Animal Welfare

out of the shadow

January 16, 2021 by Diana

In the past, we’ve described Burrito as being tentative and unsure about things.

It took a while for him to join Jamie on her perimeter walks of Young’s Hill. In July of 2013, about ten months after the 2-acre enclosure was complete, J.B. writes that Missy, Annie, and Jody were often seen taking part in Jamie’s adventures at the top of the hill and all around the perimeter, while Burrito, Foxie, and Negra tended to stick to the lower half of the enclosure.

By October of that same year, Burrito was occasionally joining Jamie on her perimeter walks, On these walks, he was always the follower.

In March of 2015, Katelyn describes how Burrito was joining more perimeter patrols, and even relaxing a bit. A few days later, Burrito started to invite caregivers to go on walks without Jamie, which J.B. excitedly wrote about (read to the end for one reason he was excited).

Jamie’s walks still far eclipsed Burrito’s in quantity, and most of Burrito’s were with other chimpanzees with him following behind.

Burrito would often appear to be hesitant when Jamie veered off the usual pathway. Katelyn described Burrito gingerly following Jamie as she effortless climbed the Twister structure in September of 2016.

Today Burrito took twice as many walks / runs as Jamie around the perimeter. Some with just him and me and some with a chimpanzee group.

He was the occasional leader, sometimes even waiting for Jamie to catch up.

He and Jamie appeared to decide at the same time to climb up Twister.

But Burrito was the only one to go to the very top.

Before going back inside, on his own, he took a path less traveled to explore a different part of the hill.

Choices, opportunities, and space that allow for gradual gains in confidence and incremental steps towards discovery – this really is what sanctuary is about.

Chimpanzees

January 10, 2021 by Anthony

This afternoon, I reached back to draw some interesting words from my quiver and found out it was empty.

Instead, I am giving you all that I’ve got: photographs of chimpanzees.

Quirky, unique, fascinating, charismatic, weird, goofy, expressive, resilient, inspiring, celebrated, beloved and deserving chimpanzees.

Weird and Routine

January 9, 2021 by Diana

Since Anna included it in her Top 10 Sanctuary Videos of 2020, you may have been reminded recently of the video of J.B. and I in the gator racing Jamie at sunset. Thanks to J.B.’s transcription, you know I said, “This is the weirdest job.”

That’s true, in many ways.

The weird, however, has a way of becoming quite routine round here.

Jamie now frequently asks us to get the gator so she can race it, or us in it, or maybe just the boots we are wearing while driving it, around the hill.

Today, she made this request of Kelsi as they were starting off on a walk (you just need to know Jamie and how to interpret her gestures to know what she’s asking for – it’s a learning curve).

Kelsi ran back into the barn and started up the gator and Jamie took off at a sprint to get a head start. This time Burrito, Missy, Annie, and Jody joined the race. I climbed up to the observation deck to get a few photos.

Jamie up top, Missy standing bipedally, and Jody’s and Annie’s behinds

Missy likes to do things the hard fun way!

Annie and Missy taking in the sights at the end of the walk

Annie seems to really like the view from the top of the Escher structure

Later in the day, Mave was having me play a fun game of chase where she ran around the mezzanine and I went from the human area of the mezzanine, downstairs via the rungs, through the door into the new getting-closer-to-being-finished playrooms, and upstairs to the window, where she was waiting for me.

She thought this was great fun.

While I was playing with Mave, I looked out one of the upstairs playroom windows, which have great views of the hill. Honey B was in the chute and spotted me through the window, so then she and I played a little game of chase where she ran back and forth in the chute and I went from one window to another.

Like J.B. yesterday, my batteries seemed to run out at an alarmingly accelerated pace compared to the chimpanzees.

It was all kind of weird, kind of routine, and very special at the same time.

Tracks

January 3, 2021 by Anthony

The chimps did some phenomenally interesting things today. Unfortunately, these moments rarely overlapped with the times when I had the camera nearby.

As lunch passed and the afternoon rolled on, I needed to get some content for the blog but was still uninspired. At moments like that, I usually decide to grab the camera and take a walk.

Over the past week or so, the sanctuary has received a lot of snow. However, the weekend’s medley of rain, sunshine and freezing temperatures quickly converted the snow into a patchwork mosaic of slush, mud and ice. The surface provided poor footing as I slogged up the hill from the Chimp House, but I soon realized it was preserving my boot prints with almost perfect detail. Sure enough, as I passed the electrified barriers of Young’s Hill and crossed into the cattle pasture, I began to see tracks left behind by all sorts of critters. There were countless rodent trails furrowing their way through the grassy fence-lines, but I was distracted by the signs of larger animals.

The bobcat prints were easily noticeable and went just about everywhere. Katelyn also saw some bobcat tracks while patrolling a couple of weeks ago. They look like a domestic cat’s paw print, but larger and awesome-r. Much like other felines, though, they slink from cover to cover while hunting and thus leave a meandering track behind them. They’re not incredibly social animals so the numerous trails were almost surely created by only one or two individuals traveling alone. (FYI, Katelyn is a better tracker than I am. I had to text her recently to confirm that I had found goose tracks in the pasture, which were way bigger than I expected them to be).

I also found some coyote prints which reflected the purposeful demeanor that is typical of wild canines. The individual who created these prints seems to have loped through in a hurry last night, surveying the landscape with its ears, eyes and nose without breaking stride. Although roughly equal in size to the paws of an average domestic dog, the coyote prints are easily distinguished by their overall shape and the negative space between the toe pads. Also, unlike dogs, coyotes don’t continuously veer off-course to investigate every last scent. The only creatures who have time for that kind of aimless curiosity are those cared for by humans.

Of course, as far as large-bodied mammals go, mule deer are responsible for 99% of our wildlife encounters at the sanctuary. Their tracks were also ubiquitous, often crossing over the paths of other animals and obscuring their prints.

In the following image, you can see the coyote tracks going left, parallel to the creek, while the deer seemed to have gone right, trudging straight across the ravine.

Even with all of the tracks left behind by wild animals, it’s still only a “drop in the bucket” compared to all of the trodden earth left behind by the sanctuary’s cattle and the horses that live next door. You can see that the neighbor’s horses have been using the energy company’s access road quite frequently.

Of course, the walk ended with a view of the new chimp enclosures being built. The following image shows the framework of the new greenhouses and the exterior façade of the new playrooms.

One chimp who will be residing in that wing of the building, Willy B, did not leave any tracks in the snow today. Instead, he preferred to look down at the snow with what appeared to be confusion, annoyance, and/or wonder. It didn’t help that he seemed to have lost track of a walnut somewhere in the slush-covered outdoor courtyard.

Top Caregiver Posts of 2020

January 2, 2021 by Diana

Being a caregiver for captive chimpanzees in a sanctuary is not always easy. It can be physically and emotionally exhausting. Burn out and compassion fatigue are not unusual. As someone who has worked at varying levels within sanctuaries, I know the difficulties as well as the many perks. I’m so grateful for those who choose this field.

We have a truly incredible team of caregivers. They are dedicated beyond what their positions require and strive to give the chimpanzees good days, every day. They are talented, witty, and kind. I admire each of them as individual people and as coworkers. I learn from them all of the time, and I love reading their blog posts for their unique perspective and insights.

For a sanctuary, the staff are the most important, and often the largest, expense in the budget. No one is getting rich as a caregiver, but they do need to be paid fairly so they can continue their good work. Some sanctuaries attempt to rely on volunteer labor, but this more often than not is unsuccessful in the long term. We miss all of the CSNW volunteers greatly, and are beyond thankful to those who have been able to meet our strict guidelines and worked so hard alongside us this year.

The pandemic was a big reminder of just how crucial paid staff are in providing for the care of the chimpanzees and cattle and the running of the sanctuary.

Donors to sanctuaries get this. You get this! You all are so wonderful, and every single staff member here is grateful every day for your support. Thank you for your donations and your nice words as 2020 came to a close. We are buoyed by your generosity and the love of the chimpanzees and bovines that you have.

With the start of the new year, I thought I’d nominate my favorite 2020 blog posts from the non-director staff (that would be everyone except me and J.B.). It was very challenging to narrow this down!

I’ll start with Chad.

Chad is our newest caregiver, though now that we’ve all been through a pandemic year together, and with all his time as an intern before he was on the staff, it seems like he’s been here forever, in a really good way. His post A Morning Stroll and Confession of a (New) Caregiver from the end of September makes me cry and smile every time I read it. One reason I smile is thinking about how many times he’s gone on walks/runs around the hill with Burrito since he wrote that. J.B. and I have a good view of the hill from our house and the office, and it’s not unusual for me to look out the window on my weekend and see Chad in his red shirt running on the other side of the fence as playful Burrito leads the charge.

Anthony started his job at CSNW about two months before Honey B, Mave, and Willy B arrived at the sanctuary. I think they call that baptism by fire. He wasn’t an unfamiliar face, however. Like Chad, he had interned and volunteered at the sanctuary while working on his master’s degree in the Primate Behavior and Ecology program at Central Washington University. I can’t imagine 2020, much less the later half of 2019 without him as part of the team.

I’m going back pretty far in the year for this one, but I really appreciated the blog post Anthony wrote that he entitled The Tough Questions about public perception and the potential for videos and images of captive primates (and all wildlife) to perpetuate misconceptions and even contribute to their continued harm. It provides much fodder for contemplation.

Anna has had quite a year in her personal life – she has a one year old now! My favorite blog post of Anna’s in 2020 is What Did I Miss?, mostly because of the glimpse of her daughter Luna meeting the chimpanzees for the first time, but also because I am reminded of the happiness I had that she was back from maternity leave and ready to whip the chimp house into shape.

I’m pretty lucky because I get to work with Kelsi on Saturdays. As I put this blog together, Kelsi is doing the approximately one hundred chimp house chores in her usual efficient and upbeat fashion in between entertaining Honey B and Willy B and giving snow snacks to Missy. My favorite blog post of Kelsi’s, one that I go to whenever needed, is Breathe in Mave. It’s perfect, and really everyone should bookmark it.

Katelyn’s work life during 2020 has changed quite a bit. Like thousands of other people, instead of coming in on her office days, she works from home. Office cat LouLou really misses crowding her out of her chair and licking her lunch, and I miss chatting with her about how amazing our supporters are. When Katelyn is in the chimp house, she makes the most of her time with the chimpanzees, posting to the blog on Mondays. My favorite blog post of Katelyn’s is Being Honey B because she beautifully captured the essence of Honey B and why just about anyone who has ever met her has loved her.

I could have chosen any number of other blog posts these great caregivers have written. Maybe you too have some favorites?

Holiday Games

December 27, 2020 by Anthony

This period between Christmas and New Year’s Day is always a bit odd.

Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, the days between the solstice and end of the year must still have a unique feeling. For one thing, unless you work in the health or service industries, you’re probably spending most or all of this time on vacation. Maybe you’re using the holidays as an opportunity to chip away at your reading list, reach out to friends and family, or partake in winter sports. Perhaps you’re sleeping in, binge-watching crime documentaries, or cuddling with your nonhuman companions.

Regardless of your interests, you’re likely reflecting on the events of the past twelve months and recharging your emotional batteries for the challenges of another year. After the rollercoaster ride that 2020 just gave us, it seems more important than ever that we all take a deep breath, recite our personal mantras, and engage in the activities that bring us fulfillment.

One thing that I’ve been doing during this week-between-the-holidays is playing a wide variety of games with my friends and family. The ongoing pandemic makes meeting up with loved ones more difficult for all of us, but we still find ways to compete virtually because we think it’s important. For humans and other creatures, play challenges cognitive abilities and yields valuable insight about the world and how it works. When done socially, it can reaffirm social relationships and hone crucial skills like empathy, adaptability, and resilience. Of course, I don’t usually think about these benefits while I’m getting torched in a game of Cribbage (unlike some cool scientists who actually research the adaptive value of play behavior), but I still appreciate the opportunity to engage with others in lighthearted competition.

Lately, my playlist has included card games like Rummy and Cribbage, online multiplayer games like Among Us, and turn-based board games like Settlers of Catan. (By the way, does anyone have ore or wheat to trade? I’ve got a ton of sheep.) My friends and I have also carried on with our fantasy football league, giving us each a small stake in the weekend contests.

On top of all that, I am greeted by ten playful chimps upon arriving at the sanctuary each morning. The chimps and staff jointly create arbitrary rituals that, over time, become woven into the fabric of our relationships. The games that the chimps play, like ours, have understood rules and require a certain amount of trust. When Jamie nods, we start walking. When we rev up the Gator, Missy starts running. When Burrito stomps and pivots, we stomp and pivot.

When I see the chimps creating these odd rituals, it reminds me of the contests that we conceive among ourselves. Therefore, today, I’m giving you all a new game to play. It’s similar to ones that we have hosted in the past (Saw references and all).

Today’s version challenges you to guess which one of the sanctuary’s four rescued cattle is pictured in each of the following images. Each member of the Moo Crew is included at least twice. I’ll post the answers in a separate comment tomorrow evening. “Let the games begin!”