Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

animal rescue

Official Party Business

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Today, we have three blog “topics” to cover, all related to upcoming celebrations. (I’ve dotted the blog with recent photos as well.)

Foxie sitting in the front rooms

First and foremost, this day of sanctuary was generously sponsored by our friend Laura Bradshaw to honor the birthday of her son, Ben.

To accompany her gift, Laura wrote:

I’d like to celebrate my son, Ben’s birthday. He is an avid animal lover and counts the CSNW critters among his very favorites (including barn cat and office cat and dog). Thanks to your wonderful blogs, he counts chimps and cattle among his dear friends. Thank you for all you do.

We’re ecstatic that she thought of the sanctuary on this special occasion and hope Ben has an amazing birthday. Thank you so much for your kindness, Laura and Ben!

Terry relaxing in the Oakwood Greenhouse

Additionally, we have a big anniversary coming up this Thursday, August 18th: the third anniversary of Honey B, Mave, and Willy B’s arrival at CSNW.

It will be the first arrival anniversary celebrated as members of a larger social group, so the party will be bigger than ever. Be sure to check out the blog this week to see the festivities!

Mave lounging in the Marmot Mountain playroom

On top of all that, we’re also finalizing plans for Missy’s upcoming 47th birthday celebration which will take place on Tuesday, August 23rd. Enrichment Coordinator Chad has filled our Amazon Wish List with an eclectic assortment of items that will help us to give Missy and her friends a special party! You may even be able to guess the party’s theme if you’re particularly astute…

You can access the wish list directly via the following link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2L5WRNKBKB8B2?ref_=wl_share

Missy grooming her friend Jamie

Have a great week, everyone!

A Life Taken Away, then Restored

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Negra is one of only two or three chimpanzees at the sanctuary captured in the wild and brought to the United States for biomedical research.

Thankfully, the practice of capturing chimpanzees for use in biomedical testing in the U.S. ended in 1976 when they were listed as threatened per the 1973 Endangered Species Act of the United States.

As explained on the website Animal Welfare Law

Cited problems included human destruction of natural habitat, capture and export for research laboratories and zoos, the spread of disease from people to chimpanzees, and ineffectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms. Simultaneously, the Service issued a special regulation providing that the prohibitions that generally cover all threatened species would not apply to live P. troglodytes and P. paniscus held in captivity in the United States on the effective date of the rule, or to the progeny of such animals, or to the progeny of chimpanzees legally imported into the United States after the effective date of the rule. This exemption was intended to facilitate legitimate activities of U.S. research institutions, zoos, and entertainment operations, without affecting wild chimpanzee populations.

This exemption allowed for Negra, who was captured in 1973, to grow up, from infancy to adulthood, without her own family, within a laboratory as a research animal.

The records we have for her are limited, but we do know that she, along with the rest of her group at the sanctuary, was used in hepatitis vaccine testing. Like Annie, Missy, Jody, and Foxie, she was also used to breed more chimpanzees for research. Negra had a total of four babies, according the records we have, and she did not have the opportunity to be with them because they were taken to be used in experiments themselves.

How did Negra’s past impact the Negra we know today? It’s impossible to  know.

What we do know is that today, 14 years and 39 days after her sanctuary life began, Negra sat in the tall green grass of Young’s Hill and ate her corn at peace.

You asked… let’s answer!

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Sofia asked you last week for suggestions for upcoming blog posts… and we received MANY wonderful questions and ideas. Thank you for all of them! We will do our best to answer or touch on those topics in the upcoming weeks.

There were many quick questions so I thought I’d answer as many as I can today!

Question: What are the alpha dynamics in each group?

As many of you already know, Jamie is considered the alpha in her group. For our newly integrated group of 9, Cy is treated as alpha by all of his group members.

Question: Are things quite settled between Willy B and Cy? Is it understood that Cy is the “top dog” so to speak?

I would say so! When the group of 9 first started living together 24/7, we were not sure if Cy or Willy B would be considered alpha of the group. Once Willy B began submitting to Cy, it was a dead giveaway that Cy was considered more dominant in the hierarchy. Despite this, Willy B and Cy are good friends and spend a lot of time grooming together daily. While we don’t know what their hierarchy looks like long-term, this is how it stands now.

Question: Do the chimps recognize their name?

Yes! With the chimps being in captivity for decades, they are used to being spoken to. They do know and respond to their names.

Question: How many hours total a day are spent on cleaning, food prep, laundry, feeding, meds, play?

This is a tough question because it varies day to day! Some days we start laundry at 9am and don’t finish until the evening. Some days we finish by the afternoon. However, cleaning typically takes us about 4-5 hours everyday. Other than pre-washing fruits and veggies, we meal prep directly before the given meal. It takes about 20 minutes to prep a meal for both groups. Serving the meal also takes about 20 minutes! Although some meals go faster based on how excited the chimps are! We do meds prep prior to each meal as well. This is usually a quick process, depending on the medical needs of the chimps. As for play, we play all day long! Even if we’re in the middle of scrubbing the Playroom floor, we will always stop and play with the chimps when they’re up for it!

Question: Have you ever given them a video on a big screen?

Yes! Movies are considered enrichment. We don’t do this all the time, but the chimps love movies when we do! Especially while recovering from a medical procedure.

Question: Are the chimps allowed to go out on the trails whenever they please, or are the times structured by the crew?

The chimps are not allowed out on Young’s Hill without caregivers in the chimp house! However, they do have 24/7 access to their Greenhouses.

Question: Do you inspect the hill before letting them onto it?

Yes we do! Following the answer from above, we do a perimeter check of the hill before letting them onto the hill. It is important for us to make sure our electric fencing system hasn’t been damaged overnight.

Question: Do they like music?

Some do! Just like how some really enjoy watching movies and others do not, same goes for music!

Question: What is the biggest challenge in creating enrichment for 16 individuals?

Some individuals have more restrictions than others. So we operate by group! For example, Jamie’s group may get different enrichment than Cy’s group. This is based on our knowledge of what the chimps break or eat, when they’re not supposed to.

Question: What happens with your beautiful facility someday when (hopefully) there are no more lab chimps in need of rescue?

We are constantly working on what the future looks like for us. Unfortunately, there is still a need for homes for lab chimps. Also, just primates in general. Not to mention, chimpanzees live a long time in captivity (there’s captive chimps in their 60’s!). I would love to live to see a day where there is no longer a need for sanctuaries, but unfortunately, I don’t think it will be in my lifetime.

Question: Does Cy share his reading materials?

I don’t want to exclude anyone from this, but I’ve also seen Rayne reading magazines lately! We provide enough magazines to Cy’s group so that anyone who would like, can help themselves!

Question: How do you make sure each one gets their share of the food?

Caregivers hand-serve the chimps their meals. This means we are handing each piece of food to the individual. From there, it is relatively easy to monitor what they eat and what they don’t. Most of the chimps will not accept a food they don’t like. Therefore, we don’t usually have to worry that they take the food from us and abandon it elsewhere. We also keep an eye on any food thieves, which happens from time to time! In those instances, we will replace what was stolen for the individual.

Question: Do they all go to sleep and wake up at the same time? Are there early risers that get the other ones going? 

The chimps usually are getting themselves ready for bed or are already in bed when we close the chimp house in the evening. The time varies but typically the chimps are early risers!

 

I hope these help! We will answer more soon!

 

Sweet Cy:

Gordo working on a raisin board:

Rayne working on a raisin board:

 

Caregiver Lizz Playing with Burrito

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Full disclosure, this video was taken a few weeks ago. Lizz was here today and I remembered I had the clips on my phone, so I decided to put them together into a video to add some classic Burrito play to your weekend.

Thoughts About The Past

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The residents here at the sanctuary came from unnatural backgrounds, we know this. Whether it be biomedical research, entertainment, or raised in their early years as a pet, their lives have been far from what they would have experienced in the wild. Though Negra and Annie, and possibly Jody, were born in the wild, they were taken from their home and families across the ocean by humans. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about this fact and I often find it impossible not to dwell on it.

Over the years, our staff have worked to piece together the life histories of our residents. While there is some that is still unknown to us, we have learned quite a bit. As one of the newest caregivers, I am still working to know all these histories. Sometimes, their names appear in stories, our hearts stop, and we know a little bit more about the chimps we have the honor to work with.

A few weeks ago, there was a book sitting on top of the table in the foyer of the chimp house. It was From Elephants to Mice: Animals who have touched my soul (2010) by Dr. James Mahoney. Dr. Mahoney is a complicated character, to say the least. He was a veterinarian and a research professor at the New York University School of Medicine, where he worked at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). He conducted invasive biomedical research, but later in life became vocal about the conflicting emotions he had about this research. He published a few books over his lifetime and while I have not read Saving Molly: A Research Veterinarian’s Choices (1998), I wanted to read his second novel because, as we know, all of the newly integrated group of 9 were born at LEMSIP.

I am not here to pass judgement on Dr. Mahoney, or to stir any pot, but merely to share parts of the story that I found heavy on my heart after finishing his book. I believe knowledge is power and with more knowledge we can better understand and serve the chimps that call CSNW home.

In 1995, LEMSIP closed and was taken over by the Coulston Foundation of Alamogordo, New Mexico. Dr. Mahoney was made acting director during this time and the deal made between the two organizations included the transfer of 100 chimps from LEMSIP to the Coulston Foundation. When Dr. Mahoney and his colleagues received instructions to arrange transport for the babies from New York to New Mexico, Dr. Mahoney called the founder and director of Wildlife Waystation in California to ask if they could take the babies- in less than a week. The plan is laid out in the book, but the summation is that (under the cover of night) two trucks would arrive at LEMSIP. Maintenance crews and technicians would work together to ensure the safety of the cages during transport and load up the 32 juveniles from the nursery to the transport trucks for their cross-country road trip. He discussed the heartache for the laboratory technicians loading up the chimps, and writes:

“For Cynthia, the heartbreak of separation would be felt most strongly for Cy, her namesake, and Terry, the philosopher of the group, both 6 1/2 years old.” (pg. 209)

After a few set backs, the convoy of juvenile chimpanzees made it safely from New York to Wildlife Waystation- all without the knowledge of the Coulston Foundation and in less than a week since they began planning the move. Terry, Cy, and the other juveniles lived at Wildlife Waystation until it closed down. Willy B, Honey B, and Mave came to us in August of 2019. Cy, Terry, Gordo, Rayne, Dora, and Lucky followed and arrived in June of 2021.

The Coulston Foundation is well known for their infamous animal welfare violations, and I could write a novel about how I feel knowing that so many chimps ended up there. In 2006, though, the Coulston Foundation went bankrupt and the chimpanzees that remained were transferred to Save the Chimps, a sanctuary in Florida, over time. The last group was transferred to sanctuary in 2011.

I find myself grateful to know this part of the lives of everyone in Cy’s group, it feels like I have learned something important about some good friends. I find myself grateful that Dr. Mahoney risked it to save the juveniles and that they are able to live the sanctuary life. I find myself angry that they were there to begin with, that they never had the opportunity to live life the way they were meant to in Africa, and enraged that so many of their family members and peers went on to Coulston- but relieved to know that some have found sanctuary at Save the Chimps. It is overwhelming.

Nine of those juveniles that rode across the United States now call CSNW home. They have indoor/outdoor access, enrichment, yummy meals, veterinary care, and so much more. We can never repay them fully, but we can try.

The 16 chimps we care for are so much more than their pasts, but we have to understand what they’ve been through to better be there for them now.

Terry, now:

Cy, now:

BONUS PHOTO: Annie and Negra, enjoying the cool and rainy morning in their Greenhouse.

 

 

 

Nuance

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This post was going to be about Rayne and Honey B and what a fantastic duo they are. When they are doing their mall walking in the morning, I can hardly tell them apart. Rayne seeks out the more aloof Honey B for interactions all the time, and has even been joining her and Willy B in the front rooms at night as they bed down.

I captured a few photos of Rayne grooming Honey B today in the sunny front rooms and then converted them to black and white.

These photos are of a touching moment between two half-sisters who were recently united at the sanctuary. When I was watching them interact and taking these photos with the thought of being able to share this moment, my heart was bursting with joy. I’m so glad Honey B has Rayne now, and I’m so glad Rayne has Honey B. It wasn’t easy to get to this moment, but this is what sanctuary is all about.

Then I looked at the photos again. I asked myself how they would be perceived by people who don’t know this touching backstory or maybe don’t know anything at all about Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. What would they see?

We all jump to opinions, myself very much included in that “we”. This tendency often serves us well because we can make incredibly quick judgements that help us avoid harm and allow us to make sense of the world. This ability to quickly assess our surroundings and form judgements, despite its advantages, may just be at the root of all of our societal problems. And there’s no clearer window into that than on social media. We can see a single image and jump to so many conclusions in an instant, even if we have practically no knowledge or real understanding of what we are looking at or what the overall context is.

This has been on my mind for a long time. I know that sanctuaries, us included, censor and filter the images and information that we share about the places where we work. For one, we don’t always trust that “the general public” will take the extra time to gain more information or to consider that they don’t know as much as they think they do about the realities of life in a sanctuary.

For the vast majority of you who are reading this, you get it more than the average person. You’re curious, and maybe you’ve been reading this blog for a bit so you have the broader context. The feelings that arise when you look at images of the chimps comes from that knowledge. But when we post something on social media, it can go out to a bunch of people that don’t have that same knowledge.

Here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, we made the decision to try not to filter too much. We show all of the spaces of the sanctuary, knowing that when we share a video of the chimps in the front rooms people will say, “that is not a sanctuary because the chimps are in cages.” It’s not the first time I’ve written about this. See here and here.

We value transparency and truth, and we try to sprinkle in the tough stuff in between all the fun and polish. But I think we still fall short. We want to make sure our “brand” is positive and uplifting and shows the stark contrast between “before” and “now.” We have learned through comments what fulfills people’s expectations about sanctuaries, what they respond positively to, and what raises concerns or confusion; this learning process inevitably influences what we share.

It worries me.

I know that other sanctuaries avoid certain subjects altogether, or never allow public photos of certain parts of their facilities. I absolutely understand this. No one wants to spend their evening, after posting a beautiful photo, answering questions that come from ignorance, like “why are you torturing that poor creature. She should be free.” No one wants the place they love and are proud of to suddenly be the target of a social media mob. There are people out there who have zero qualms about fabricating or deeply twisting things, and some of them are able to convince others of their stories.

The problem is, by not sharing more, we sanctuaries are perpetuating the ignorance and the overly idyllic view of what a sanctuary “should” be. I fear that this cycle is getting worse. I don’t know exactly what the answer is. The truth is that it can be difficult to discern a good sanctuary from a terrible facility. A good sanctuary will make  occasional mistakes (it turns out sanctuaries are run by humans, and humans are fallible). Plus, standards change over time (thank goodness).

There’s a whole heck of a lot of nuance when making judgements about a sanctuary or any facility caring for others, and people these days don’t seem to be very good at nuance. We don’t want to hear about grey areas. We want to form an opinion.

If one is truly attempting to ascertain the relative “goodness” of a sanctuary, one place to start is looking for oversight. For example, we voluntarily have a USDA license and are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. This is a start, but there are always going to be issues with the standards used to evaluate facilities, the subjective judgements of the humans doing the evaluating, and the decision whether to seek accreditation or not.

I will be sharing the updated interview I did with Jen Feuerstein about the group integration process, and we get into some of the realities of the challenges of caring for chimpanzees in captivity and the incredibly difficult choices that are made in the hopes that their lives can be improved. I promise we’ll share more on other difficult subjects in the future.

In the meantime, here are some more carefully-curated photos of Rayne and Honey B today 😉

Burrito in Recovery

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Burrito spent much of his day just like this:

His friends did cause a ruckus midday that got him up and alert, and, later in the day, I saw him sitting on his “stoop” on the other side of the mesh while Negra groomed him and Foxie checked in on him. But that was enough activity for the day. He didn’t even want to move much to eat his dinner of mashed sweet potatoes.

Since we have had Burrito in recovery many times we know he’s usually out for a day after a procedure, so it was good he was even a little active and eating.

Since J.B.’s post yesterday about Burrito’s procedure, some people were asking how we knew that there was an issue with his tooth. It was an observation made by staff caregiver Kelsi who noticed that the left side of his face was swollen by his nose. Volunteer caregiver Krissy said she had also noticed that and newest staff caregiver Jenna shared a video that showed the swelling, but it was really only noticeable upon close inspection.

Per Dr. Erin, we first tried giving Burrito an antihistamine to see if the swelling went down, which would have indicated some sort of allergic reaction. When that did not result in a significant reduction in the swelling, there weren’t many other options for what it could be, and Dr. Erin started organizing the team in preparation of a tooth extraction. She surmised that it was likely his upper canine on that side.

Chimpanzees have some impressive canines. Willy B kindly allowed me to take this photo today while he was eating dinner in order to show you:

The part of the tooth that is visible doesn’t even begin to reveal the full tooth, though. Here is a photo of Burrito’s tooth that was removed yesterday, cleaned up by staff veterinary assistant Sofía:

You can imagine that it was quite a lot of work to get that tooth, with it’s long root, out of Burrito’s mouth. I’m happy to say that I was not personally in the room when that work was happening, but I could hear the drilling as we were cleaning.

No doubt Burrito will be a much happier man without that issue bothering him. And his smile will likely be even more charming.

Willy B’s missing front teeth, for example, is his signature look; one that he likes to check out whenever he gets the chance:

In fact, this is not Burrito’s first tooth removal at the sanctuary. Several years ago, he fractured his left lower canine and had an upper incisor pulled at the same time. That was when we had a much different set-up for procedures and the chimpanzee would have to be wheeled outside of the building to the back of an RV that J.B. had retrofitted into a medical clinic.

Though the “mobile clinic” worked fine, and was all we could manage given our resources at the time, I don’t think anyone misses those days. We are extremely happy to have a clinic within the building that is much better outfitted, and very grateful to donors who made this possible as part of Phase 1 of the building expansion.

The more procedures we do, the more we realize that there are certain things that would be helpful to have, so we will likely be looking to purchase some more medical equipment for the chimps in the future.

In the meantime, we are forever thankful to everyone who has contributed not just specifically to the expansion, onsite clinic, and equipment upgrades, but also so grateful to everyone who continuously supports the sanctuary, allowing us to continuously improve the care that we are able to provide all of the chimpanzees and the bovines.