Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

animal rescue

What A Day Pt. II

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Today was another day! Yesterday, Cy, Lucky, Willy B, and Honey B met all together and even had a sleepover together. Overall, the sleepover went well. So today we decide to let Rayne and Mave partake the meetings. There were some ups and downs with the six(!) chimpanzees. We ultimately decided to just let them meet at the mesh for today. I wasn’t able to get enough photos or footage to piece together a video of today’s meetings… however… caregiver Sam was ever so gracious enough to allow me to share the video she was working on of the meetings that took place on Sunday!

Along with Sam’s video, please enjoy some of the photos I was able to take before introductions. I was not able to choose between some, so I had some other caregivers help chose which ones to use, but the consensus was to post two of each.

Though virtually the same, small little nuances make each photo different!

Jamie enjoying today’s browse of rose hips:

Picking at the rose hips
Enjoying the rose hips

Mave in her Greenhouse:

A straight shot of Mave looking at the camera
The addition of the lip bite

And one final photo of Lucky!

The Storm Before the Calm

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Last night I heard a new take on a familiar phrase while watching PBS NewsHour. Jonathan Capeheart, while referring to something political, said the phrase, in a very deliberate way, “The storm before the calm.”

I often get phrases or little bits of lyrics in my head that repeat without me even realizing it, and “the storm before the calm” has been with me all day.

Earlier this week, I was describing chimpanzees to someone as being either very quiet and mellow or loud and explosive. Of course they have in-between states too, but chimpanzees do often seem to have a dual way of being that can flip in an instant.

What I like about the inversion of that familiar phrase about storms and calms is its fundamental truth. We can worry about the storms when things are calm, but, during storms, we can also try to appreciate that calm is sure to follow.

Like most days with chimpanzees, there were a few stormy moments, but for the most part, things were very calm.

Jody in her favorite spot:

image: Jody

Jody, poolside:

Burrito and Missy grooming a calm Jamie:

Isn’t Sanctuary Life Grape?

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A million thanks to all Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest supporters that participated yesterday in our HOOT! For The Holidays virtual celebration to welcome the Lucky Six. We are all so grateful for the generous donations and bids because we surpassed our goal by plenty and more, assuring future plans to develop. Sanctuary life for these amazing 16 chimpanzees could not be possible without all of you amazing souls. We hope that learning more about the Lucky Six and their past brought everyone a bit closer to them.

To continue the celebration we harvested some grapes directly from our small vineyard and gave some to the chimps as an afternoon snack. Everyone was very excited about fresh grapes!

I walked to the green house and noticed this chimp lineup. Caregiver Katelyn had many sets of eyes looking at her while she harvested grapes from the vineyard.

Caregiver Katelyn serving Missy some grapes fresh from the vine.

Negra all cozy this morning in the green house. Thanks to everyone that has donated blankets, they certainly appreciate it!

Foxie coming in from Young’s Hill after enjoying a beautiful sunny day.

Gordo resting high up on the green house platform after a scrumptious lunch.

Mave looking into the camera while enjoying the breeze in the outdoor chute.

Rayne looking down from a platform in the green house with a wooden toy in her mouth.

HOOT! is tonight!

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Here we are, skipping another in-person event due to the pandemic. In-person events are a lot of work, but there’s an unmistakable energy that happens when you get a group of people together in one space with a common mission and a drive to give.

The crucial funds raised are of course the main focus, but that sense of a shared purpose–the hope and the love–is what is the most encouraging aspect of an event.

The sanctuary is incredibly fortunate to have you, supporters and champions of the chimpanzees. With this blog, we are exposed to that energy, albeit in an online context, every day.

Preparing for tonight’s second virtual HOOT! gala has been filled with moments of nostalgia. Some of the people who you will see and hear from tonight during the event are from the early days of the sanctuary. Even some of the auction items have been unearthed from years ago (like the Troll Mania book created for our 2011 event).

The staff went way back to our childhoods for some of the auction items, with each of us choosing a favorite children’s book (see auction items #10-20).

The pandemic has often been described as a collective pause. Of course the sanctuary doesn’t have the option to pause, and the last year has been one of the busiest times in our history. There hasn’t been a lot of time to reflect.

Tonight, though, as we watch the virtual event in our respective homes, together in spirit, we have the chance to reflect on what we have accomplished as a group, each with our individualized efforts, to provide a home for chimpanzees who had no where else to go.

Humans failed these chimpanzees, but now our collective humanity has saved them. It’s a giving back that will always be incomplete, but that doesn’t make it any less worth the effort.

To all of the staff, board members, volunteers, donors, followers, and supporters, thank you for being here for them. Let’s celebrate together all that we’ve accomplished and the continued hope for the future.

Bid on auction items through Sunday on the auction site and watch the event on Facebook and YouTube live streaming starting at 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We’ll be with you!

Three Exciting Things!

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1) HOOT! online bidding opened today. More items will be added throughout the week before the event, which will stream live one week from today, Saturday, September 18th at 6:00pm PT on Facebook and YouTube. Learn more and see the current auction items available for bidding now on the HOOT! auction site.

2) The Lucky Six aired two nights ago on NBC7 San Diego’s Down to Earth with Dagmar, and you can watch it online now! It’s in four parts, so be sure to watch each of the four videos in sequence.

3) You saw the video celebration of Annie’s birthday yesterday, and now you can see these bonus photos of Annie and others in her group thoroughly enjoying the celebration. It was raining during the forage, but, as J.B. said yesterday, that did not slow them down a bit (well, maybe Negra, who decided to find food under the cover of the greenhouse).

Annie:

Missy, who enjoyed the kale as much as the coconuts:

Foxie:

Burrito, in sequence:

Negra on her throne:

Reminder: Chimps Don’t Belong in Captivity

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For today’s blog post, I thought it would be worthwhile and prudent to review some of our positions and policies for anyone who may be new to our content.

First, I hope that everyone takes the time to find out why we exist, how we do what we do, and why we do it that way. The quickest way to familiarize yourself is to visit the Mission, Vision and Goals page on our organization’s website.

You’ll quickly see that we’re extremely opposed to practice of keeping nonhuman primates in captivity. Unfortunately, many chimpanzees were taken from the forests of Africa years ago and have been bred and behaviorally conditioned for use in research and entertainment. The majority of these individuals were deprived of the irreplaceable maternal bonds and complex social networks that free-living chimpanzees depend on for survival, essentially rendering the entire captive population incapable of a reintroduction into the wild.

As a response to these past injustices, the sanctuary provides a permanent retirement home for these individuals where they are free from further exploitation and can have some degree of self-determination.

Mave looks out from one of the new indoor playrooms.
Cy watches the caregivers from behind the steel mesh caging.

This protection from harm does not, however, come with absolute freedom from captivity. Each group of chimps has regular access to several different enclosures, but they must stay within these areas for their own security (and for human safety). Chimpanzees are not a domesticated species and the individuals we care for are not tame, so it would be irresponsible and dangerous to let them out of their enclosures to interact with humans in any capacity. Likewise, we never enter an enclosure occupied by chimpanzees; Before staff can unlock a space for cleaning or repairs, multiple trained personnel must confirm that all the chimps are accounted for elsewhere and that all the barriers between the areas are secure.

Willy B watches a caregiver operate the hydraulic doors while safely outside the enclosure.
Caregiver Sofia interacts with Gordo across a chimp-proof window in the new indoor areas.

If a staff member or experienced volunteer wants to have a social interaction with a chimpanzee (e.g., playing, grooming, serving food), the human must follow our protected contact protocols which minimize the risk of physical injury. This policy also requires us to wear appropriate protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, in order to protect the chimps from any respiratory illnesses that we may be carrying.

When we share photographs or videos of humans and chimpanzees engaging in these activities, we add a disclaimer that provides key contextual details and reiterates our philosophy on captivity. Otherwise, we’d risk spreading the harmful myth that chimps can be safely handled.

Caregiver Kelsi allows Terry to “kiss” the back of her gloved hand.
Volunteer Lizz grooms Jamie with piece of browse.

Similarly, imagery of nonhuman primates situated in artificial environments (or provisioned with similarly anthropogenic objects) may cause people to wrongly believe that they are meant to be in proximity to humans. As advocates for these individuals and their species, this puts us in an awkward place. Are we better serving the chimpanzees if we portray them as they should be or as they currently are?

Dr. Erin plays “tug o’ war” with Burrito.

When sharing any content online, our team also has to consider the aesthetics of our facility and how it may be perceived. While we prioritize the design and regular enrichment of these enclosures in ways that maximize their suitability for the chimpanzees, they still have some unmistakable hallmarks of captivity: cement floors, industrial architecture, steel caging, and giant padlocks. For this reason, we often belabor the fact that the chimps have access to various indoor and outdoor areas throughout the day (except for the brief periods when we’re cleaning each of those spaces) but often choose to hang out inside regardless of the other options made available to them.

Rayne lounges on a bench in one of the indoor “front rooms.”
Honey B watches the other chimps from the comfort of an indoor playroom.

The facility’s largest (and most “natural”) enclosure is Young’s Hill, a two-acre meadow furnished with wooden climbing structures and surrounded by a perimeter of electrified fences. The chimps frequently explore and patrol this space and we look forward to having another outdoor area for additional group of chimps to use simultaneously. Even so, the chimpanzees who reside at the sanctuary choose to spend only a small fraction of their time out there (despite the unique opportunities that such a habitat gives them). Instead, the chimps generally prefer to socialize and lounge in the semi-enclosed “greenhouses” throughout the day and make their nests in the elevated portions of the climate-controlled “front rooms” and “playrooms” each night. Some even choose to sleep on the heated cement floors.

The truth is that these chimps have lived most of their lives in artificial spaces like these. Apparently, they feel more comfortable in them.

Who would we be if we forced them to do anything different?

Lucky watches the passing caregivers from an elevated platform in one of the new greenhouses.
Willy B sits outside but is partially obscured from the camera by the electrified wires.
Foxie (with one of her dolls) looks out from within the perimeter fence of the Young’s Hill enclosure.

Last year, Diana wrote some words that, in my opinion, say it best.

We’ll continue to blur the fencing out of some photos and put the cameras up to the caging for an unobstructed view, but it’s not because we want you to forget that it’s there; it’s so you can fully see the unique and wonderful chimpanzees who are choosing to do whatever they are doing in the moment when the camera shutter closes.

I compiled an assorted reading list for anyone who wishes to read more about these nuanced issues (and hopefully get some perspectives besides my own)!

From our website:

CSNW FAQs page

CSNW Blog: “Why are the Chimps in Cages?” (by Diana, 2015)

CSNW Blog: “The Tough Questions” (by Me, 2020)

CSNW Blog: “Caging is OK” (by Diana, 2020)

From other sources:

Study: Impact of Visual Context on Public Perceptions of Non-Human Primate Performers

IUCN’s Best Practice Guidelines for Responsible Images of Nonhuman Primates

North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance’s Position Statements

Thank you all for caring so much about chimpanzees!

On to the Next Challenge

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This post is both about the great staff at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and about the chimpanzees who they care for; the chimpanzees who lead the way towards embracing challenges and demonstrating resiliency.

I’ve been incredibly impressed with our staff during the last few of years of challenges and uncertainty. We’ve done some hard things and been faced with difficult decisions, and the staff have embraced it all and moved forward with hope.

The most recent challenge has been starting introductions between the two groups of chimpanzees from Wildlife Waystation.

There are risks involved in introducing chimps to one another, risks we have experienced firsthand. It would be easy to decide to just not try, to keep things as they are. But the staff realize that the benefits to the chimpanzees’ welfare far outweigh the risks.

The chimpanzees themselves have already given us glimpses of these benefits – male friends for WillyB! So many new grooming partners for Mave! Half-sisters to play with Honey B! Lucky, Cy, Terry, Gordo, Rayne, and Dora could also benefit from living in a larger group with more choices for social partners.

I’ve been incredibly impressed with how the chimpanzees have reacted to the initial one-on-one introductions. Each of them have been able to overcome any anxiety in meeting those in the other group. In fact, they have embraced the opportunity, sometimes making it difficult to get the pairs we want because there are chimps who stay in the room, attempting to be the one who is next in line for an introduction.

Chimpanzees are amazing that way.

While we humans live in our heads much of the time, worrying and wondering, chimpanzees most often assess the situation and pretty quickly dive in. It’s not that they can’t think ahead – they certainly can. And it’s not that they never experience worry – for sure they do. But when something goes awry or they encounter something unexpected, they are usually able to quickly reassess and adjust, or just turn to the next good thing they know is coming, like pears for dinner.

While it’s true that Burrito is a very special being in so many ways, his ability to bounce back is a trait he shares with many of his species. Chimpanzees are tough, both physically and mentally. Sadly, that is one reason they were used so readily in biomedical research.

I’ve been particularly impressed with Rayne’s group and how they have so quickly adjusted to their new home. They marched in and claimed their space, quickly finding favorite spots and embracing the sanctuary’s routine.

J.B. shared yesterday that the new group was given access to the Chute for the first time this week. And he let you in on a secret: many (perhaps even the majority of) chimpanzees LOVE cage tunnels, choosing to spend time in them over larger areas that humans might describe as more “natural” looking.

This might be a good time to remind everyone of this blog post which is subtitled Caging is OK.

It’s not up to us to decide for chimpanzees in captivity what areas are their favorites; it’s up to us to provide them with variety and give them the choice to decide for themselves. For now, Lucky’s group has clearly decided that the Chute is awesome, even when they have access to the new beautiful greenhouses with grass and bamboo.

Today when we were cleaning, I snapped a couple of photos of all six chimpanzees in the Chute. I couldn’t even tell where one chimpanzee began and another ended. Gordo was the only one not in the chimpanzee puddle at the top of the Chute, instead laying claim to the spot closest to the end.

At another point during the day, I found brother and sister Cy and Lucky lying next to each other, facing opposite directions at the top of the Chute:

While Dora was trying out a small perch for a bed:

Thank you to all of the wonderful chimpanzees at CSNW who embrace change, find their thing, and power through the challenges towards the good times that may be just out of sight, but are surely there. Thank you to the staff who do the same. And thank you to all of you for reminding us, with your comments and support, what a special mission we have.