Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Animal Welfare

Chimps and Dolls

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Chimpanzees are powerful, intelligent, adaptable, and sometimes aggressive wild animals. They do not belong in people’s homes as pets. They do not belong on training compounds used for television shows, music videos, movies and advertisements.

They belong in equatorial Africa where they live in large social groups, foraging and hunting their own food.

When that’s not possible, when where they belong has been taken away, and when they have been born into and grown up in captivity, a sanctuary is the best option for them. And sanctuary means taking the individual chimpanzees on their own terms and letting them find things they enjoy – things that may be very far from the image of the wild animals who they are.

For Foxie, that means dolls. It’s not that she is like a human child, or even that she’s using the dolls as substitute children (though maybe that’s part of it, given her history). Foxie has found something she likes, something that entertains and comforts her.

Foxie is still very much a powerful, intelligent, adaptable, and sometimes aggressive chimpanzee.

Foxie with red haired doll

 

And Jamie too. I can’t imagine too many things more silly than a troll scarf, but Jamie manages to wear a troll scarf while at the same time projecting the strong chimpanzee that she is.

Jamie wearing troll scarf

A Chat Between Friends

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Chimpanzees spend a lot of time grooming one another. You might think they have a pressing interest in cleanliness, but grooming is less about hygiene and more about strengthening social ties. Chimpanzees groom to make up after a fight, to build new relationships, or just to catch up with old friends. One evolutionary psychologist has hypothesized that chimpanzee grooming is the equivalent of human gossip. It allows individuals to build and reinforce social networks, and gain social capital. And of course, it just feels good to spend time with friends.

Happy Birthday, Kirby!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Jodi Watson in honor of Kirby Watson for his 50th birthday! Jodi shared this really special message about Kirby:

“He’s the love of my life, and I admire him, and I hope he has another 50 years with me on this earth.”

Jodi, reading your message we are even more touched that you would choose to sponsor a day for the chimpanzees in Kirby’s honor. Thank you so much for thinking of them as you celebrate today.

And Kirby, we hope this is the best birthday yet and that it’s full of all good things! Thanks for sharing your special day with these special chimps. Happy Birthday from all of the primates here at CSNW!!

Best friends, Annie and Missy:

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Missy chase Annie

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The return of Ellie the elk

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Ellie (as we call her), our local neighborhood wild elk, spends her days roaming up and down the valley where she grew up after losing her mother. During the winter she tends to stay more frequently at the neighboring ranch, but she always makes her way back to the sanctuary in the springtime to hang out.

On one of her first days back after the snow melted she decided to accompany the chimpanzees (everyone except Negra!) and I on a walk around Young’s Hill. The chimpanzees, however, (specifically Jamie and Foxie) weren’t so welcoming of her return and wanted to remind her whose territory she was in. (Be sure to watch until the end when Jody and Missy offer Foxie and her Dora doll reassuring hugs for their bravery).

Jamie’s choice

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Jamie spent her childhood living with a trainer. Her records are scarce, but she was most likely used in some form of entertainment before being purchased for use in biomedical research at around the age of nine. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating to see chimpanzees (or any wild animal) robbed of their natural lives, their childhood, and their family and social structures in order to provide so-called “entertainment” for humans. While we cannot change the histories the chimpanzees have experienced, or the fact that they will be in captivity for the rest of their lives, we do our best to provide them the space to be themselves, exactly as they choose in every minute of the day. A safe, dignified and loving home in which their “chimpanzee-ness” can come out.

We give the chimpanzees a variety of enrichment each day to keep their curious and intelligent minds engaged as much as possible, but whether they play with it, nest with it, tear it up or ignore it, it’s their choice. Jamie is highly intelligent and most likely as a result of her unnatural history, she is also very human oriented in her interests. She will often choose to use enrichment in ways that the other chimps don’t. But that’s the key – she gets to choose. When Jamie first arrived here she periodically chose to wear clothing that was included in enrichment, but over time her desire to do this has faded away and thankfully been replaced by chimp like activities such as walking the perimeter, playing with her friends, and being the boss of us all. But given her unnatural history, it’s only, well, natural that she would still incorporate things that are familiar to her in her play from time to time.

So while supervising the cleaning of her home from atop her barrel, this was one of Jamie’s choices:

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An upside-down-Jamie-on-a-barrel is always a happy Jamie.

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If you’d like to learn more about how you can help end the exploitation and abuse of great apes, please check out our advocacy program, Eyes on Apes, and sign up for our Take Action Alerts. Just as Jamie once did, there are others who need your voice.

Today is in memory of Ned and Noreen O’Flaherty

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Joan O’Flaherty in memory of her parents, Ned and Noreen O’Flaherty, on their shared birthday. Joan has been honoring her parents by making the chimpanzees’ lives better for many years now and we are so touched by her kindness. She shared this message about today:

“In memory of my late parents’ birthday, both of whom were great animal lovers and supporters of conservation.”

Joan, thank you so much for all that you do for the chimpanzees in your parents’ memory, they must have been very special people. We are so happy to honor Ned and Noreen here at the sanctuary and celebrate their lives along with the chimpanzees. All of us here hope your day is filled with comfort, love and memories held dear.

Burrito and Jody:

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Then and Now

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Caring for chimpanzees with traumatic pasts is probably a lot like caring for anyone with a traumatic past. You’re aware of the person’s history and how it has affected them, but you probably don’t dwell on it on a day-to-day basis. There are even moments when you don’t think of the past at all; you’re just focused on the here and now.

Interestingly, the times I find myself reminded of the chimpanzees’ histories are the moments when they seem to be feeling particularly happy or relaxed or free. I think about how moments like that were few and far between until they made it to sanctuary. I hope that in those moments, the chimpanzees are thinking about anything but the past.

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