Annie

Friday Festivities

March 29, 2024 by Ellen Brady-McGaughey

I am usually lead caregiver on Fridays, and part-time caregiver Krissy and I have come to love celebrating Fridays, or Fri-YAYs as we call them. It is a lovely reminder each week of how lucky we are to be here, and to celebrate the little moments we get to share in each day with the chimps. Today was no exception, and we celebrated with some gatorade pools for the chimps, as well as a forage on Young’s Hill at lunch.

The weather was perfect today, with the sun shining and a slight breeze. The chimps were all in a great mood, and there was lots of chimp laughter that could be heard throughout the chimp house.

Enjoy today’s video from our Fri-YAY celebrations, and some bonus photos included below. I hope you all have enjoyed just as lovely of a day as we have!

Negra at the gatorade pool

Jamie at the gatorade pool

Handsome Cy relaxing

Enjoy the Small Things

March 23, 2024 by Sabrina

If there’s one universal truth we learn when we work with animals, it’s the fleeting nature of life. One moment, everything seems perfect, and the next, you’re grappling with the unexpected loss of a beloved friend. Their absence is felt for days, weeks, and even years after they’re gone. This poignant experience also teaches us to never take the small things for granted and to cherish the moments of joy that come our way.

In today’s blog, I want to share some of these joyful moments that we’ve experienced with Jamie’s group this week. I invite you to take a moment to take a breath, to let your worries slip away, and to revel in these heartwarming experiences right along with us.

All Play and No Work Makes an Interesting Day

March 21, 2024 by Chad de Bree

A recent study conducted by researchers from Tufts University and Harvard University analyzed play and its importance in wild chimpanzees from Kibale National Forest. They found when food is scarce, adult chimpanzees cease to play with other adults. Adults in the wild are not inherently prone to play as is, so this finding wasn’t too surprising for researchers. What they did find interesting was though adults stop playing with other adults and focus on survival during hard times to find food, mothers will continue to play with their offspring even though they too are in a struggle to find food.

Play is important to chimpanzees, especially for the children. Playing with not just others in their same age bracket, playing with adults help juveniles to build social skills as well as it’s just a good form of exercise. This finding mirrors the what has been found in humans. Play with their parents is important to children. By playing with parents at a very early age, children, both human and chimpanzee, learn what is socially acceptable as play and the correct way to interact with others.

Though play amongst adults in the wild is sparse, in captivity, it is a whole different story. As you know, the chimpanzees here love to play, both with each other and their human caregivers. It is one way they manage their relationship with each other. Some even use play as a way to reconcile after a fight. Granted things would probably be completely different had they been able to be born in the wild and raised by their mothers. That is a scenario I earnestly wish was the scenario even though I would not be here today had that been the case. You would be hard pressed to find any sanctuary caregiver who wouldn’t wish they didn’t have their job if that meant those in their care were born wild and free. Reality, however, stinks sometimes. I can’t ignore the fact this is their lives.

Diana once wrote about the internal struggle caregivers face caring for chimpanzees. Though we love our jobs in taking care of them in a setting away from biomedical testing, we can’t help but feel a sadness that this is it. They won’t be able to travel miles upon miles a day. The won’t be able to fission off and go on adventures with those whom they choose from a community anywhere from 10 to 200 individuals, and return to the group at large when they wish. That is why enrichment is a crucial component in caring for captive chimpanzees. It helps provide variety and entertainment. It helps break up the monotony from day to day.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the video of some of the ways the chimpanzees are kept busy. And yes! I am over the moon Missy has decided to play with me more. I used to only get one good interaction with her a year. Two if I am really lucky. In fact, Missy has just been playing with everybody more; both chimpanzee and human. Not naming names, but there is one individual who seems jealous when she does decide to play with me and other caregivers.

Second note about the video. YES! That is indeed Honey B you see out on the Bray. Though it was a disagreement with Gordo that brought her out there, it was her own free will that kept her outside. All together she was outside a little over 10 minutes, most of which was by herself. There is some hope that she will decide sooner rather than later to go outside with out the chaos of a fight bringing her out there.

Here are some bonus photos from today’s lunch forage on Young’s Hill!

Missy

Annie and Burrito

Annie was playing it coy because somebody was watching…

Gordo

Foxie

Where did Strawberry Shortcake run off to while Foxie was foraging?

To have a discussion about running off like that!

Foxie definitely didn’t leave her there to grab some sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes…

Jamie

And last but certainly not least…

Queen Negra

Keeping a watchful eye on a certain catcalling neighbor. Making sure he doesn’t overdo it.

International Women’s Day

March 8, 2024 by Ellen Brady-McGaughey

Today is International Women’s Day, so it seems only appropriate to recognize and celebrate some of the influential women in our field, and in our lives. If you missed Tuesday’s post by Amanda focused on women in primatology, go check it out!

I think it is safe to say that Dr. Jane Goodall is an inspiration to all of us who love and care for chimpanzees. For most of us, our love of the species and individuals is shown in the daily care we provide to them, our friendships built with them, and heard about extensively by our families and friends. But Dr. Goodall has shared her love and passion far beyond the boundaries of her inner circle. She has made a tremendous impact by inspiring both current and future advocates, caregivers, veterinary technicians, and veterinarians of chimpanzees through sharing their stories and the importance of preserving their place on our planet. Beyond that, she is a symbol of success in science for young girls and women everywhere to look up to and aspire to. Her passion for chimpanzees and conservation work has spanned decades, and she continues to travel and advocate for chimpanzees and the importance of conservation to this day (she will be speaking in Seattle later this month!). I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Goodall briefly when she visited Chimp Haven several years ago. We had the opportunity to listen to stories she shared about meeting chimpanzees living in laboratories and seeing the conditions they had experienced, and then getting to witness the lives they had in sanctuary after many years of work to get them there. It was a wonderful day getting to introduce our chimpanzee friends to Dr. Goodall, if only we could explain to them how cool of a person they were getting to see! All that to say, we admire and celebrate you, Dr. Goodall, and are so thankful for everything you have done and continue to do for chimpanzees and our planet.

Caregiver Ellen talking with Dr. Jane Goodall during a visit to Chimp Haven. My colorful shoes were painted by chimp friends!

Here at CSNW, we have many wonderful women to celebrate today…both chimpanzee and human! If you missed our Be Mine series in February, visit the links for each of our female chimp friends here: Mave, Dora, Rayne, Lucky, Honey B, Jamie, Foxie, Missy, Annie, and Negra, as well as our friend we have lost but whose memory we will always celebrate and remember, Jody.

Male chimps, at least in my experience, are usually easier to get to know and more willing to let you in. Take Terry, Cy, and Burrito for example. These lovely gentleman so readily accept you into their circle, and welcome you. My very first day getting to interact with the chimps, Chad took me to learn about appropriate interactions with Terry and he was so gentle and patient with someone who was (mostly) a stranger to him. He gently groomed the back of my hand, and let me rub him with my knuckle. The ladies, however, are often much more difficult to build friendships with. They have to test you first, making sure you are worthy of their time and friendship. This makes it all the more rewarding when they let you in though. One of the best moments I had recently was with Negra, who J.B. recently (and very accurately and lovingly) described as “a grumpy old lady.” I got to the sanctuary and was turning on lights and making my morning rounds of greeting the chimps. Neggie peeked up from her nest to look at me, and when I told her “Good morning, Neggie!” she quickly got up and made her way over to greet me. She offered me a kiss, and we sat and panted at each other for several seconds as she gave me a kiss on the back of my hand. Next she reached towards me, as if she wanted to groom the back of my hand. In my past experiences with Negra, this usually was not a well-intended gesture, so I was unsure if I should allow her to touch the back of my hand. I showed her my knuckle, politely asking if I could knuckle rub her arm, and she turned to press her arm against the mesh and sat with me for a few moments, letting me gently touch her arm with my knuckle while looking into my eyes. This moment was pure magic for me. Does this mean Negra will always be sweet to me from here on out? No. But it means she let me in, even if just for a few moments, and felt comfortable to allow me to spend that time with her. There’s just something special about those female friendships.

A kiss from Negra

Negra

Happy International Women’s Day to women everywhere! I’m including a shout out to my mom here, because I would not be the person I am today without her example of following her passions and the love, respect, and belief she has had in me at every step of my life. May you all be surrounded with such strong and influential women in your lives, and continue to change the world in ways big and small every single day! Together we can create a brighter future for generations of women to come, both human and chimpanzee.

Catching Up

March 4, 2024 by Ellen Brady-McGaughey

Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the Be Mine series. I loved getting to share more with you all about each individual in our care, but was also eager for the series to end as I have been saving up some special moments from around the sanctuary to share with you all!

If you read Grace’s blog yesterday, then you know that Honey B is back home with her group after a separation due to an injury she sustained near her eye. We are all so thrilled for her to be back! One of the biggest difficulties when chimps are separated from their group is keeping them entertained. Honey B, being herself, made this relatively easy (besides moments when we needed to distract her from picking at her healing injury) as she is constant entertainment! If you are new to the blog, be sure to check out some of our earlier posts for her high jinks (here and here). She is such a fun person who keeps us on our toes, and constantly impressed by her ingenuity and humor!

Here are some photos from around the sanctuary the past couple of weeks:

Annie looking regal sitting in the morning sunshine in the playroom

Negra enjoying a mouthful (and more!) of snow

Rayne relaxing in a nest of blankets

Be Mine, Annie (Plus Bonus Valentine’s Day Footage!)

February 15, 2024 by Grace

We had a blast celebrating Valentine’s Day (and World Bonobo Day) yesterday! The chimps had love-themed parties, complete with sparkling juice, cherries, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, purple potatoes, and heart shaped cookies (thanks to our awesome volunteer, Nancy :))! I hope you enjoy the video from yesterday’s festivities, put together by Kelsi!

Valentine’s Day might be behind us, but we’ll take any chance we can to give some individual love to our residents. Today, I want to highlight our sweet, playful, and curious: Annie.

We celebrate Annie’s birthday on September 10th. She was born in 1974, possibly in the wild. She spent over half of her life in biomedical research at the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania before arriving at CSNW on June 13, 2008. When Annie first arrived at CSNW from the lab, she was a very anxious individual. Like Caregiver Elizabeth wrote in this blog from 2015, “Annie was not brimming with confidence when she arrived at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. (This is an understatement.) She had a couple of things working against her: her position at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, and decades of history in research labs during which she lived in fear and frequent pain. She had every reason to believe that the world was not kind.“

Annie, in June of 2008, after arriving at CSNW:

While in biomedical research, Annie was used for hepatitis vaccine studies. She also had several babies during that time- all of whom were taken from her, at just a few days old, and put into research themselves. From the research and records we have, Annie might have had seven children: Mariah and Virgil who live at Save the Chimps (STC) sanctuary in Florida, Damian who lived at STC until his death in 2011; Tobias who was at Chimp Haven sanctuary in Louisiana until his death in 2014; Petra whose last known location was the New Iberia Research Center, but we believe is now deceased; Abby who appears to have died in a biomedical laboratory; and Brooke who we have no records of her whereabouts.

Annie never had the chance to raise her children, but I know that she would have been an attentive, kind, and loving mom if she had had the chance.

Annie with her best friend, Missy:

Annie loves spending time with her BFF, Missy, and is less likely to engage with the humans as much as some of her other group mates (like Jamie and Burrito, for example). She is low ranking in her group and is often pretty focused on being vigilant to avoid any issues in her group.

Annie is known for making her sweet bird-noises, by getting her face wet and putting her hand over her nose and blowing. As an intern, I often thought a bird had found its way into the chimp house, but it was Annie chirping away. One of my favorite things about this is that when she uses water from the lixit to get her face wet, she will often give her face a little wash. The result leaves the hair on top of her head all wet and spiky and sticking straight up, which is just the best.

Annie, mid face-wash-bird-noise:

Annie is also known for her bipedal walk on Young’s Hill when the grass is wet, or tall, or there’s snow on the ground, or it’s muddy… Looking out to see her bipedally walking, with her long arms swinging and her hands kind of angled in, is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

Bipedal Annie:

I adore Annie so much for all these reasons and so many more. I’m sure that I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot about her as I write this today. She still exhibits anxiety and is low ranking in her group, but she has grown so much since arriving at CSNW. She has experienced so much here that has caused her to go outside of her comfort zone (Young’s Hill, the expansion, etc.) and she has taken it all in stride.

She is happy to let others lead the way, but she is a sincere friend and sweet soul. She is more content to hang out with Missy and her chimp family than the humans, and I love her for that. She puts a lot of intentional work into those important relationships and I think that’s something we can all learn from.

When I began staff training, it took a while for me to start having interactions with Annie outside of serving. I remember that being normal, since she’s more of a chimps-chimp. I remember the first time that she came over and gave me a kiss through the caging on the back of my hand, and the first time she asked to groom my boots, and the first time she let me groom her back.

Moments with Annie are intentional and special, and I’m grateful for all of them.

We’re so lucky to know her and we love sharing her story and moments with all of you. Thank you so much to Vicki, Monica, Donna, Sharlene, Sylvia, Susan, Myra, Nancy, Chris & Lee Ann, Judy, and Karla for being Annie’s Chimpanzee Pal’s!

If you love Annie as much as I do, or have a family member that does, consider sponsoring her and become Annie’s Chimpanzee Pal!

Wood Wool Forage and More!

February 7, 2024 by Kelsi

Providing enrichment opportunities for the chimps and watching them enjoy the experience is truly a rewarding part of our job. Today we put out peanut butter frisbees, which is a favorite among Negra’s group. Surprisingly, Jamie shared this food puzzle with everyone including Foxie! After cleaning the playroom we noticed we had a lot of leftover wood wool. We decided to put the wood wool out in the green house and put out seeds in the wood wool for the chimps to search for. Watching them problem solve and find different tactics to engage with their enrichment always motivates us to keep creating more ways to enrich them throughout the day. Overall, making enrichment for chimpanzees is not only fun, but also deeply enriching for both chimpanzees and their caregivers.

Don’t forget to test your knowledge of chimpanzees and other primates!

Burrito tossing the wood wool around: