Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

advocacy

Monkeys in the News

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Monkeys, specifically monkeys who are being used in biomedical research, have been in the news frequently lately.

A few years ago, I wrote about a truck carrying 100 monkeys that overturned in Pennsylvania, spilling crates of primates onto a highway. I would not have guessed then that “escaped lab monkeys” would become almost commonplace in the years following that incident.

Late last year, 43 young female rhesus macaques at Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee, South Carolina left their cages and the perimeter fence of the facility when a gate was left open. Some of them survived for months outside, with the last one captured in January.

More recently, on October 28th, a pickup truck pulling a trailer containing 21 crated macaques overturned in rural Mississippi. The initial news reports indicated that no one claimed ownership of these monkeys who were apparently being transported from one facility to another. Finally, almost a week after the crash, PreLabs, LLC released a statement confirming that the monkeys belonged to them.

In that statement, they also cleared up misinformation that had been spread about the health status of the monkeys. Apparently, the county sheriff initially described the monkeys as dangerous and carrying diseases based on what the driver of the truck told him. Citizens took this warning to heart–two of the monkeys were shot and killed when residents spotted them.

I want to first raise the question of whether it’s even appropriate to describe any of these monkeys as “escaped” when their being “loose” was the result of errors or accidents on the part of human beings. Virtually nothing in their lives has been their choice, including ending up on the side of a highway. In a very interesting in-depth New Yorker article focused on the Yemassee Alpha Genesis facility, the author shares the opposite point, characterizing monkeys in captivity as being preoccupied with getting out of the cages they are confined to, so there’s certainly different ways of looking at the volition of the monkeys who end up in the news as escapees.

Though there has been an uptick in these incidents in the last few years, lab monkeys on the loose is not an entirely new phenomenon.

There is a colony of vervet monkeys living freely today in Florida who were genetically traced to monkeys originally from Africa who “escaped” from the Dania Chimpanzee Farm in the 1940s where they were being sold for biomedical and military research.

The recent incidents have shined a light on a the industry using monkeys in invasive research, which is a good thing. People are asking where these monkeys are coming from and how are they being used within these facilities. There have been investigations into how the demand for monkeys in the United States for medical testing has led to the illegal capture of monkeys from the wild. The solution from within the industry to this problem has been a call to increase the breeding of monkeys within the U.S., but the proposed construction of new breeding facilities has thankfully been met with push-back.

Things are changing.

In April, the FDA announced that it will phase out all animal testing for certain drugs and therapies, replacing animal testing with more sophisticated methods. And just last week, the CDC announced it will no longer use monkeys in the research that it conducts.

It’s important to note that the FDA announcement is significant and unprecedented, but still cautious in its approach and it doesn’t equate to the end of animal testing for all drugs.

The CDC announcement appears to impact 200 macaques reportedly currently in use by the CDC. That’s a very small number of monkeys compared to the tens of thousands being used across other government agencies and private institutions, but it is indicative of the shift that is happening.

It’s an open question where these monkeys being used by the CDC would go, though the article states that Peaceable Primate Sanctuary was contacted by the agency and is willing to work on a solution, given enough funding.

As I said back in 2022, we will be providing a home for monkeys in the future, like other sanctuaries are now. And maybe, just maybe, that day when we can all celebrate the last monkeys in biomedical research in the U.S. going to their sanctuary home will come much sooner than I dreamed.

This photo J.B. took today of a rainbow over Jody’s statue seemed to be the perfect visual accompaniment to this news.

I will bet you anything that there’s a rhesus macaque named Jody in a lab right now who was used as a breeder and research subject.

She deserves sixteen years of sanctuary life just like our Jody had.

 

 

Come on Down!

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Animal exploitation begins with greed… They want to make money and they’ll make money at the expense of any kind of animal, be it a puppy or an elephant. It’s disgusting. ” – Bob Barker

Like a lot of Americans, I have spent some time curled up in a blanket, eating noodle soup, drinking 7-Up, eating saltine crackers, and watching Bob Barker on The Price Is Right when I was at home sick from school. Even though he always ended the show with his famous closing of “Get your pets spayed and neutered,” like clockwork, it wasn’t until I became older I found out how much of an animal lover he was, which in turn made me appreciate him even more.

As some of you know, he was very supportive of the plight of chimpanzees in the Untied States used as biomedical subjects, entertainment, or in roadside zoos. By now, you may have read some of the other accredited sanctuaries who have posted about the passing of Bob Barker and the amazing support he has given them. We are no different. Through his DJ & T Foundation, he has supported Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and our efforts, and we will always be grateful of him.

To honor what I personally think his vision was, here are some photos from today of the chimpanzees enjoying their day free from testing, abuse, and neglect.

Burrito at the start of our morning patrol/run

Jamie at the top of Young’s Hill walking amongst the trees

And Missy… Missy was really all over the place during the first morning patrol.

Trying to get a peep at the neighbors from a higher advantage point

Sprinting off to her next stop

Running down the log used to get to Jamie’s Tower to make it in time for breakfast

Rayne not letting a hole in a cup getting in her way of enjoying a Gatorade pool

And then there’s Gordo.

Handsome

Lovable

Uniq… Gordo… What are you doing?

Oh! Please don’t!

Okay! I get the hint! The photo session is over.

Joking aside, Gordo was just in a playful mood. In fact, he has been in a really good mood all day. Suspiciously in a really good mood.  I’m starting to wonder what is up his sleeve for the rest of the day…

Whatever it is, it is his choice.

As Diana said in this 2017 post, “Choice. This, above all else, is what increases primate welfare the most. When you think about it, much of what we share on the blog are the choices that the chimpanzees are freely making on a daily basis.”

The freedom of choice is by far the greatest enrichment chimpanzees in captivity can experience.

The Complete Picture

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Being a caregiver to chimpanzees is a great job, in my humble opinion. There are so many challenges that come with the job, but there are also the same if not more amount of rewards. You also see chimpanzees in a new light. Before moving up to Central Washington, I had studied chimpanzees for a couple of years. The studies, however, consisted of me helping to analyze data that was coming in from the field researchers. To learn about chimpanzees in a classroom setting is one thing, but working with them up close is another. To see everything you have read about in the flesh is like fitting the missing piece to the puzzle. The picture becomes clear. The intelligence, the emotions, the tenderness, the strength, and yes, the chaos. Everything about these beings changes. You see them in a whole new light.

Working with these individuals, you cannot help but wanting to know everything about them. That’s when the sadness kicks in. Reading about what they went through for decades is truly heartbreaking. The kicker is knowing the can never be truly free for various reasons. One example is chimpanzees are very territorial beings. They do not take kindly to strangers. The instinct for them in the wild is to kill any intruders into their home range, minus age appropriate females to diversify the genetic pool. Another example is everything a chimpanzee knows to do in the wild is passed onto them from their mothers and other elders in their community through observational learning. This includes things such as what to eat, how to get it and eat it, how to socialize and show respect to those higher in the hierarchy. Chimpanzees used in the biomedical labs, the entertainment industry, and those kept as pets are taken away from their mothers very early in their life. Sometimes after a few short hours. So they miss all these important life skills that they should know if they were in the wild.

One downfall is as a caregiver, the algorithms on social media tend to veer you toward animal related content. On paper, this would be great. The more exposure you can get, the more people will join in appreciating and help conservation efforts to save them. However, the reality is caregiver’s social media algorithms tend to only show the user what is popular. In the case of chimpanzees and other primates, these videos are the ones with them dressed up, doing tricks, playing with dogs or tiger cubs or guests. These are the videos that things like the exotic pet trade or entertainment. I will give props to the entertainment industry, which is trying to use CGI effects in lieu actual animals of late. Some studios are still falling behind that curve though. The more there is a want for chimpanzees to star in film, interact with guests at roadside zoos, or be kept as a pet, the more atrocious means are used to acquire infant chimpanzees.

Chimpanzees are a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This means chimpanzees in the wild are protected from being captured, killed, or traded. Or they should be protected from being captured, killed, and traded. Despite their CITES protection, chimpanzees are still being sought after as pets and props. Poachers almost exclusively target infants since they are smaller, a blank canvas in terms of training, and cute. In order to obtain an infant, poachers usually have to kill any adult in the area. Eight to ten adult chimpanzees are killed as they try to protect their family. Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center just posted a story on their Instagram account that is saddening and sickening, of an infant they rescued from poachers who still had his mother’s blood and hair clenched in his hands.

It can be hard to believe, but though most states ban the owning of primates (to some degree), there are still some where it is permissible. I personally believe all states should ban any primate from being a household pet. There are a plethora of reasons why. Besides the ethical reasoning due to the circumstances mentioned above, primates are notoriously difficult to keep. They need socialization with others of their kind. They are expensive. They need room. They are messy. They are violent. And they are strong. Most of these traits show up around the time they reach adolescence. This is why if you see these posts with chimpanzees, you are more than likely only going to see them in a certain age range. By the time they reach adulthood, they are no longer “manageable,” they lose their little white tuft on their back ends, and their skin tone changes dramatically, and they become nonprofitable in both the entertainment industry and pet trade.

There are many stories out there of events where a pet chimpanzee escaped from their cage and caused damage to property and/or leaving their keeper mutilated. In either case, the chimpanzee is usually the one that suffers in the end. Though the chimpanzees in our care do indeed live in enclosures, the lives of chimpanzees in accredited facilities are the best that they can get and that we can offer. We do everything in our power to make their lives as comfortable as possible and advocating for the end of these industry and trade practices. We never go into the enclosures with them and limit our physical contact. You know I love Burrito and would do anything for him (and everyone else of course), but I would never want to get into the same space as him. Burrito is goofy, charming, and playful, but he also can cause trouble, be destructive, and is incredibly strong. It would be highly irresponsible of me to do so. If I ever did and something bad happened, it would be him who suffers for my reckless decision. Essentially, he would be punished for being himself.

To help raise awareness, there are many things you can do. You can support an accredited sanctuary through donations and volunteer work. If you see a post on social media or anywhere really of a chimpanzee in an unnatural situation, you can help educate and inform by redirecting them to resources that explains why. You can also support any legislation being voted on by you government representative, both state and federal. Every so ofter a bill is proposed for the advocacy of chimpanzees and other primates and wild animals.

For Advocacy. For Conservation. For Chimpanzees.

Here are some photos from around the sanctuary!

Burrito on top of one of the stumps at the top of Young’s Hill

Missy and Jamie enjoying their breakfast in one of the windows of their Greenhouse

Missy!

Jamie enjoying a browse of goat’s beard dandelions

Negra also enjoyed the dandelions

Burrito, on the other hand, getting into my shots of Negra to make me stop taking pictures and play instead

The strawberry bed between Young’s Hill and The Bray beginning to produce berries

Beautiful, sweet Lucky!

Sack Lunch Review

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Recently, Netflix released a brand new show available for streaming called Chimp Empire. The documentary follows the lives of the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park. The Ngogo group has always piqued my interest. They were, and still are, the largest community of wild chimpanzees to ever be documented with more than 160 members. To give you an idea of how big that is, the average number of chimpanzees in a group is usually somewhere between 15 to 30. I would highly recommend anyone who can to watch it. The footage is some of the best footage I have seen come out of a research area. The only other time I saw footage this amazing was from the Disneynature movie Chimpanzee.

Usually when shows or movies like this come out, I usually watch them with a grain of salt. Usually programs as such over dramatize the stories or just plain make them up. For example, Disney’s Chimpanzee had amazing footage, however parts of the story that was told was somewhat stretched. By “somewhat” I mean “really” stretched. When I first began studying chimpanzees, the best piece of advice my professor gave me was to watch films like these and be amazed by the footage, but tune out the narration. With Chimp Empire, I took the same approach to watching it, however I will say the narration of the chimpanzee hierarchy and politics is pretty spot on.

Whenever I watch any show that has chimpanzees (or any primate really), I always feel a little bit awkward watching them. I work with chimpanzees, and prior to that, studied them. So why would I do anything in my personal life that is related to my professional life? It’s even a little more awkward if I watch them with anyone else because I am 100% that person who will point out the flaws/inaccuracies in these nature shows (and yes, I do cite my sources).

As I watch them though, I usually begin to justify my viewing because to me it is different. There many many similarities I see between the chimpanzees in the show and the ones I work with. There are, however, many many differences as well. To me, watching chimpanzees in the wild and watching them in captivity is like watching two completely different species. As I’m typing this, I’m starting to realize I don’t even know if I can describe it properly to make it make sense to a broader audience. I guess one of my theories is watching chimpanzees in the wild there a certain flow to how they interact with each other and how and why they do things. Most of this societal flow is learned at a very early age with the mother as an important role in shaping their offspring’s behavior. In contrast, chimpanzees in the sanctuary world never had that opportunity to learn from their mothers, or pass that knowledge down to their offspring. In a certain way, chimpanzees in a captive setting (not including AZA accredited zoos) are figuring things out as they go. This why introductions with chimpanzees who never met each other can be difficult; they have learned what the could from each other growing up with no “seasoned” individual to pass on their knowledge. It’s even more complicated when dealing with a chimpanzee that came from the entertainment world because they pretty much have zero social skills since most don’t even see another chimpanzee until the finally find a sanctuary home. And yes! It really is heartbreaking to think about in what they have missed not being born and raised in the wild.

So if you have the capability, I do recommend watching the footage from Ngogo in Chimp Empire. I give the footage 5 out of 5 Razzle Tazzle Terry Berries.

Speaking of Terry, today him and his group had a nice lunch forage in their greenhouses. We decided to spice up their lunch with the addition of one of their favorite food puzzles: grab bags! Usually, grab bags are filled with toys, scarves, socks, and a food puzzle of the caregivers choice. I tend to think the reason why grab bags are such a popular item because you never know what you’re going to get when you grab one. This time, we also included parts of their lunch. Being thrilled is one way of putting their reaction when their lunch was brought out to be set up.

Terry flipping through a magazine with peanut butter smeared between pages in the out door chute

Gordo going “all in” on his grab bag

He found a piece of pineapple at the bottom of his bag

Willy B looking around for what he is going to go for next

Mavis!

Cy found some walnuts and hazelnuts in one of the bags he grabbed

Beautiful Rayne!

Speaking of Rayne, she seemed to enjoy a cardboard bookcase we set up in the Mezzanine

Honey B!

Gordo taking it easy after lunch was over

Then there is this guy…

Burrito spent pretty much all day sitting at the window watching everyone who passed by in the outdoor chute. He even took his dinner to go!

In Memory of Steve Ross

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Last week, the non-human primate community received the sad news that Dr. Steve Ross had suddenly passed away.

Steve was the director of Lincoln Park Zoo’s Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes and the board chair of Chimp Haven for more than a decade. As a primatologist who was unabashedly focused on chimpanzees, he bridged the primate zoo, sanctuary, and observational/academic research communities in a way that no one else has, bringing everyone together to improve the welfare of chimpanzees.

Steve was the brainchild and leader behind an ambitious project to identify every captive chimpanzee in the United States and keep this information public and regularly updated as part of Lincoln Park Zoo’s Project ChimpCare.

He aided in the rehoming of many chimpanzees to zoos and sanctuaries from undesirable situations including chimpanzees within the entertainment industry and in private ownership. His loss is a huge blow to chimpanzee advocacy and a personal loss for countless people who were influenced by his academic and professional work and his passion, including many students who considered him a mentor. It is no exaggeration to say that anytime any question came up regarding a chimpanzee in captivity, I would immediately think to ask Steve.

Steve visited Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest on several occasions over the years, including a visit that coincided with a speaking engagement at Central Washington University in 2017 that I mentioned on the blog. He was a source of support to us during both difficult and joyful times at the sanctuary.

Not surprisingly, Steve was a member of Burrito’s unofficial fan club.

I thought about him often yesterday as I was watching the newly integrated groups of chimpanzees interact. I have been working alongside Steve on the placement committee for the Chimpanzees in Need campaign to find homes for all of the Wildlife Waystation chimpanzees, and we had exchanged impressions and updates over the last year about various chimpanzees we had met and fallen in love with at Wildlife Waystation.  If he had been alive, I would have texted him the good news of the integration. I have no doubt he would have responded with enthusiastic words of encouragement, and that it would have been among dozens of encouraging texts and emails he sent to others that day.

We are so saddened by his loss, and our hearts go out to those he was closest to in this world. His legacy is large and far-reaching and he leaves behind an immeasurable void.

Steve Ross @Lincoln Park Zoo

Thank you, Thyra and David!

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Today was sponsored by two long-time friends of the chimpanzees, Thyra and David Rutter, in celebration of the five year anniversary of Arte for Elephants!

Thyra and David are the founders of this wonderful organization which was created out of their desire to do whatever they can to help elephants who are suffering in captivity. Five years ago they sold most of their belongings and set out in an RV, traveling to raise awareness of the issues captive and wild elephants face, selling artwork, donating funds and inspiring other artists to take action. Since that time they’ve donated over $45,000 dollars to support sanctuaries around the world that are rescuing and appropriately caring for captive elephants. They also work with those communities to create programs which promote humane and ethical travel and tourism opportunities, as well as an educational scholarship program. In 2019, Arte for Elephants was able to award their first two Big Elephant Magic Scholarships which are paying for a full year of education for two young girls in northern Thailand and subsequently, have expanded to include three young girls in Kenya.

If there were ever a time when reading something inspiring, hopeful, and community-centered was much appreciated, it’s certainly now. Thanks so much, Thyra and David, for the impassioned work you do and for including the chimpanzees in that good magic.

If anyone can attest to the intrinsic value of living a life of dignity, respect and love for exactly who they are, particularly after decades of use in the entertainment and biomedical research industries, it’s Jamie:

Jamie leading Missy, Jody and Foxie on a perimeter check around Young’s Hill:

A throwback to Jamie and her elephant friend napping by the old barn doors of the playroom (pre-expansion) in the springtime breeze:

The Best Volunteers

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To say we lean on our volunteers (and interns) when times get tough is an understatement.

There is so much to do and the days feel so short right now. To appreciate how critical the volunteers are, it may help you to understand how our team operates.

Each day, one of our staff members has the role of Lead Caregiver and is primarily responsible for opening and closing the facility, operating and unlocking doors, responding to safety issues, and synchronizing all of the day’s personnel. Think of them, as Chad nicely puts it, as “air traffic control.” A second staff member is tasked with completing daily chores, preparing meals and enrichment, distributing medications, and approving all of the Lead’s door operations. In short, two caregivers manage the Chimp House as partners for the day. Their typical itinerary looks something like this:

Open, check, serve, shift, check, clean, check, shift, check, clean, check, shift, serve, organize, tidy, blog, check, shift, clean, serve, check, close. Somehow find time to answer emails. Repeat all of it the next day.

A third staff member may be asked to help them, but that still only leaves just enough time to complete the bare essentials, with no time left for administrative work, sanctuary upkeep, or other miscellaneous projects. It’s safe to say that we need extra help, and we’re fortunate enough to have a full corps of capable and eager volunteers who support our staff every day.

Volunteering is a big commitment. Just to even be on site, applicants must go through rigorous training. This process includes a preliminary application and a safety orientation followed by months of interactive learning. Even for volunteers and interns who come in weekly, it takes months of hard work to become proficient at basic tasks. While becoming familiar with all the essential duties, most volunteers also learn to distinguish the individual chimpanzees and conduct the necessary checks before unlocking enclosures for cleaning. This is not a task to be taken lightly. At the highest level of responsibility, some volunteers are even trained to have protected contact with the chimpanzees through the steel caging. With this specialized skill set comes the ability to directly serve meals to the chimps.

Because volunteers “lend a hand” with many time-consuming tasks, caregivers sometimes have the flexibility to work on other endeavors (such as writing long-winded blog posts with accompanying videos). The volunteers also advocate for chimps via outreach events, work to inspire donations, devise and build new enrichment items, and assist with monitoring chimpanzee health and behavior. They’re an integral part of our team.

Most importantly, the individuals who volunteer here are great people who love the chimpanzees. In addition to making the workplace more interesting for our staff, they certainly help the chimpanzees to have a good time. Volunteers will often be seen dutifully putting on cowboy boots for Jamie, running around the Hill with Missy, playing tug-of-war with Burrito, stomping around with Willy B, and pretending to be excited when Honey B gifts them random items through the caging (today’s most notable gift was an elastic headband). We appreciate the extra hands, but the chimps may appreciate them even more.

Of course, the volunteers get unique experiences and acquire new skills in exchange for their efforts. Some volunteers are enrolled in internships for academic credits through our partnership with Central Washington University, and dozens have utilized this pathway to earn graduate degrees or professional certificates and advance their careers. Many of the sanctuary’s alumni have progressed to serving at other reputable sanctuaries, working as zookeepers in accredited zoos, studying nonhuman primate behavior in academic contexts, advocating for animal welfare and conservation via science communications, and caring for nonhuman animals in veterinary settings. A few former volunteers have even found themselves employed at CSNW as caregivers (I wonder if you can guess who I am referring to). Still, other volunteers have unrelated professions but equally contribute to the chimps’ well-being in impactful ways.

It truly is a diverse, talented, and diligent group of people. I can’t say that any one of them is the best volunteer, but I like to brag that we really do have the best volunteers.

Also, I would like to specially thank the Sunday Squad for letting me awkwardly film them as they worked in the Chimp House. You’re all rock stars.