Crafting public messaging for a sanctuary can be challenging. As you all know, we tend to err on the side of transparency with Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. One reason that I think we are able to do this (aside from having the best supporters in the world who take the time to really get to know the sanctuary) is that we share so often and include the many different voices from the caregivers who post to this blog.
As a community, I think sanctuaries and animal welfare organizations (us included) can do themselves a disservice by presenting the story of the animals in our care in very black and white terms, sometimes implying that after they are rescued or released from their past lives of exploitation, they never have a bad day again. We know on an intellectual level that this is not possible. As intelligent, emotional, and social beings living in a complex environment, all animals, no matter their circumstances, will continue to experience pain, fear, boredom, depression, and all of the other emotions that they have evolved to experience. At the same time, we want, with all of our hearts, to believe that sanctuary = a paradise free from any negative experiences. Everyone is a sucker for a happy ending.
And sometimes the messaging in our field emphasizes that unreachable ideal. So, when an animal does have a bad day, or gets hurt, or is struggling with an emotional or social issue, followers (particularly the more casual followers who may not know as much about a sanctuary) can become disenchanted and accusatory, which could lead, ironically, to a sanctuary being less transparent.
Of course, there are facilities out there that are truly not good for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, anyone can call their place a sanctuary. These facilities (I’m thinking of Myrtle Beach Safari, as an example), may have a very polished social media presence with multiple trainers that have millions of followers, all the while they deal in wildlife trafficking, dangerously misrepresent the true nature of the animals in their care, and grossly exaggerate (to put it mildly) their claims of giving funds towards the conservation of endangered species.
It’s frustrating.
All legitimate sanctuaries [important side note: Check this page on our website for tips and links on how you can tell a legitimate sanctuary from a pseudo-sanctuary], want the best for those in their care and they want people to support their efforts to make this happen. It can feel risky to open up and share the difficult times or just the reality of captivity, like the fact that the chimps are inside and “behind bars“). But, if all we ever shared were the chimpanzees in their outdoor habitats and never talked about the hard days, it would give everyone the wrong picture and create an ideal that no sanctuary could live up to.
To be quite honest, though, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is pretty great :). The animals here experience a good life. Not a perfect life, not a life devoid of all suffering, but a good one.
Here are some photos of flowers blooming all around them, to disprove my point about it not being all about sunflowers:
This is a sunflower that came up spontaneously, we think from a discarded or digested sunflower seed from the chimpanzees. They are becoming their own gardeners!
I’m not sure where these came from. I just noticed a small field of them on Young’s Hill. They look like chamomile to me.
Here’s an update on that tall sunflower that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. With the chute and door behind for scale, you can see how tall it is!
This was a few days ago:
and this is how it looked this morning:
And here is 50+ year old Negra, more than 15 years into her sanctuary life, thoroughly enjoying part of today’s lunch forage:
Even wayward sunflower seeds thrive at the NW Chimp sanctuary, how appropriate. Thanks for the link to the listing of legitimate sanctuaries.
Sober and thoughtful blog entry. Thank you.
I understand that there are enjoyable days at the CSNW as well as difficult days for the residents and their caregivers. Still, the CSNW is a haven for chimpanzees and cattle in a world ravaged by human evil. Do exploitive tourist traps like the Myrtle Beach Torture Center, er, Safari ever get investigated? If not, why not? My understanding is that endangered and exotic species are not to be transported into the U.S.:. What is the afore-mentioned tourist trap’s legal exemption? And what, pray tell, becomes of the “entertainment” once they grow too big to be ordered about to perform?
Makes me mad. How I wish that like Negra could all be provided a safe environment appropriate to their species.
I also have these questions. Why have they not been exposed for what they are? Ofcourse I immediately went to their website and was surprised to see all of the hands on activity. Some of the chimps looked awfully young. Definately smacks of illegal trafficking. How are they getting away with this? What can the public do to help remedy the situation?
Some one has set up a petition, they are trying to get to 1000 signatures.
https://www.change.org/p/sign-to-stop-myrtle-beach-safari-s-animal-abuse
Signed! Thanks for posting it (I’m not on IG or FB)
Thanks for your questions! Myrtle Beach Safari has been exposed many times by many people. There are not that many laws protecting animals, even those that are endangered or exotic. They obtain their animals from breeders within the U.S. or breed them themselves. As Linda explained in the comments below, Doc Antle, the owner/founder was finally arrested and charged, though some of the charges were dropped. For the longest time, he was tight with politicians and they’ve always courted celebrities. They are good at promoting themselves and appealing to people’s natural interest in baby animals and interspecies relationships. Most recently, they have been getting around recent laws that would protect infant big cats from being handled for money in “cub petting” situations by putting up a clear barrier, so the public can still get photos with the animals and they are not technically violating the law, even though the cats and other animals are being separated from their mothers and handled by trainers. In the end, I think their financial dealings, rather than their treatment of animals, is what will cause them legal issues.
Whatever it takes and however they do it, as long as he’s g9ne. On the other hand, I worry about what will happen with those chimps and the family members that produced them (the ones we don’t see on camera). Where will they end up? Same for the elephant. All the animals, really.
Thanks for follow up. I had not heard of these places until now. For some unknown reason I thought there were laws in place to prevent this sort of thing.
MBS got around it for years with the “donations” bit, bragging on their website that they’d given “over $100,000” to animal condervation charities. Well, yeah, but you’ve been open since 1984….so…Every time they take several of their people to South Africa o deliver 10 paltry trail cams for anti-poacher officers, I just assume it’s a “shopping trip”. And boom! I wasn’t wrong. They have a second cheetah now.
All, they have been after him for years. In this latest round, they wanted to get something that they knew they could make “stick”. he was indicted and convicted of animal trafficking in Virginia this summer. He will face federal court in just a few weeks on charges of animal trafficking, money laundering, and possibly human trafficking. His assistant, Moksha, was found guilty of animal trafficking in Virginia, as well. I thought part of the sentence was staying away from animals, which she is obviously not doing if you look at her tiktok and Instagram. The loophole that he uses to get around importing animals has to do with a loophole in the US law that says that if someone contributes a “significant amount of money” to conservation issues, they can import. Sadly, that amount can be as small as $500. But they all traffic with each other, as well.
I think he knows his time is coming, because he tried to pass on the business and assets to his other girlfriend, “China”(Michelle), but the law blocked it.
I alluded to this a few months back with “he looks good in orange” bc I thought you guys knew.
The next one is his buddy over at ZWF in Miami, Mario Tabraue. That’s where Limbani lives, alone as far as I know. There are no other chimps there, and they had to have someone else raise him to put the “trainer’s imprint” on him. Every time that couple sees him, they post a video to their channel or ZWF will send a video to one of these sites like Daily Dose of Internet or Dylan Anderson, who do not really vet their videos or the stories well. The Dodo has also been guilty of publishing their “heartwarming reunions”.
I will also add that, beyond the known offenders mentioned by Linda (thanks Linda!), many states/counties/townships across the country have roadside zoos. And then there’s the traveling circuses with the majority offering people (children) wild animal contact through side show petting zoos or animal rides (such as on the backs of elephants). None of these businesses should be in operation.
If you want to stop them, do not support them by visiting them. Spread the word. Peacefully picket outside—there will be a local organization fighting to stop traveling shows from coming to your community, google the local attraction and those speaking out against it will appear and consider joining them. To learn more visit ADI (Animal Defenders International https://www.ad-international.org/adi_home/ ) ADI has been successfully closing down animal circuses and rescuing captive wild animals for decades. (Bob Barker was a supporter.) The ADI website has letters/petitions you can sign/send plus lots of good information on the subject (from primates to bears to lions and tigers). PETA is another excellent resource. Countless pages on their website full of information and letters/petitions to send. Read this if you choose: https://www.peta.org/living/entertainment/deadly-destinations/
Zoos and pseudo sanctuaries PETA recommends you do not patronize:
https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/zoos-pseudo-sanctuaries/factsheets-zoo-exhibitors/
One of the listed “zoos” is close to me. Throughout the years I have offered to photograph/film the animals in their environments as well as capturing stereotypical behaviors and drafting a report explains what I saw. The facility has been cited by the FDA countless times. It takes decades to make progress! Ugh. One step at a time….
The more we know, the stronger we become, all of us fighting together, to stop these places from operating. Knowledge is power. Signing a petition is a perfect place to start. If you aren’t doing so already, I ask you to please consider doing so.
I appreciate that you write posts like this one. It’s good to have a reminder like this because the chimps live a pretty amazing life. And I enjoyed rereading the post linked from “behind bars”. I can’t thank you enough for your transparency and honesty.
No one lives a perfect life, devoid of suffering. To be able to live a good life is a gift. You give the residents a very good life. You are not responsible for their past lives. You rescued them. It may be a life in captivity but you keep them safe, cared for, and you love and respect them. You are so patient. So I am in total agreement with you, Diana. Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest really is pretty, pretty great! And I’m pretty certain the Queen of Sunflowers agrees, too!
so well said. the chimps are safe, loved, and cared for by some pretty amazing people. perfect life? No. But they only knew suffering and horrible days. now they live in the beauty of sunflowers.
i’m sure i am not telling you, Diana, or many other supporters of CSNW something we akready know, and that is there are many states where it is legal to own a primate, large or small. Check it out by simply typing in “where can I own a primate in the United States.” It is mind boggling that these roadside zoos or parks or “private sanctuaries” exist, but until we get a Federal ban nationwide, they are out there and no one can shut them.
I believe each one can teach one. We are the voices of those who have none and if each of us tells someone else about these places one day no one will visit these places abd all primates will live a good life. i have hope.
My dilemma has been whether to “hate watch” their videos and try to educate those people in the comments who sound like they might have an inkling of what is going on, or not to give them any views, and let people go on thinking that their “preserve” (which is the word that they use) is a sanctuary. I have been blocked from making comments on some of their channels :laughing:. Once I was threatened (don’t know how they think they’d find me).
“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.”
— Albert Schweitzer
Those words are from so many years ago, but here we are, well into the 21st century and still allowing the most sickening cruelty to animals. Are there ANY politicians in the USA who care enough to stand up and be counted on these issues?
The uplifting part of your blog today was dear Neggie and her love of a forage. It just struck me that every mealtime is a yummy surprise as they don’t know what they’re getting….except for a sneak peek into the kitchen! Yes, they are still behind caging, but as a true sanctuary, their lives are the best that they can be…..choice, friendships, love and care. If only they knew how many of us there are in their ‘family’. Of course they have good and bad days…..but the care is consistent, no matter what….no punishment for not performing or being passed around for the entertainment of ignorant people. Thank goodness for the true sanctuaries…..I pray for the day when they’re not needed any more because we have finally learned our lessons.
Sunflowers bring me back to
Brooklyn, where i first grew up in the 1950’s and the sunflowers were so high and i so small that i looked up to them at 3 or 4 feet. And to think a sunflower grows in Brooklyn/NorthWest. Your place provides an intimacy that we get to see/have, that is unique among other primate sanctuaries. They don’t have what you have.
I love that about this place
Diana, I think it’s interesting to see the “wild planted” sunflower race neck and neck with yours for growth! It’s amazing that they know not to harvest it yet because it’s not ready.
Oh, so many of them! Breaks my heart, infuriates me that people would abuse these beautiful animals for money. Who knew PETA would be a heroic organization? Petition signed, shared to FB.
But I don’t think this is PETA. I’m sure the conatituencies overlap somehow. This seems to be a group of people who want the practice ended.
I’m always so happy to know what CSNW does, especially today. Imagine, celebrating sunflowers, those possibly naturally planted by the lucky residents- whom we all love- who live and thrive here.
First… those sunflowers,,, :heart_eyes: Also… As Vince would say… CSNW is above average!!! LOL wink wink!!! In all seriousness, you know how I feel!!! Keep it up! The quality you put out there is second to none!
We’re going to work hard to try to get our Vince rating up to a solid B 🙂