturally, we bought more tomatoes than we thought one small chimp woman could possibly eat. $42 worth to be exact. Missy was beside herself when she saw them all this morning! These are of course meant to stretch out for a couple days (our plan, not hers), but we still served tomatoes with every meal. And she still thought it wasn’t enough.

We planned an indoor/outdoor forage brunch party with fresh fruits, veggies, and primate chow to compliment the tomatoes along with sparkling cider and pineapple coconut juice and everyone seemed pretty pleased with the festivities. Though I didn’t include a photo of her, Jamie was on the go drinking up all the juice.

Missy with a mouthful of cherry tomatoes:

Missy’s bestie, Annie, with a treat bag:

Negra with a mouthful of corn:

Missy on the go, foraging:

Burrito:

Jody:

We also scattered forage with lots of tomatoes on Young’s Hill with some special hothouse tomatoes still on the vine high up on the shaky bridge – a classic Missy spot – in the hopes she’d be the one to find them. Foxie is right up there with Missy as far as tomato connoisseurs go and they ended up being the only two who decided to venture onto the hill for the outdoor portion of the forage. They headed out together and played it cool so as not to attract the attention of the others.

Foxie found a whole tomato and quietly looked around to make sure no one was watching before popping the entire thing in her mouth. And you may not be able to see, but she’s rubbing her toes together which is Foxie speak for pure happiness and contentment:

Here she is hiding behind a post as she enjoys her secret tomatoes:

Missy searched high and low (and she did find the tomatoes on the vine!):

The Birthday Tomato Queen herself. We love you Miss! Happy Birthday and sweet tomato dreams. Rest up! There’s more tomatoes to eat tomorrow!

In honor of Martha Faulkner!

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Today we also celebrate another wonderful woman, Martha Faulkner! Sandra Clardy sponsored today in honor of her “wonderful sister, Martha.” Martha is such a kind and compassionate person. She is an avid supporter of her local communities and she dedicates herself to helping animals and humans find homes, create families and heal spirits. And it’s only fitting that we are so fortunate to have her as a member of our Board of Directors.

Sandra, thank you so much for honoring your sister, Martha, by contributing to the chimpanzees’ lives! We are so touched you would choose to celebrate her in this way.

Martha, we’re so grateful not only for all you do for the chimpanzees, but for all you do for the world around you. You make a difference in so many lives and we’re thrilled to celebrate the special soul you are. Have a wonderful day!

Your pals, Burrito and Jody:

Burrito and Jody with bamboo

Happy Birthday, Missy!

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We have two wonderful people to celebrate today! The first is Missy!! Unbelievably, Missy turns 42 today and naturally that means party in the chimp house! Ramona Isbell kindly sponsored this special day wishing Missy “a wonderful day with her playmates.”

Ramona, thank you so very much for thinking of Missy and wanting to celebrate her on her special day! It means so much to us all.

Missy. She’s a loyal, courageous, beautiful person and she’s got her friends’ backs no questions asked. She’s brave and daring and a bit of a thug. She is mother to Honey B and Josh (who reside at Wildlife Waystation in California), best friend to Annie, and trusted backup to boss lady, Jamie. She is an athlete extraordinaire and loves nothing more than spending her days zipping, zooming, swinging, tight-rope walking and tumbling around for the sheer joy of it and she thinks tomatoes are the.best.thing.ever. She never hesitates to use her “medical expertise” to doctor her families or her own wounds and she sometimes puts on socks when she’s ready for some serious games. Despite all she’s been through and endured, Missy is the kind of person who opens the door to life and runs toward it, arms open. And when I watch her my heart is zooming right alongside her, I love her so.

Beloved Missy, happiest of birthdays yet to you!! We could not have more love and admiration for you and we can’t wait to celebrate all the amazingness and beauty that is you.

missy running on youngs hill

Stay tuned for Missy’s tomato lovin’ festivities and our second Sponsor a Day!

Guy Time

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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest tends to be female-heavy (as do most animal care professions). Of the seven chimpanzees who live here, only one is male. Of our six-person staff, only one is male. Out of our 36 current chimp house volunteers, seven are male. Out of the 10 volunteers who are trained to play and interact with the chimpanzees, two are male.

Burrito is a friendly and inclusive guy, and when it comes to human play partners, he does not discriminate. That said, he does seem to feel a little outnumbered from time to time. It’s a special treat when one of his guy friends is up for some man time.

Eclipse happenings and shenanigans

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Caring for chimpanzees during an eclipse was something new for us. We’ve been discussing thoughts and plans with our fellow sanctuary colleagues and veterinarians for awhile and understandably, there isn’t a lot of precedence for chimpanzee care (or other animal care) during such events. Though we did come across this interesting report from 1986 in the American Journal of Primatology.

We suspected the chimps probably wouldn’t look directly at the sun, but we decided to err on the side of caution and threw an exciting breakfast forage in the playroom to keep the chimps happy and active during the peak of the eclipse.

While the chimps were enjoying their tropical fruit brunch forage, we humans donned our eclipse shades and headed outside to watch with Ellie. It was a partial eclipse in our area, but incredible to experience nonetheless. Our local wild-ish elk friend, Ellie, couldn’t figure out what we were doing, but seemed happy to join the herd.

The “other” sun, Elizabeth:

J.B. has been waiting his whole life for this moment:

Ellie gave zero indication that anything was occurring other than the humans being odd. The chimps were aware that their routine was slightly different and the humans were running around trying to get things done faster than usual, but outside of that they didn’t appear to notice much. However, Jody and Foxie spent some time looking out the front rooms doors at the increasing shadows and the human shenanigans.

Foxie:

Jamie, as usual, had important matters to attend to:

We hope you all had an opportunity to enjoy this amazing event!

Never Assume

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When training new volunteers and staff, learning to identify the chimps is very important. The chimps all have distinguishing features about them. Staff will try to give helpful pointers to help figure out who is who. For example, Foxie has what looks like a bow tie on her swelling, some chimps have defined brow ridges like Jody, and Missy is petite and has a short neck. Some have freckles, permanently crazy bed hair, different body types, and others have scars or pieces of ears or toes missing. There is also the way that they carry themselves. Jamie often walks with confidence and always looks like she is 3 steps ahead of you. You can often find certain chimps in a particular area that they like or holding specific enrichment they are fond of. For example, Negra loves to make a nest on the second floor in the corner of the playroom. However, this is where it gets tricky and why we tell staff and volunteers to judge only by physical characteristics and not by what we know they like or where “their spot” is. I have also seen little Miss nesting in the same spot as Negra! Jamie loves boots and Foxie always has a doll with her, but they like to throw us curve balls! I often find someone else holding a doll like Jamie or even today I spotted Negra holding a troll doll and putting it in her pelvic pocket. We train our staff and volunteers to take their time identifying the chimps, get to know the chimps, and especially their physical characteristics!

Negra: Holding a troll doll