Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

J.B.

Training Fun

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Getting chimpanzees to participate in their own medical care is incredibly important for their physical and psychological health. But some chimps, like Foxie, are reluctant to take part. After three decades in laboratories, who could blame her? But with patience, and lots of positive reinforcement, the chimps do learn to trust us. Sometimes, you just have to bend the rules and have a little fun.

Willy B spent some quality time in the courtyard today. I watched as he walked about eight feet across the grass to retrieve a cherry from the ground. He used a small plastic chair almost like a walker so that he had a grip on something familiar. Once he was safely back on the boardwalk, he pant-hooted and then climbed back up to the platform to relax. He even laid down in the shade out there for a while. He’s getting to the point where he only goes back inside for lunch…what a difference a month makes.

And guess who reached out to grab some cabbage from the boardwalk? This is how Willy B started – we’ll see if Mave follows the same course.

Racing at Sunset

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The other night, Jamie was walking around Young’s Hill with Diana (and Meredith) after all of the other chimps had gone to bed. As I went to put the Gator back into the barn, she signaled that she wanted to race. So we did. And we were lucky enough to do it with one of the most beautiful sunsets as our backdrop. Strange job, indeed.

As a bonus, here are some photos our our man Willy B from this morning. He dined in on the first level of the platform with the lettuce he’d picked up along the way, but he took the orange on the second level to go. Mave reached out to grab some lettuce from the boardwalk but she has yet to come all the way out. And Honey B is content for now to watch from above in the chute. All in good time.

 

Go, Willy B, Go!

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I was listening to a podcast yesterday about negativity bias. The idea, put simply, is that negative information has a greater effect on our emotional state and perception of the world than neutral or positive information. There are good evolutionary reasons for this asymmetry. Learning how to pick the ripest, sweetest fruit is certainly helpful, as anyone who has bitten into a mealy apple can attest, but you may not get a second chance to learn what a venomous snake looks like. The salience of negative experiences means they are more easily seared into our brains and resonate longer. Though it may be adaptive, this bias is often ill-suited to modern life. These days we are awash in information and there’s no shortage of negative experiences to choose from, a fact made clear whenever I am foolish enough to read comments on the sanctuary’s YouTube channel before going to bed.

Which is why we all need Willy B right now.

Granted, watching adult chimpanzees overcome their fear of the outdoors is a painful reminder of their tragic pasts. My heart aches as I watch Willy B make false start after false start while he works up the courage to venture out under open skies. Or when he clings desperately to familiar objects, stretching as far as he can to reach into the grass without taking his foot off of the boardwalk that is his lifeline. Or when he climbs clumsily up the ladder, searching for his footing, in a way that is completely uncharacteristic of a species so powerful and agile and for whom climbing should be as natural as breathing.

But we are so fortunate to witness his determination. To feel his courage. To share in his wonderment as he discovers the world around him and beneath his feet.

There could very well be setbacks to come, but Willy B’s efforts this past week have been deeply inspiring. To be honest, I have had trouble doing anything other than sitting quietly by the fence to watch it all unfold. There are so many other things to do and so much going on in the world deserving of attention. But Willy B is the story I need right now. And it’s been amazing to share it in real time with you, knowing that we are all cheering him on together.

Small steps

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One of the ongoing and typically lengthy discussions at our weekly staff meetings involves coming up with ways to encourage Honey B, Willy B, and Mave to go outside. Would a forage in the courtyard help motivate them or lead to frustration? Does the presence of staff reassure them or do we make them nervous? How can we modify the chute or the courtyard to put them more at ease? While we are willing to try anything and everything within reason, we also know from experience with the Seven that it often just takes time.

I’m excited to share that Willy B’s time may have arrived because this morning he took a few small steps outside.

Sorry – no good photos of the occasion! But squint really hard and you can see Willy B making his first step onto the boardwalk outside as the photographer hides around the corner.

During his first few attempts, he clung with one hand to the inside of the chute, leaning out as far as he could without losing his connection to something safe and familiar. Once back in the chute, he would psych himself up for another go while tapping his knuckles on the floor, all while keeping his eyes on the prize – a handful of grapes, scattered just outside the door. Eventually, when he had retrieved all of the grapes within reach, he released his grip on the caging and sat squarely outside of chute on the boardwalk. It was then that he stopped reaching for grapes altogether and just sat for a moment to look around. Over the course of about 30 minutes he did this again and again, until he decided that he’d had enough for one day and returned to the building. Sometimes we make progress in small steps.

You wouldn’t know it now, but many of the Cle Elum Seven were just as terrified to go onto Young’s Hill when they first had the chance. Missy and Jamie took to it almost immediately, but Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jody, and Negra were extremely hesitant (click the links for blog posts we wrote at the time). It took time – in some cases months or years – and plenty of encouragement from friends for them to overcome their fears.

Here’s Jamie, back in 2011, throwing her arm around her pal Foxie to encourage her to walk further outside.

And here’s Foxie again, this time with a little extra motivation…

We hope that Willy B will step further and further outside each day. Who knows, maybe one day he can be the one to throw a reassuring arm around Mave or to lure Honey B through the grass by carrying her favorite scooter or fanny pack. And just as it was for the Seven, the once-terrifying great outdoors can finally start to feel like home.

An exam for Foxie

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As I type this, Foxie is recovering uneventfully from anesthesia after a full workup.

Diana mentioned a while back that Foxie hadn’t been feeling well, and while she did get her appetite and energy back it took longer than we would have liked and thus warranted further investigation. As many of you know, we’ve long referred to Foxie as “Tiny” due to her diminutive stature. She simply can’t afford to get too much tinier.

As always, we are grateful to Dr. Erin as well as the medical and veterinary professionals that volunteered their time and expertise to help ensure that Foxie stays well.

Anesthetist Dalila Fairchild intubates Foxie in preparation for gas anethesia
Anthony assists Dr. Erin with the dental exam and cleaning while veterinary radiologist Dr. Middleton performs abdominal and cardiac ultrasound
Foxie’s hand is taped to the x-ray detector so that the staff can stand safely out of the way during imaging.

We’ll know more once we run labs and consult with other specialists on the imaging, but so far we haven’t seen anything alarming. And her recovery from the procedure has been great – before she had even regained enough balance to walk, she managed to find and hold onto a Dora the Explorer doll. For the rest of the afternoon she’ll sip Sprite and rest up, and then hopefully get a good night’s sleep so that she can rejoin her family in the morning. Jody, in particular, did not want to leave her side this morning and will be relieved to be with her again.

On the Mooove

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On Monday, Katelyn posted about the cows’ return to the summer pastures. Here’s a video version of the same event.

If you haven’t been around cows much, think of them as 1,000-2,000 lb. dogs, with every bit as much personality. Spring has always been a wonderful time of year, but seeing it through a cow’s eyes gives it even more profound meaning. Already they are choosing to forego sleeping in their barn so they can camp at their spot above Young’s Hill overlooking acres of green pasture.