Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for June 2018

Sanctuary Livin’

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Well, today Jody decided she couldn’t leave the Greenhouse for us to clean because she was REALLY comfortable. I mean, I couldn’t agree more…

It was pretty hot today and even Jamie thought it was too hot to walk around the Hill. So she napped and stayed on patrol around the Chimp House…

Jamie even built a fort in the Playroom so that she could have her privacy, but still be able to watch what everyone was doing…

Burrito was trying to be on his best behavior with the ladies…

And Foxie and the rest of the chimps were really excited for mid-day shaved ice! It was almost too hot to play with dolls, but rest assure Foxie found a way!

The Tightrope Walkers

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Jamie and Missy have somewhat different life histories, but they definitely share some things in common.

 

Missy was born in a laboratory in 1975 and used both for hepatitis vaccine testing (and likely other types of biomedical research) and also for breeding. She had four infants, but she did not get to raise any of them.

 

Jamie‘s early life, on the other hand, is a little more of a mystery. We believe she was born in captivity, and we were told that she was raised in a human environment by an animal trainer for the first nine years of her life. She most likely was used within the entertainment industry. Perhaps she was trained to do tricks and loaned out for birthday parties, or maybe she performed in a circus or a roadside zoo attraction.

After “growing up human” during her formative years, she was then put into biomedical testing and, like Missy and all of the Cle Elum Seven, she was used for hepatitis vaccine research. As far as we know, she was never used to breed more chimpanzees.

 

One somewhat random thing that these two chimpanzees have in common is the joy they seem to get out of tightrope walking.

Given Jamie’s early history, you might wonder whether she was trained to tightrope walk as a youngster, and perhaps she was.

But Missy, as far as we know, spent her entire life before coming to the sanctuary in laboratory environments, and not ones that likely had ropes or fire hose or the room to tightrope walk.

In the wild, chimpanzees do a lot of their traveling on the ground, but, when in the jungle, they do traverse through trees and vines to get from one place to another and when playing, hunting, fighting (or running away from a fight), foraging for fruit, and finding a spot for a nest. With their opposable toes, they can grip branches and vines with their feet.

 

Most good captive environments for great apes include ropes or fire hose so that the apes can do what comes naturally to them. If you google “tightrope walk chimp” you will find all sorts of photos of chimpanzees and (apparently mislabeled) gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons in zoos and sanctuaries.

With chimpanzees who have grown up in laboratories, you really never know what they will be comfortable with and what they may decide to ignore or even be afraid of doing. We are unlikely to ever see Foxie tightrope walk, given her avoidance of non-sturdy surfaces, but we did spot Burrito trying out this activity for the first time earlier this month (sorry, we didn’t get a photo). They are all going for year-ten firsts lately!

Jamie and Missy, though, both seem to really enjoy this activity and will do it on their own apparently just for fun. I noticed recently that they do have different styles. I think this may have to do with their individual centers of gravity.

Missy is short and can glide across a fire hose without much need for outstretched arms for balancing:

 

Jamie, on the other hand, is long and lean and seems to rely on quite a bit of balancing assistance from her arms:

Whatever the origins of their common interest in this activity, I’m just glad they can now do it whenever they want.

 

In memory of Koko

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This special day of sanctuary was sponsored by our good friend, Meg Lunnum, in memory of Koko the gorilla, who sadly passed away on June 19th. Meg shared this lovely message about her gift in Koko’s honor:

“In memory of Hanabi-Ko, Japanese for Fireworks-Child (she was born on the Fourth of July), but she was nicknamed Koko. Koko the gorilla passed away last Tuesday. I am so sad. Koko was my first introduction to the great apes. Especially when she adopted a kitten, All Ball. Without Koko, I would never have been tuned into other apes, most certainly, chimpanzees. It is because of Koko that I am a huge fan of the Cle Elum Seven and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Koko was such a wonderful ambassador for the great apes. National Geographic had this on their website: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/1978/10/conversations-with-koko-the-gorilla/“

Meg, thank you so much for thinking of Koko and honoring her life here today. Koko’s passing is such sad news. We extend our deepest sympathy to all those who loved and cared for her and know her loss will be profoundly felt.

Koko. (Image credits to The Gorilla Foundation via the BBC/PBS documentary, “Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks”)

And thank you for always holding the chimpanzees in your heart, Meg. From our hearts, thank you for the difference you make in their lives and the lives of so many of our fellow animals.

Negra:

Missy:

Jody:

Snake Patrol

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As you may have read on the blog, the chimps recently encountered a snake in one of the bamboo groves.  The snake was clearly still on their minds on they ventured out onto the hill this morning.

They had all night to think about how scary it was and to dwell on the fact that it had eluded capture. It could still be out there.

Jamie immediately led a patrol to the area where the snake was last seen.

Foxie, Missy, Annie, Burrito, and Jody all followed but began to peel off one by one as the approached the bamboo grove.

It would be up to Jamie. Alone but undeterred, she climbed onto a structure to scan the grass for any sign of the intruder.

She moved from one vantage point to the next without setting foot on the ground below.

She watched patiently from the safety of her fire hose perch.

She searched for any sign of movement in the grass.

For all she knew, it could be right underneath her.

At last, she gave the all clear. But that didn’t mean that she was going to push her luck. There are plenty of other places to hang out besides that particular bamboo grove.

Which may very well still be hiding a snake.

In memory of Koko, a very special gorilla

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As you may have heard, The Gorilla Foundation sadly shared that Koko the gorilla passed away in her sleep on June 19th. People the world over have been moved by Koko and her story, as well as the two other gorillas at The Gorilla Foundation, Michael, who became part of Project Koko, learning American Sign Language with Koko until his passing in 2000, and Ndume, who was brought to The Gorilla Foundation from the Cincinnatti Zoo in the hopes of forming a bond with Koko, and currently still resides there.

As humans we tend to be intrigued, if not deeply passionate about our fellow great apes. We often see so much of ourselves in them, but also so much of them in ourselves. We are mesmerized by the beautiful, creative, unique, complicated, intelligent and emotional individuals they are.

We’ve been touched this week by friends of  the chimpanzees who have chosen to make a difference in their lives by sponsoring days of sanctuary as a way to honor Koko and the unique person she was.

Arva Roland sponsored today’s day of sanctuary “in memory of Koko, a very special gorilla.” Our hearts and thoughts are with all those who cared for and loved Koko.

Koko (photo credit to Ron Cohn and The Gorilla Foundation):

Arva, thank you for your compassion and for remembering Koko today. Your heartfelt gift makes a lasting difference in the lives of the chimpanzees and we appreciate you including them as you honor Koko and her life.

Negra:

Burrito:

Foxie and Jamie:

Evening adventure

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Last night, like so many other summer evenings, Jamie and friends decided to keep the day going past dinner time, when staff might ordinarily close up and say good night. This is a pretty common practice for Jamie during the summer months, to want to keep the door open to Young’s Hill for more perimeter walks in cooler weather (and who can blame her?!). The chimps have access to the rest of their enclosure, including the open air green house, all night, but before staff can finish for the day, we need to close off Young’s Hill and make sure everyone is safe and secure at the sanctuary.

Yesterday Jamie (who was working on enrichment food puzzles in the playroom), was assisted by Foxie, who ran to block the doorway when we went to close the door to the hill. As a sanctuary, the chimps ultimately get to make the decisions on where they want to be at any given time, so we humans just needed to wait and see where the evening would take us. With the decision made on keeping the door open, Jamie and I set out for our first perimeter patrol of the evening (with me on the other side of the fence of course). As we walked our final leg of Young’s Hill together, Annie let us know with raucous alarm calls, that a snake had been spotted on the hill. She was so loud and intent that her alarm calls echoed off the neighboring hillside and amped her up even more!

Jamie and Foxie were first on the scene to look for the snake. Jamie searched through the grass and must have seen it, because she screamed and needed a lot of reassurance from the other chimps. She went from browsing through the grass, to climbing the structures and avoiding touching the ground so she could keep an eye out for it.

Here’s the boss keeping a lookout last night:

And some of her agile maneuvering to stay out of the grass:

The snake seemed to change Jamie’s opinion of spending a lot more time outside, because she soon decided she’d rather fish out peanut butter from enrichment tubes than keep up the search. Never fear, the hunt resumed today as she has returned to the area several more times to look for the offending creature. For now, the coast seems to be clear!

In memory of John and Nell Hardie

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Ronalyn Huenergard sponsored this day of sanctuary for the chimps in memory of her grandparents, John and Nell Hardie, and shared this wonderful message about her gift:

“In memory of my grandparents, who with their daughters, my mom and my aunt, provided all their kids with a really stable family unit. From watching the chimps together, one realizes how important that is for all of us.”

Ronalyn, thank you for providing such a thoughtful day of sanctuary for the chimps in memory of John and Nell. We are so grateful to you and all those who make it possible for the chimps to have lives surrounded by love, care, joy, support and nurturing…indeed, family.

Foxie, Annie and Jody:

Missy and Annie:

Missy and Jamie:

Negra, Foxie and Annie: