Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Diana

Highway 10 Fire

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Today started out pretty normal. Us humans were busy cleaning all morning, with breaks to walk around the hill with Jamie and check in with the other chimps. We had finished cleaning the playroom and had started cleaning the front rooms. I was over by the playroom door and Jamie was craning her neck and body to see out. We know Jamie pretty well, and we knew something was up, so Anna went outside to see what Jamie might be looking at, and saw a plume of smoke a few hundred yards away.

 

The chimps have seen smoke from intentional fires on our property (when there’s not a burn ban!) and our neighbor’s property before, and I don’t think they’ve reacted to it, but maybe they knew this was different, having gone through the Taylor Bridge Fire in 2012.

Their alarm was warranted. The fire was close and was moving through the ground cover, burning some of the trees that had been downed in the fire four years ago.

hillside smoke

 

Just like the Taylor Bridge Fire, it traveled up the hill, towards some of the properties that had been rebuilt.

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They came through okay, though, thanks to the firefighters.

fire helicopter

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Thank goodness for firefighters, and thank goodness for volunteers and data collectors! Volunteer Ally and primatology student Jake jumped into action to help. We were asked to evacuate the house that J.B. and I share with our two dogs and two cats. Ally and Jake were lifesavers – helping get harnesses on the dogs and put the reluctant cats in crates, then, with caregiver Anna’s help, driving them to safety at Jake’s house.

In the meantime, J.B. got the emergency sprinkler system, which pumps water from the pond above the house:

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We had brought the chimps inside the building and shut all of the windows and doors, so the window in front room four was the spot to watch from. Most of the chimps were very calm. Jody and Foxie were a bit anxious, with Jody sticking close by Burrito most of the afternoon.

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In the below two photos, Burrito and Jody were lying next to each other:

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Foxie kept a Dora doll close:

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We gave them some extra treats today and otherwise followed the routine as much as possible. They are in bed now – Jamie with her boots, Foxie with her dolls, and Negra under a blanket.

Our dogs and cats are back home (thank you Anna, Katelyn, Ally & Jake!).

The fire seems to have sparked again well above the property as I was writing this. The helicopters were on it immediately. There are also still some smoldering spots nearby, but we feel that we and our neighbors are safe with the skilled firefighters working so hard.

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We lost power (the electric company probably shut it off due to the fire), but the chimp house’s generator kicked on immediately, not even skipping a beat.

J.B. and I are making our own dinner in the chimp house kitchen, but trying to keep things quiet so we don’t wake any of the chimpanzees as the slumber safe in their nests.

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What’s in a Nest?

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An intriguing article is making the rounds about a primatologist named Koichiro Zamma who has developed a bed, called the humankind evolution bed, that is based on how chimpanzees construct their own beds in the forests. Apparently he tried out a chimpanzee-constructed nest  while tracking chimpanzees in the wild and found it to be very comfortable, waking up quite refreshed after his night of nesting.

A prototype of his invention is currently on display at Kyoto University Museum in Japan. Articles say this about the bed: “The mattress features a depression in the centre to replicate the natural dip in a chimp’s treetop bed and has a raised periphery for the head, legs and arms. It is supported by a frame made from woven paper string for maximum breathability, and eight curved legs that are designed to allow the bed to rock almost imperceptibly.”

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Megumi Kaji of the Research Association of Sleep and Society takes a nap on the humankind evolution bed. Photograph: Koichiro Zamma

 

As we’ve written in the past, chimpanzees in captivity make similar constructions for their nests as their free-living counterparts, building up walls of material (blankets, straw, paper, etc), and laying in the middle.

Jody is a master nest-maker:

 

Missy makes a pretty mean nest too. This was one of my favorite photos from the early days of the sanctuary:

 
Missy in tire nest

In fact, these two were featured in this tutorial-style blog post about how to nest.

Here are some more photos of nesting from the Cle Elum Seven:

Jamie's paper nest

Missy constructed nest

Missy sleeping in a big nest

Negra nesting

 

I have to admit that I wonder if perhaps Zamma’s restful night of sleep was due to being particularly exhausted after a day of following chimpanzees around the forest, but I remain intrigued.

What do you think – are chimpanzees on to something that we should be paying attention to? Should we ditch our flat mattresses? Would you want a humankind evolution bed?

 

Year Eight

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We hope that you have been enlightened, entertained, and inspired by the musings on years’ past this week. Today’s final post in the looking-back brings us from June 2015 to last week, the eighth anniversary of the arrival of the Cle Elum Seven to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

The chimps’ eighth year began with a true test of our medical clinic. Burrito spent some time in the clinic twice after breaking a canine tooth. The first was an exam to determine the extent of his previously-diagnosed congestive heart failure and to assess the broken tooth, and the second was the tooth (make that teeth) extraction procedure.

Burrito tooth extraction

The chimpanzees are so fortunate to have such good human friends in their corner, who always go out of their way to ensure that they have the best care possible, and Burrito was in the hands of a large huge team of veterinary professionals who donated their time and skills to see Burrito through his procedures without a hitch.

Dare I say he’s even cuter with his missing teeth?

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Dora the Explorer and friends were making frequent appearances with Foxie last year, and she seemed to show a particular fondness for the jaunty and clearly extra-adventurous France Dora:

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and Dora’s fiery-haired friend Kate:

a flair for the dramatic

 

Troll dolls have not been replaced, though! They continued to be a favorite enrichment item for Foxie, with some of the other chimps seeming to adopt the trend:

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Negra with a troll doll
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Jody with a troll doll

 

Last summer, J.B. put together another of my favorite videos of the last eight years – the epic Troll Scarf Tug O War:

 

While the chimpanzees continue to make the most out of the ever-expanding life in sanctuary…

 

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Jamie at the top of Twister

 

…the humans have been working hard “behind the scenes” to secure their future and work towards giving more chimpanzees a sanctuary life. The community of donors and volunteers came together and made it possible to purchase the sanctuary property that we had been leasing, acquire new land that tripled the total sanctuary footprint, and enter into an agreement to provide a home for chimpanzees coming out of biomedical research.

And, on a national scale, there was huge news as invasive biomedical research on chimpanzees came to a halt.

Just think about what the next eight years will bring!

Year Six

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Continuing the trip down memory lane in celebration of the sanctuary’s 8th anniversary,  today is all about the Cle Elum Seven’s sixth year of sanctuary. 

After the harrowing experience of the Taylor Bridge Fire in the late summer of 2012, our thoughts continued to turn towards safety and security. We put the finishing touches on the mobile veterinary clinic to be used for emergencies and planned procedures and we installed a back-up generator that powers the chimp house as soon as the power goes off.

These important safety measures were possible because of generous contributions from friends of the Cle Elum Seven near and far. Everything that happens at the sanctuary is possible because of donations! That includes really important life-or-death measures as well as the addition of things that enrich the chimpanzees’ existence, and in turn all of our lives. For year six that, of course, included:

Foxie’s troll dolls:

Troll doll whispering to Foxie

 

Burrito’s wooden toys:

burrito with wooden car

Jody’s blankets:

Jody hold blanket in greenhouse through glass by JB's iphone

 

Negra’s peanuts:

Negra holding peanut

 

Jamie’s (many) boots:

jamie with boot

 

Annie’s natural lipstick:

Annie carrying beets

Annie with beet lips

 

And Missy’s access to as many adventures as she can manage in a day:

Missy leap

 

With the passing years, we have been faced with the loss of friends and fans of the chimpanzees. A particularly difficult loss in year six was that of Dr. Mel Richardson, who was the chimpanzees’ first veterinarian and an important voice for animals everywhere.

In Memory of Dr. Mel Richardson

We now have the Dr. Mel Memorial Walkway at the top of Young’s Hill where anyone can honor a loved on or create a stone for themselves to be placed in one of the most peaceful spots on the sanctuary grounds.

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Year Three

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Counting up the years to the present day, today is a brief look at the Cle Elum Seven’s third year of sanctuary.

Year Three was a time of both settling in and preparing for further adventures as we worked on the construction of the chimps’ two-acre outdoor enclosure that we now call Young’s Hill.

The chimps continued to spend lots of time in the greenhouse year-round as staff and volunteers prepped the hill for future excitement.

Andy Jim Lucas Keith JB fence post construction

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Jody’s Birthday Spa Day

 

missy eating snow

 

They also reaped the seeds sown by the staff’s and volunteer Denice’s labor in the sanctuary’s garden:

 

And we all got to see more of the chimps’ personalities come to light, sometimes in amusing ways. This is one of my favorite videos of that period that illustrates Jamie’s reign:

 

Jamie’s love of cowboy/girl boots continued, with her occasionally getting a boot that she would wear:

Cowgirl Jamie

 

These boots were made for walkin’

 

And Foxie’s love of troll dolls did not wane in the least:

Foxie admiring new troll

 

Historically, it was also the year that we, along with other groups, urged supporters to put pressure on the National Institutes of Health to reverse a decision to move chimpanzees into active research from the Alamogordo Primate Facility. Looking back, this public pressure was part of a turning point for chimpanzees, and likely helped in the NIH decision to stop using chimpanzees in federally-sponsored research. Today, these same chimpanzees are now slated to go to Chimp Haven in Louisiana! At the time, however, it was uncertain what their fate would be.

At lot has changed for the better in the last few years, both for the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and the outlook for other chimpanzees in captivity. Looking back can be a really good thing.

Next up for tomorrow: the year of Young’s Hill!!

 

Year One

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Today marks the eighth anniversary of the arrival of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees–Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra–to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and a celebration of Negra’s 43rd birthday.

It’s so hard for me to believe that eight years have already passed since the chimps’ arrival, and it’s even harder for me to believe that Negra is eight years older than she was when the truck full of chimpanzees pulled up the sanctuary driveway on June 13, 2008.

truck pulling up driveway with chimps

Negra in transport cage

Because this is such a nostalgic time for everyone who has been following the story of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary, and because so many people are relatively new followers, I thought it would be fun and informative to take this week to briefly chronicle some of the events of the last eight years, one year per day.

Of course I know you won’t want to miss the news of today’s big celebration, so we will be sharing that later today on the blog too. If you are subscribed to the e-newsletter, you will also be receiving an email today that celebrates Negra’s journey over the last eight years.

For now, here’s a glimpse of the first year of sanctuary for the Cle Elum Seven.

 

EVERYTHING was new to the chimpanzees.

 

From enrichment:

 

 

To the views out the windows:

 

To the changes in weather:

 

Rainstorm bravery

Missy standing in doorway

 

Let it snow!

Annie eating snow, Jamie and Negra in doorway

 

And the chimpanzees were new to us humans, too. Though we had met them at Buckshire before they came to the sanctuary, we didn’t have the chance to really get to know them until we spent time with them in their new home. We started to learn about their personalities and their likes and dislikes pretty quickly.

Here is one observation about Jamie and her intelligence a few days after the chimps arrived:

Learning about Jamie

 

And of course the humans, and Foxie herself, discovered her lasting love of troll dolls during her first year of sanctuary, leading us to ask supporters for more troll dolls. None of us knew then how big her collection would become!

Foxie with Troll and night time package

 

Foxie’s first troll doll:

Foxie and Trixie

 

Foxie demonstrating that troll dolls suit her fun-loving personality:

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We were delighted to discover Burrito’s out-of-this-world food-squeaking:

 

Touched by Annie’s love of Missy:

Annie grooming Missy

Missy and Annie with big playfaces
Missy and Annie with big playfaces

 

And thrilled with Jody’s ability to relax:

Jody on Valentine's Day, just holding her feet

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Every day of the chimps’ first year in sanctuary was an incredible gift.

I’m not going to lie–we had some tough times as an organization as we were just getting our footing. There were stressful moments, to be sure, but it was so inspiring to have the opportunity to watch the chimpanzees learn more about their new home and themselves. And it was incredible to connect with other people who wanted to be a part of giving them that chance. This blog has played a big role in that process, and I’m grateful to everyone who has read it in the past and is reading it right now. Thank you!

It’s pretty thrilling to think that if you stick around you will also be a part of providing so many “firsts” for more chimpanzees who will be coming to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in the future.