I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching the chimpanzees eat. They chew as if no one is watching.
Play Bows
Play bows are one of my favorite behaviors in a chimpanzee’s repertoire. They’re used to initiate play, and they’re almost always effective. This short video was taken a few years ago. You’ll see Foxie use a play bow to get Negra to play with her.
These photos were taken this afternoon in the greenhouse when Burrito was trying to get me to put the camera down and play with him. We see Burrito’s play bow frequently, and it’s almost always directed at his human friends. He presses his belly to the ground and drums his hands repeatedly. As soon as we respond, he springs up and runs off so we can chase him.
Jody: A Dichotomy
When I’m describing Jody’s personality to new chimp house volunteers, I often say that she’s a totally endearing combination of vulnerable and intimidating. If she thinks you have wronged her in some way, she will not hesitate to tell you so with a mouthful of water in your face. If she’s feeling feisty or on edge, she might try to poke you with her long fingernails. At the same time, if there’s tension in the group and she’s feeling unsure, she often seeks reassurance from her caregivers. And first thing every morning she approaches us and greets us warmly with several seconds of intense, prolonged eye contact. No matter her mood, she has a face I never tire of looking at.
Celebrating Freedom
The Cle Elum Seven are celebrating freedom today! Not long ago, they spent their holidays in lab cages. Today they foraged on Young’s Hill, lounged in the warm greenhouse, and played with friends.
We kicked off the day with a party in the greenhouse this morning. Volunteer caregivers Denice and Patti brought food and decorations. Fruit smoothie was set out in tiny plastic shot glasses, and we put out paper trays of apples, grapes, berries, and melon.
Burrito:
Negra:
Jody:
Annie:
Missy:
Jamie:
Later we served a special holiday lunch of vegan hot dogs, dill pickles, and bell peppers stuffed with pasta salad. We do our best to keep the chimpanzees healthy by limiting their diet almost entirely to fresh produce, but we thought we’d splurge a little today.
Everyone gathered as Patti got ready to serve:
Foxie:
Negra:
Annie:
Missy:
Burrito:
Thanks again to Jody Maxey for thinking of the chimps and sponsoring today. Happy 4th, everyone!
Too hot
Cle Elum is in the middle of a heatwave, and the high temperatures are sapping everyone’s energy (we couldn’t even convince Jamie to walk around Young’s Hill with us, and that’s usually a many-times-a-day activity). I think Burrito speaks for all of us in these photos taken in the greenhouse this afternoon.
Celebrating 5 years of sanctuary and a very special birthday
Today has been an incredible day. We’re so moved to see all the love for the Cle Elum Seven as the Give Five donations keep rolling in. As of right now, we’ve raised $10,550 toward our summer goal of $35,000! We’re asking for just $5 as a pledge of support for the chimps and the sanctuary (and as a happy birthday wish for Negra!).
It wouldn’t be a CSNW holiday without a party, of course, and the chimpanzees are expert partiers with five years of practice under their belts. Volunteer caregivers Denice, Seana, and Patti came this morning to help the chimps celebrate. Denice dressed up the morning fruit smoothie and put it in festive plastic shot glasses.
Patti brought several pinatas, including this one to honor Negra’s birthday.
Seana setting up the party in the greenhouse:
Denice:
Patti:
Missy was very interested in the pinata, but she had some nuts to eat first, so she held on to it.
Missy drinking smoothie:
Jamie:
Foxie enjoying some raspberries:
Annie with a pinata:
As for the birthday girl, she has had a pretty great day. Here she is with some fruit smoothie:
And with a tiara pinata (she is the Queen, after all):
After the party Negra explored Young’s Hill, venturing so high up the hill that we lost sight of her for awhile.
And after all that activity, she took a well-deserved nap.
We really can’t say what all of your support means to us. You enable us to do what we do. Here’s to another five years!
Negra’s Journey
One week from today, we will celebrate Negra’s 40th birthday and CSNW’s 5 year anniversary. Due to incomplete lab records, we don’t know Negra’s actual date of birth. To honor her status as the Queen of the Cle Elum Seven, we celebrate her birthday on June 13, the anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to the sanctuary.
Negra is the oldest of the seven chimps here, and it’s easy to tell by looking at her. She is rounder than the other chimps and moves a lot slower. While they’re playing energetic games of chase, she can often be found wrapped in a blanket gazing out the window. Negra has the wisdom and dignity that often come with age. It’s for this reason that we call her our Queen.
One of the things I love most about Negra is that she doesn’t settle. She demands what she thinks she deserves and doesn’t give up until she gets it. Usually, what she thinks she deserves is her night bag, a nightly post-dinner treat of nuts and seeds in a small paper bag. She loves night bags so much that often, mid-dinner service, she claps her hands together imperiously as if to say, “I’ll take that night bag NOW, please.”
This photo was taken when Negra and the rest of the Cle Elum Seven were en route to CSNW from the laboratory five years ago. I often wonder what Negra was thinking sitting in her cage on the transport truck, leaving over three decades of research labs behind. Of course, she couldn’t have known during that cross-country drive that those days were in the past.
I’d like to think that she started to understand that her life was changing shortly after arriving at the sanctuary. This photo was taken on June 13, 2008, just hours after the transport truck carrying the chimpanzees pulled into our driveway. Negra and the others took turns in front of this window. In the lab they had lived in a windowless basement, so it’s likely that she was seeing outside for the first time in many years, maybe decades.
The next two photos were taken this morning, almost exactly five years later. Negra spent the morning foraging for fruit and sitting in the grass on Young’s Hill, the chimps’ two-acre outdoor habitat. I don’t know if Negra will ever get used to the feel of the cool grass under her feet or the sight of the blue sky overhead, but I think that she finally knows that her past is history.
Next Thursday, June 13, please join us for Give Five Day. By donating just $5, you’ll pay for one meal for one of the chimpanzees, show your love for Negra and the others, and enable us to keep serving seven incredible survivors.
