Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

J.B.

Negra’s Cabin is complete!

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This morning, after a few days of being locked out of Young’s Hill for construction, the chimps were able to go back outside and explore their new structure. All of the chimps made a beeline straight to it – all but Negra, that is. Even though it is designed, built, and named for her, we knew that it would take her some time before she was comfortable enough to check it out.

In the meantime the other chimps are more than happy to take advantage of it. Missy, Annie, Jamie, and Jody seem to really like the little platform at the top.

Our thanks go out again to everyone who donated to our 4th Anniversary fundraising drive this summer, including the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) and the many individual donors that helped us reach our goal. Because of you, the chimps can now enjoy the hill in almost any weather. Now that construction is complete, we have begun designing the plaque that will adorn the cabin with the names of those who helped make it possible.

Jamie was the last to climb up to the top, but once she did she didn’t seem to want to come back down:

Missy must have climbed up and down at least 10 times:

Burrito just followed the food:

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Bruce!

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Tracy Headley sponsored yesterday in honor of Bruce Clifton’s birthday. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the sponsorship blog post up in time. So in addition to saying sorry, we’d like to wish Bruce an extra special belated Happy Birthday. We hope you got to enjoy some of your favorite foods, like Missy and Negra:

Thanks so much to you both for your support of the Cle Elum Seven!

A nest on the hill

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When free-living chimpanzees prepare to bed down for the night, most build nests high up in the trees. The reason they do this, as far as we know, is to protect themselves from ground-dwelling predators (though one adventurous researcher discovered some other advantages). Captive chimpanzees, while not at risk of predation, also build nests. The methods for building a nest are culturally learned, but the urge itself is instinctual.

Sometimes I try to imagine what that urge feels like to them. They seem to thoroughly enjoy the process and the ritual of nest-building. Jody, in particular, seems like she is in a state of meditation when she is folding and weaving her blankets. Missy spins 360 degrees as she makes her nest to ensure that each section is symmetrical. Jamie weaves some of her blankets through the caging, as if she is anchoring her nest to the building. The details are different in each case, but each portrays a sense of calmness and comfort throughout the process.

When we sleep we are vulnerable, and nests help chimps feel safe and secure. It’s interesting to note that captive chimpanzees build nests with high sides just like their wild counterparts do to keep from falling out of the tree in the middle of the night. But captive chimps are usually sleeping on the floor or on platforms where there is no risk of falling. And often their nests consist only of sides – there is no bottom. Sometimes the nests look like a doughnut with bare floor in the middle. It’s obvious that the nest is not serving the function of a mattress, to cushion them from the hard ground. Instead, I think it’s fulfilling an instinct that probably goes back millions of years – the urge to be safe and secure, the urge that keeps a sleeping chimpanzee up in the tree where they belong.

A typical nest in the playroom loft

This also explains why chimpanzees usually make nests in areas where they feel at ease. You want to close your eyes knowing that nothing strange will happen while you are asleep. At CSNW, the chimps almost always make their night nests on the second story of the playroom or on the benches high up in the front rooms. In the first year that the chimps had access to Young’s Hill, not once did we see someone make a nest outside. But this morning, Jody decided to be the first, and dragged her blankets outside.

This was a big step for Jody, and I think it demonstrates a level of comfort on the hill that we haven’t seen yet. You’ll notice that she made her nest next to the vehicle access gate – the only section of caging on the two-acre enclosure. We often talk about the chimps making gradual transitions, and I think this is a good example. She wants to make a nest outside, but she insists on the security and familiarity of caging as her backdrop.

She didn’t stay in her nest very long, but we are thrilled that she has taken this first step.

Progress on Negra’s Cabin

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Just a quick update to let you know that, despite a minor setback from the Taylor Bridge Fire, we are making progress on Negra’s Cabin. The “cabin”, which will actually be a three-sided shelter with a transparent ceiling and walls, is the result of your contributions to our fourth anniversary fundraising drive. The shelter will provide a comfortable space for the chimps on the cold, windy, and wet days of spring and fall. We also hope that it will help chimps like Negra learn to spend more time out on the hill, as some chimps need a little more time to get comfortable being out in wide open spaces.

Our rough vision for the cabin:

And that vision slowly being realized:

We are building this with Negra in mind, but I am starting to think that Jody will be the first to move in and make a nest in a fluffy bed of straw. Hopefully, in a few weeks, we will get to find out.

Try Something New Today

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Jamie decided that she would start Year Two on Young’s Hill by trying some new things. She started by testing out a small structure we built this summer.

Then she moved on to the bamboo. I don’t know if it’s a difference in skill or just a difference in weight, but Missy made it much higher before the whole thing toppled over.

Either way, she seemed to be having fun.

Earlier this summer, when Ben and the Boy Scouts were building the new bridge, I put up some log posts around the enclosure. Some of the logs were far too heavy to lift with our tractor, so I cut them up into smaller pieces and made little stumps for the chimps to sit on. Brilliant idea, J.B., I thought to myself, as I patted myself on the back. And then three months went by without the chimps even looking in their direction.

Well, today was the day that stumps became cool. Everybody was doing it. First up was Foxie:

Then Annie:

And then, farther down the hill, Missy and Annie together:

The chimps are funny that way. They require you to be patient.

When we built Young’s Hill, I had dreams of the chimps going out in the morning and not coming back until evening. But they weren’t ready for that. To them, Young’s Hill is an exciting playground, a wide open space that is both exhilarating and frightening. But they can only take so much excitement before they retreat to the greenhouse to relax in the comfort of something more familiar to them.

Over the last year, they’ve pushed their boundaries and conquered some of their fears. Each day they try something new.

This morning, a year and a day after going outside for the first time, the chimps went out onto the hill in a group and many of them didn’t come back until lunch time.

That’s progress.

Wildfire update

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Just a quick update to let you know that the sanctuary is not in any danger from the wildfires currently burning across Washington State. However, the fires are creating hazardous air quality in some areas, including around the sanctuary on occasion. During these times, we have been keeping the chimpanzees indoors with the ventilation system recirculating and filtering the indoor air. Fluctuations in local weather patterns mean that the smoke conditions can change by the hour. Thankfully, the chimps are able to go outside most of the time.

Our thoughts are with the people affected by the current wildfires, including the heroic firefighters. For once, we are really looking forward to winter.