Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for February 2018

Play All Day (while the humans work)

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Lately, Missy and Annie have been doing what they do best – playing all day!

Meanwhile, the humans have been busting their butts to move caging, glass, and other material from the former Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) at Central Washington University before its demolition.

The building had sat largely empty in the years since Tatu, Loulis, and many of the staff and students associated with Friends of Washoe moved from campus to the Fauna Foundation in Canada. When the university determined that the building would be torn down to accommodate construction of a new dorm, they agreed to remove as much reusable material as possible and donate it to CSNW for use in our upcoming expansion. (Click here for a video from local news channel KAPP about the donation). But a jump in the timeline for the building’s demolition meant we had to get the material out with little notice. Thankfully, an emergency call to our local supporters on Facebook was met with an enthusiastic response, and just days later we had trucks, trailers, and lots of manual labor lined up and ready to help. In only a few hours, we loaded thousands of pounds of caging, steel doors, and 270-lb chimp-proof windows…

…and then unloaded it all at the sanctuary.

Alan, an CSNW intern, made the mistake of volunteering on the day that we needed to manually unload the nearly 4,500-lb of glass from the trailer. He is young, however, and likely had the use of his arms the next day, unlike some of us.

Our expansion project has been full of frustrating setbacks throughout the permitting process – lately around the location and design of a new driveway we are required to put in – but we are getting closer! And when we do break ground, we will do so knowing that we will be putting this material to good use and saving thousands of dollars in the process. It is a small but significant part of CHCI’s legacy, and a great way to remember and honor the chimpanzees that taught us so much.

Relax!

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A year ago yesterday we posted this video of Jamie exploring a sandbox. Jamie takes her job as boss very seriously, and she doesn’t often sit back and kick her feet up, so to speak. But something about sifting through the sand seemed to captivate and relax her. And watching this video captivates and relaxes us.

And here’s a bonus portrait of the Zen master herself.

In memory of Susan

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Jen and James Douglas have graciously been sponsoring this date for the past few years in loving memory of their dear friend, Susan von Beck Turner. Today is Susan’s birthday and a beautiful day to remember her legacy of compassion and care and the difference she made in the lives of so many dogs and humans. Learn more about Susan here.

Jen and James, thank you for honoring such a lovely human and all the good she brought to the world. Our thoughts are with you and Susan’s friends and family and we’re sending you all good thoughts for memories of comfort and joy.

Beautiful, beloved Annie:

Annie chin hair

Wednesday musings

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I am feeling quite lucky today as I just got back from a beautiful family vacation last night! After being away for a little while, the humans at the sanctuary are always happy to be reunited with their chimpanzee friends, and the feeling is usually mutual. I was delighted to see that Central Washington has maintained its mild winter, so the chimps and I celebrated the morning with multiple walks around a snow-less Young’s Hill.

Ellie the neighborhood elk has been spending most of her winter away from the sanctuary, but now that the snow has gone, she made an appearance on the property this morning.

At one point, I saw each of the 7 chimpanzees get some fresh air, including Foxie accompanied by her Dora doll.

More walks are in order this afternoon, so I’ll just leave you with a bonus photo of this much smaller non-human primate we saw leaping through the trees of a Costa Rican national park.

Cebus capucinus (white-faced Capuchin Monkey)

 

Adventure Interrupted

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Jamie may be the leader of the Cle Elum Seven, but Jody is the den mother. She always looks out for the other chimps – making sure they’re safe and accounted for – and sometimes this means “collecting” them if they venture too far outside.

This morning Negra seemed in the mood for a little outdoor adventure, but “mama” Jody wasn’t so sure.

Mysteries of the heart

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Foxie’s love of her dolls is an endless source of heart-melting joy, fascination and mystery to us. If you’ve been following the chimpanzees for awhile you are probably aware that Foxie’s love of her dolls (that we’re aware of) began shortly after the chimps’ arrival to the sanctuary in 2008 with her subsequent discovery of “Trixie” the troll doll. For several years, Foxie lived and breathed troll dolls and showed little to no interest in other dolls or forms of enrichment.

Then Dora the Explorer appeared on the scene and for reasons known only to Foxie, she was utterly smitten. Dora quickly raised through the ranks to join the status of the trolls. While we’ll never know what mysterious criteria Dora met, we were happy to see Foxie branching out with her interests. She became particularly enamored with France Dora. She definitely has a certain “je ne sais quoi” and to this day I think she remains Foxie’s most treasured of all the Dora dolls.

Fast forward a few years and Foxie branched out even further to include Dora’s friends:

It’s hard to resist wanting to interpret Foxie’s behavior with her dolls and in our curiosity to make guesses as to Foxie’s doll criteria, we thought maybe it was the combination of big hair and big eyes. Most recently she’s incorporated the new Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Big hair: check! Big eyes: check!

And then…Foxie threw us a curve ball by falling in love with the new old-style Strawberry Shortcakes. Big hair: meh, not so much. Big eyes: no, beady!

When Foxie adds another doll to her collection that doesn’t mean her trolls and Dora dolls lose their status. Her comfort level just seems to expand allowing her natural curious nature to investigate new things. And it seems her heart feels increasingly safer to let new experiences in. And we certainly know that our fellow animals experience the same emotions we humans do. That said, it’s tempting to read too much into Foxie’s behavior and it’s emotionally appealing and comforting for us to think her love for her dolls is all about a chance to be the mother she was never allowed to be to her four children she gave birth to in the labs who were stolen from her. After such incomprehensible trauma, it’s clear the dolls bring Foxie enormous comfort and joy and I think it’s safe to say she does engage in mothering behavior with them, but at the same time she often beats them up. And I mean beats.them.up!

And so as curious as we are and as well as we know Foxie, just as with any other person, we can never know for sure what she is thinking. Nor would we be so species-centric if you will, to assume. And the thing is, it doesn’t matter. Foxie is Foxie and her happiness doesn’t need definition. Nor does our love for her. Her happiness and well-being, that’s the only thing that’s our business.

It’s been a few weeks since Foxie has received a new Dora and when we surprised her with one a supporter had sent, it was evident that Dora’s still got it. Whatever “it” may be.

Happy Birthday, Jody!

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Today was sponsored by Chad DeBree, one of our wonderful student interns, in honor of his mother, Jody Sanchez, on her birthday! Chad shared this pretty amusing message:

“February 5th is my mother’s (Jody Sanchez) birthday. When I was first just thinking about interning/volunteering at CSNW, she went straight to the internet to learn more. Through her research into the sanctuary, she learned there was a chimpanzee named Jody, as well. From then on, she refers to Jody as my second mom, and scolds me if I refer to Jody by her name or Jo. If I tell her any story about Jody, I have refer to her as “Mama.” So now I have a Mommy and a Mama, which, personality-wise, they’re not that far off from each other.”

Chad, thank you for sharing your mother’s special day with the chimpanzees! We really appreciate all you do for the chimps. Your hard work makes a lasting difference in their day to day lives and helps provide a safe, comfortable and enriching home in which they can thrive and that means the world.

Happy Birthday, Jody! Jody Chimpanzee would probably have a lot of suggestions on how you should spent the day, but whatever you do we hope it’s a day full of joy, celebration and a full heart!

jody smelling rose