We have talked quite a bit about issues that arise when shifting the chimps around in their areas, but recently I had to delay shifting because Honey B was busy entertaining herself out on the Bray, what unfolded over the 30 or so minutes that followed very much made the delay worth it. You can check it out in today’s video!
Archives for October 2024
October Odds and Ends
Take a moment to peek at what the chimps’ day looked like today!
Also, today is the last day to enter our giveaway with Vegancuts– a plant based, cruelty free snack and beauty box subscription company. We’ve loved partnering with them this month and are so grateful for the awareness they have spread about CSNW and the support they have shown! Be sure to enter by midnight tonight by liking one of the Giveaway posts on our Facebook or Instagram, following us and Vegancuts, and then tagging a friend in the comments. You’ll be entered to win a 3-month snack box subscription (plus CSNW hydroflask and stickers)! We’ll announce the winner tomorrow!
Chimps Chimp
I thought that today I’d talk about the chimps’ human vs. non-human relationships and their personal preferences. Avid blog followers often hear us use the phrase “chimps chimp.” We use this phrase to explain a chimp like Missy. For example, though Missy does have human relationships, she seems to prefer to be surrounded by her chimpanzee friends (which we love). While other chimps, like Burrito, specifically seek out their caregivers for many interactions.
It is important to acknowledge that every chimp has a different background. While some of the chimps were raised in labs, others started their lives as pets. Those like Jamie and Burrito, who were owned by humans, tend to be more human-oriented. Despite this, we always want to encourage the chimp’s relationships first. For example, if we walk out to a greenhouse and see all the chimps grooming, we will walk away and come back another time, so we don’t disturb the grooming session. Again, there are a lot of different factors that go into why chimps choose who they want for their company. The special thing about sanctuary is that the chimps are provided with as much choice as we can possibly provide, and choosing who they want to spend time with is one of them!
Jamie:
I think it will come as no surprise that Jamie is more human-oriented. Jamie does have close relationships with her group-mates, especially Burrito, but she is often looking for a caregiver to go on a perimeter walk with.
Missy:
Missy, like I have mentioned before, is more of a chimps-chimp. Missy is the closest to Annie, but she does seem to have strong relationships with everyone in the group. Missy does seek out caregivers every once in a while for a game of chase or tug-a-war, even some grooming! When Missy does seek you out for any interaction, it feels like a huge honor that you drop everything for!
Annie:
Annie leans a bit more chimp oriented. Annie’s closest friend is Missy. However, Annie will seek out caregivers sometimes, especially when she has a tool and groom her caregivers toes!
Foxie:
Foxie is a little of both. Foxie does spend a lot of time with her chimp friends, especially Burrito. However, Foxie does really enjoy playing with her caregivers! It usually involves entrusting her caregivers with a doll. As well as us holding an doll, throwing a dolling, or playing troll-ski!
Burrito:
Burrito might be pretty obvious. He is very human-oriented, play all day! Burrito is always looking for a caregiver to play with, especially to run around Young’s Hill with. However, Burrito does have good relationships with his group members and can even get the most serious chimps like Jamie to let out her silly side.
Negra:
Negra is hard to describe. I can’t say she sways one way or the other. She is well respected in her group and has strong relationships with all the chimps, but everything is on her terms and that goes for humans too. She will interact with who she wants when she wants. When she does decide to play with her chimp friends she is rougher than people would expect!
Mave:
Mave would be described as a chimps-chimp. She has always been very invested in her chimp relationships. Mave was a magnet to Dora and it has been that way ever since we integrated the two groups. Mave is still loyal to her friends Honey B and Willy B, but she spends a lot of time on her relationship with Dora. This year in particular I do find Mave seeking a rare game of chase with her caregivers, grooming, or giving more kisses out. So maybe we are growing on her :).
Honey B:
Honey B can be described as leaning towards more human-oriented. However, as her relationships grow in the group of nine, it seems like Honey B does seek out her chimp friends more, which is huge! As a caregiver, that is the hope to provide more social enrichment! However, Honey B also seems to like her alone time, which I can’t blame her for.
Willy B:
Willy B is definitely a chimps-chimp. Though he can be a troublemaker and start drama in the group, Willy B does seem to value his male relationships, especially Cy. Willy B also loves his friend Rayne, who seems to really get him.
Cy:
Cy is interesting because I think he wants to be more human-oriented, but is duty bound in his role as the male leader. Cy is well respected in this group and is seen in a lot of the grooming trains in the greenhouses. Cy really does love seeking out his human caregivers for a game of chase or grooming. Terry might be Cy closest chimp friend.
Gordo:
Gordo is another interesting one! I don’t think we consider Gordo either one. He is more peripheral – watching from the background. Gordo does likes to go out onto the Bray and watch the girls on Jamie’s side. Gordo is usually seen spending time with Dora, Mave, and Terry.
Rayne:
Rayne is a chimps chimp, she is very socially savvy! Rayne has a lot of strong relationships with everyone in her group. However, she does like to spend time with her caregivers grooming or sporadically playing chase.
Lucky:
Lucky seems to be more human-oriented, but with specific humans. She is slow to warm up to most new people. Lucky is known to put new caregivers through a hazing period. She is probably closest to Rayne, but also likes to have a little alone time.
Terry:
Terry seems to be a chimps-chimp, but loooooooves his human caregivers! Terry, like Cy, is often in the grooming trains throughout the day. Terry spends lots of time with all the girls. He is one of the girls 🙂
Dora:
Dora shocked us all! Dora is a chimps-chimp. Dora is now a social butterfly. Everyone wants to spend time with her. She spends a lot of her time with Mave, Honey B, and Gordo who she was closest to when she first arrived. When Dora first came to CSNW, she seemed to be a bit more closed off, but has really seemed to flourish in the group of nine.
Compassionate Conversations of Care: Protecting all you cherish
The conversations we have with those around us help care for the people and causes we love—just like we care for the chimpanzees at the sanctuary. Whether it’s Jamie, with her many interests and endless curiosity, or Cy, who loves magazines and sitting quietly with his caregivers—our goal is to provide those in our care with a safe, nurturing home that honors their individuality and helps ease them into different stages of life.
October 21-27 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week, and we encourage you to have compassionate conversations of care with your loved ones.
As I’ve gotten older and lost many relatives and friends, I know that that these discussions might feel overwhelming, but it’s a crucial step in ensuring your wishes are known and honored. To help, we’ve gathered a checklist of questions to talk through with the people close to your heart:
- Guardianship: Who would be the designated guardian for any minor children or pets?
- Financial Management: Who would we want to help manage our finances? Who would be our financial power of attorney?
- Health Decisions: Does our medical power of attorney know our health concerns?
- Readiness: Are the chosen family members or friends aware of these roles and willing to take them on the responsibility?
- Legacy: What causes do we want to support long into the future?
Our partner, FreeWill, provides free, intuitive tools to help you create a will and other estate planning documents. You can also plan your beneficiaries for non-probate assets like an IRA or 401(k).
By including a gift of any size to CSNW in your will or designating us as a beneficiary of one or more non-probate assets, you can build a legacy that gives a second chance to deserving chimpanzees for years to come. Past legacy gifts have enabled the chimpanzees to thrive in their sanctuary home and have helped us work towards big goals for the sanctuary.
Start these conversations today, and craft a plan that cares for all that matters to you.
If you have included us in your will, please fill out this brief form so we can recognize your generosity!
A Moment with Gordo
Today has been a very busy day here in the chimp house, so I am here with a photo blog from today’s lunch forage! It’s been a bit of a rainy fall day here, but the rain came later in the afternoon so we were able to do lunch forages for both groups. I took the camera out to see what everyone was up to and boy, was Gordo ready for a close-up!
Also- a reminder that one of our favorite holidays is right around the corner, Jamie-ween! We have some new boots for her up on our Amazon wish-list, because what better way to celebrate than a new pair of boots? 🙂
A montage à la our handsome Gordo:
Bonus shot of Lucky in the latest fashion:
Fall is the Best Season
According to personal experience, the internet, the faculties of reason and good judgment, and nearly every facet of observable and measurable reality, fall is the best season—pumpkin spice notwithstanding. Sure, I enjoy the green shoots of spring, the long days of summer, and the fact that pushing snow around with a big tractor is considered part of my “work,” but let’s not kid ourselves: We should all want 68-degree days and colorful leaves forever. And I think the chimps will back me up on this, judging by how much time they’ve been spending outside lately (the cows, on the other hand, may place a bit more emphasis on those green shoots).
Speaking of cows, the girls came down the mountain yesterday so that they can sleep in their barn once again. The facilitated ankylosis treatments that Meredith underwent last winter and spring have proven to be worth it, as her crippling hobble has been downgraded to a slight limp and she’s been deemed fit for traversing steep slopes once again, when conditions allow. It’s amazing to see her run after so long, though I have to admit I was holding my breath and praying that those little ankles would continue to support our 3/4-ton girl downhill at stride.
I spent a wonderful 30 minutes this afternoon just watching Honey B explore the Bray. I’m trying to get her to follow me to the very top of the hill, but we’re not quite there yet. She seems to prefer going outside without her group mates and I hope that will change soon. There’s just so much for her to enjoy out there. And this is the best time of year to enjoy it.
Adaptability and Resilience
I don’t think it’s possible to work with chimpanzees and not think about their remarkable adaptability and resilience. Tragically, their ability to adapt is why some chimpanzees have been able to survive in some of the worse conditions imaginable, for years on end.
Sanctuaries are often the first opportunity for some chimpanzees, depending on their past circumstances, to do dozens, if not hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of new things. Walking on grass, climbing, brachiating, foraging for wild plants, or even living in a group, can be new experiences.
It can take time to break beyond the life that they have adapted to – that they’ve been forced to live.
Chimp Crazy has made me think about this too. I wrote last week about the HBO documentary series and my questions about the general public’s perception regarding chimpanzees. I appreciate everyone who commented so thoughtfully (and also all who donated during Giving Day for Apes!)
Chimp Crazy has caused me to ruminate on so many issues. I talked a little about this in a recent interview on KOMO TV in Seattle, along with local photographer who we’ve partnered with – Alex Bogaard.
The main human subject of Chimp Crazy, Tonia Haddix, and other chimpanzee owners interviewed on the documentary, have only seen chimpanzees in the context of being pets or entertainers. People who own primates as pets have witnessed these primates adapt, to the extent that they can, to living in a their homes and performing tricks.
What they don’t see are the hundreds of things missing from that primate’s life. They don’t see or perhaps don’t care that they have forced their pet primate, a wild animal, to fit into an entirely different culture and environment from the environment and culture they evolved to experience in order to have a full life.
A couple of days ago, the Primate Awareness Network at Central Washington University hosted a talk by Dr. Andrew Halloran about his work with both captive and wild populations of chimpanzees. The topic of his talk was resilience. He shared stories of the incredible resilience of chimpanzees he has studied as part of the Tonkolili Chimpanzee Project in Sierra Leone who have adapted to live in fragmented forests after their original expansive habitats were destroyed in order to create large areas of farmland for crop exportation to other countries. And he spoke about the resilience of chimpanzees in captivity who he has worked for in zoo and sanctuary settings.
I was thinking today about the difference between adaptability and resilience and how they interact. It’s not always a good thing to be able to adapt to a bad situation. I’m sure everyone can think of examples from their own lives where you found that you had adapted to circumstances that did not serve you well. If you’ve become accustomed to one way of living, even if that way of living is detrimental to your physical or psychological well being, it can be incredibly difficult to take a leap when presented with new and better choices. We’re not so different than other primates in this way. We can experience resistance and fear of the unknown. And that’s where resilience comes into play.
Adaptability is what enabled Willy B to live in a laboratory for the first five years of his life. Resilience is what allowed him to climb the crow’s nests in his two acre enclosure last week for the first time. Sometimes primates need a nudge to discover their own resilience, like a plum in a location you’ve never climbed before.
