Are you sick of seeing Missy and Annie play? I didn’t think so! These two are always wrestling and having a good time. Here’s a video that is bound to brighten your Tuesday afternoon:
animal protection
Today is in memory of Dr. Mel
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored in memory of Dr. Mel Richardson by Laura Handzel. Laura shared: “I’ll miss Dr. Mel and his smile. I’m grateful for everything I learned from him and for all he did for the animals, especially those at CSNW.”
As many of you are aware, the animals of the world (human and otherwise) lost a dear friend in Dr. Mel recently. While our loss is immeasurable, so is his legacy. Dr. Mel’s was a life well lived and a model of how to walk in the world as a human. Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and all of us here wouldn’t be the same without being so fortunate to have been a part of his extraordinary life.
Laura, thank you so much for honoring Dr. Mel in such a thoughtful way.
Here is another fan of living life to the fullest, Dr. Mel’s Pal, Jody:
Foxie with tiny trolls
It seems Foxie has been the center of our blog posts lately, but that might be because no matter what she is doing she is bright, playful, funny, and can bring a smile to all of our faces. You’ll see what I mean while watching this video:
Cheers!
Happy New Year’s Eve! We want to thank Jody Ubert for sponsoring today for the chimpanzees. Jody, you’ll be happy to know that we had a wonderful little New Year’s Eve party for the chimpanzees today, complete with party streamers and plastic champagne flutes with sparkling apple cider. The chimps loved them!
Today is also the last chance to donate before the end of the year. If you’re on our mailing list, you received this message in your inbox this morning, which includes a link to the Foxie Inspires Us video. Foxie and her friends are in a Holiday Pal competition, too, and I think it’d be really great to see all seven chimps with two full candy canes by the end of 2013. Check the progress here, and support your favorite pal before the ball drops at midnight tonight!
Here is Foxie enjoying some of the cider from today:
Thank you to everyone who has made the last five and half years of sanctuary so wonderful for the Cle Elum Seven. Cheers to you and yours, and have a Happy New Year!
Happy Birthday, Tracy!
The chimpanzees have been gifted with a day of sanctuary today sponsored by their friend, Tracy Headley! Today is Tracy’s birthday and she shared the following message: “I can not think of a better way to celebrate my birthday, than to celebrate Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.” Tracy, you do so much for the chimpanzees and we are touched by your generous gift to them on your own special day. We think you should celebrate Foxie-style by doing a few back flips, hanging upside down, and throwing in some pirouettes for the heck of it!
Thank you so much, Tracy, and we wish you the happiest of days!!
Jamie and challenges
You may have figured out by now that Jamie is a tough chimp to enrich. Her mind is so active and she requires a lot to keep engaged. Part of our job as caregivers is to come up with new ways to keep the chimpanzees enriched, and in particular, keeping Jamie busy.
Though raisin boards are already a puzzle in themselves (the chimps usually have to use tools to get the raisins out), it’s even more so when they are just out of reach. Jamie prefers the challenges. She will go right past the raisin boards that are hidden under a blanket and aim for the ones that are harder puzzles to solve.
Here you see she even learns from her own mistakes—the first board she dropped too quickly and it went too far for her to reach. At first she looks around for a tool to grab the raisin board but decides to work on the more accessible one and leave the other project for later (don’t worry—she got that one eventually, too).
After seeing this video (and likely even without watching you know already) I think you will agree that Jamie is amazing.
Take Action Tuesday: Chance in Wolf of Wall Street
This action alert went out earlier today. Not on the mailing list? Sign up for Eyes on Apes Take Action list today to get these alerts straight to your inbox!
In the upcoming movie Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio is seen holding an infant chimpanzee, Chance. It is especially disappointing because Mr. DiCaprio is known for his passion for animal conservation—most recently he supported conservation efforts to save tigers in Nepal.
Animal advocacy groups have contacted Mr. DiCaprio and the movie producers, however our efforts to reach out have not resulted in Chance’s scenes getting removed from the movie. Now it is time for the public to speak up!
Chance was once a pet, and his previous owners discarded him to a pseudo-sanctuary called the Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary. The animal attraction claims to be a reserve for animals, but they regularly exploit their residents for entertainment purposes. In fact, Chance’s owners (the Rosaire-Zoppe family) are the only remaining trainers that continue to use chimpanzees in circuses. No respectable reserve or animal sanctuary would lease out their animals for media productions such as this movie.
Even if the AHA was present for filming, they have no authority over Chance’s treatment off-set, making the “no animals were harmed” disclaimer misleading.
Portraying chimpanzees as cute and cuddly attractions seriously misinforms the public on the true nature of these beings and perpetuates the pet and entertainment industries. Studies have shown that showing chimpanzees alongside humans in film and TV mask their endangered status, and these scenes hurt conservation efforts.
Despite hearing these facts from advocacy groups, the Wolf of Wall Street producers have not removed Chance’s scenes from the movie, which will be released on December 25. We encourage you to please post on the movie’s poster on their Facebook page and Twitter to let them know that because of the issues with Chance’s scenes you will not be going to see the movie, and you will tell all your friends to boycott it with you.
Sample Facebook Post:
I’m boycotting Wolf of Wall Street because of the chimpanzee scenes! Even Hollywood knows that abuse occurs when animals are used in movies (hollywoodreporter.com/feature). Chimpanzees don’t belong in movies unless they are CGI. Chimpanzees are an endangered species and showing them as cute and cuddly props hurts conservation efforts and perpetuates the pet trade.
Sample Tweets:
Pls RT! Join @EyesOnApes and tell @LeoDiCaprio chimps should not be in movies & you won’t see @TheWolfofWallSt!
RT! @LeoDiCaprio I will boycott @TheWolfofWallSt because of Chance’s scenes. Chimps do not belong in movies! EyesOnApes.org
Don’t support animal abuse. Refuse to see @LeoDiCaprio in @TheWolfofWallSt and tell all your friends. EyesOnApes.org Pls RT!
The final thing you can do to help Chance is to spread the word! Please share this alert on social media and encourage your friends to boycott the movie with you.
