First, bask in comfort (and joy) by bidding on the latest item we’ve added to the Comfort & Joy online auction: a blanket for you and a matching blanket for Negra featuring the beloved image from an original painting by Margaret H. Parkinson entitled Negra in the Sun.
There’s just ten days left in the auction, and we’re continuing to add items regularly, so check in on the auction and bid often!
Next, today we celebrated Honey Cow’s 17th birthday! Enrichment Coordinator Ellen made a special treat for Honey and her family – pureed pumpkin, served twice-baked potato style in a pumpkin bowl shell.
All of the cows are known to be a bit suspicious of us humans and the odd things we try to convince them are food. As reported and documented (see photos below) by their server, Ryan, they gave Honey’s birthday treat some, “complimentary sniffs”, but didn’t taste them in his presence. Perhaps they were just waiting for him to leave before partaking in a private birthday celebration.
I really love the cows so much. You might think of herd animals as being more uniform in their behavior, but Honey, Betsy, and Meredith have such different personalities and ways of going about life. Honey can often be described as the Jamie of the cow family – she does not put up with any funny business and will let you know if you’ve overstepped your boundaries. Yet, in some ways, she’s the most cooperative when we need to shift the cows into a particular area. Just like Jamie. I’ve come to realize that a lot of Honey’s assertiveness towards humans is more threat than actually wishing people harm, and, I think, she actually likes to be around people.
Another thing that Honey really likes is rubbing up against brushes. We have a really cool brush with automatic swinging action in the online auction that you can “bid” on so that we can buy it for the cows. It costs about $900 so we could use more people bidding on it. Check it out here!
Honey:
Betsy:
Meredith:
Finally, for this multi-topic blog post: primates have been in the news a lot this last week.
We are beyond THRILLED with the news of the last 23 remaining chimpanzees living at an Air Force base in Alamogordo, New Mexico will be finally moving to Chimp Haven! We’ve been following the chimpanzees in Alamogordo for years, hoping for this decision for more than a decade.
You can read about the news and some of the history of the facility and the work to get the chimpanzees moved in this article from the Humane Society of the United States. That article also notes two sad facts: 21 chimpanzees have passed away at the Alamogordo facility in the last five years, never having an opportunity to experience a sanctuary life, and there are still 48 more government owned or supported chimpanzees at two other facilities.
Not mentioned, because they are not supported by the federal government, are the 88 remaining chimpanzees living at New Iberia Research Center (NIRC), awaiting their sanctuary retirement; Project Chimps has been able to rehome over 100 chimpanzees from NIRC and has a contract to rehome the remaining chimpanzees as they are able.
A great resource that shows where all of the captive chimpanzees live in the United States is the Project ChimpCare map, created and maintained by Lincoln Park zoo.
By way of taking a bit of a break from all of this text, here are a couple of photos I took recently.
Another of Rayne in her box (the same photo session as the photo at the top of this post):
And this one of Burrito. He and Jamie often walk along these logs at the top of the new Young’s Hill as part of their perimeter walks now. Burrito likes to stop for a minute and sit down so the humans can catch up:
Another primate news story that has garnered widespread attention is the 43 young female rhesus macaque monkeys who escaped a warehouse and breeding facility for laboratory monkeys in South Carolina owned by Alpha Genesis. Read more about this from CBS. Born Free is requesting that the monkeys, once captured, be moved to their sanctuary.
These two stories are reminders and indicators of the status of primate research in the United States.
For chimpanzees, invasive research has ended, and the decision about the Alamogordo chimpanzees means there will be fewer than 50 chimpanzees living in federally funded biomedical research facilities and fewer than 150 total living in research facilities. Compare that with the 742 chimpanzees living in accredited sanctuaries.
The situation for monkeys is very different. Alpha Genesis alone owns about 5,000 monkeys, and the total number of monkeys (of all species) held for research purposes in the United States exceeds 100,000. It is staggering to think about that many individuals. Perhaps this latest escape will raise important questions about our use of monkeys.
Happy Days to Honey! I hope she was feeling experiential and ate her special pumpkin birthday treat. (we’ll need a follow up on this!) That brush looks like the perfect gift! Love the video you included with brush. It’s as if the Moo Gals have their very own spa at the barn!
I can’t wait to see Negra’s reaction when she receives her “Negra in the Sun” custom blanket! It’s gorgeous!
Thanks for today’s photos and all links.
I took care of the cows yesterday, and there was no sign of any pumpin – not even a trace. So, either the cows summoned up their courage and ate Honey’s birthday treats, or some deer stumbled upon a special birthday surprise (chances are it was one of their birthdays too, right?).
Was anyone else thinking, when hearing of the escaped rhesus monkeys, “Go! Run! Make it to Florida! There’s sunshine and plenty of fruit there!”?
Just me?
I’m excited for the AlamoGordo chimps! So many new experiences await them!
Did the cows end up realizing “Pumpkin good”?
Yes Linda! I did. RUN RUN RUN!
:sweat_smile::heartbeat:
Happy birthday to Honey Cow. Great news on NIH agreeing that the New Mexico chimps can be released to the sanctuary. This past summer the Animal Protection New Mexico, received a commitment by a congressional representative to pursue the promised released by the new NIH director. Guess that, along with the on-going petitions finally worked. Many of the chimps will be able to see sunshine for the first time.
i rejoice with others
upon hearing that the NIH chimps are being released to sanctuary but it turns my stomach to know that the monkeys are being bred for the sole purpose of medical testing. There has to be a better way!
It is stomach turning, you are so right, Nancy. And don’t forget the dogs, rabbits, and birds used in testing too. According to the Humane Society of the United States, approximately 44,000 dogs are STILL used in research and testing across the United States each year. Not only that, but 20,000+ are kept in breeding facilities where the sole purpose is to make more dogs for experiments.
I’m glad Honey Cow had a Happy Birthday. I am also rejoycing with others on hearing that the NIH chimps are finally being released to sanctuary, but, my it turned my stomach when I learned that the monkeys are being bred solely for the purpuse of medical testing…there has to be. better way.
Happy birthday to gorgeous Honey cow! What a wonderful and lovely sassy bovine lady!
I am absolutely thrilled to hear that the Alamagordo chimps will finally be making it to Chimp Haven, but it’s also so frustrating just how long the NIH has dragged this out. I know Foxie’s son, David, passed there in 2015. Foxie’s mother Winny died there in 2013. Both well after chimpanzees had already begun being moved to sanctuaries. When Winny passed, Foxie had already been at sanctuary for five years. It just frustrates me and angers me that so many chimpanzees never got a chance at the sanctuary life that they deserved.
I really hope that any of those monkeys, if captured, will be relocated to sanctuary. The ways we humans treat other living things sickens me sometimes…
Yes, thank you for that added detail about Foxie’s son and mother. I do think of her family a lot as an example of what has happened with chimpanzees in research, and I am frustrated by it too.
May your days to come be as sweet as your name, dear Honey! Happy birthday! :tulip::ox::four_leaf_clover::birthday:
Raynee looks super cool in both photos!
Thank you for the links and updates – I’ve been following the ordeals of the Holloman chimps since I translated an article about Ham and Enos – the forgotten chimponauts/astrochimps – for JGI Hungary. (Unfortunately, here in Hungary only very-very few people know about their space mission and tragic life.) Last week I received Chimp Haven’s newsletter in which they share the fantastic news about the long-awaited relocation of the remaining 23 Alamogordo residents. I’m very happy for the chimps and cross my fingers for their success- and joyful rehabilitaion at Chimp Haven!
Adrienne – what a great service to others in Hungary that you translated that article. I find that the memory and knowledge of that history of chimpanzees and other animals used in the space program is disappearing even here. Thank you for rejoicing with us about the news of the last chimpanzees in Alamogordo being granted a sanctuary retirement.
Such wonderful news for the chimpanzees leaving Alamogordo! New and enriching lives ahead for them. I also appreciate the information regarding the many, many monkeys in research situations; the current news coverage of the “escapees” is distressing to me in that there is no consideration of what they are escaping from…or any questioning of why they are in that setting to start with.
I agree with you. “Alpha Genesis houses about 7,000 primates for biomedical studies and other scientific research.” according to The NY Times. 7,000! Perhaps this escape caper will enlighten more people to the cruelty we rarely see or hear about in the media. Smart monkeys.
Happy birthday dear Honey cow!!! So thankful for the 23 Chimps moving to Chimp Haven!!!