Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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awe

Chimpanzees in Motion

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I hope you had as much fun as I did reading the Month of Love blog posts that highlighted the personalities and stories of each individual at the sanctuary. Huge thanks again to all Chimpanzee Pals and Bovine Buddies who are sponsoring the care and memories of all past and present chimpanzees and cows. Your support is important and meaningful.

Sharing the chimpanzee’s personalities and quirks really illustrates how everyone in our care stands out as their own unique, charming, independent person.

I was thinking about this when I was playing with Burrito today (safely, with mesh between us, of course). His charm, energy, and silliness were turned up to eleven this afternoon. In between headstands and other acrobatics, I captured these images of him:

I would never dream of playing with Jamie the way I play with Burrito. I’ve tried it a few times. Sometimes she allows raucous play for a few minutes, clearly indulging me until she can quickly redirect our time together towards activities that she enjoys, like grooming my boots or walking outside, as we did today:

Jamie was a bit distracted on our stroll. She kept her eyes on The Bray habitat. I’m not sure who, if anyone, she was hoping to see or avoid. There was no one outside as we sauntered around the entire perimeter of Young’s Hill. I had my hood pulled tightly over my head to keep my ears warm from the sharp wind, but Jamie didn’t seem bothered by the gales.

When she got to the Raceway / the entrance to return to her Greenhouse, she paused and looked towards The Bray again. When I noticed Terry walking into the Chute, I thought perhaps that’s who Jamie had been waiting for, but I turned around and she was gone. Was she intimidated by Terry? Maybe she was being bashful? Or perhaps she had hoped to catch the eye of someone else in Terry’s group.

Whatever the reason for her avoidance, it left me with just Terry. So I followed his lead. He walked almost to the top of The Bray and stopped. He sat down, looking at the view below. I do the same thing when I’m hiking. I get to a spot, stop, and turn around to take in both the view and to have a sense of the distance or elevation I’ve gained. Maybe Terry was experiencing awe in that moment. I certainly was.

A Sense of Awe

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Earlier this week, I listened to an interview with author Dacher Kaltner about his book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life. I haven’t read the book yet (it’s on my list now!), but I keep thinking about the premise, as I will try to clumsily paraphrase: the key to happiness is experiences that give you a sense of awe.

As it relates to the sanctuary, it brings up three things for me. The first is just the fact of being around and getting to know members of another species, a species that is so relatable and yet mysterious at the same time. Just to be in their presence for a few minutes can be awe-inspiring.

I admit that there are times when I forget how incredible an unique this experience is. And I often think about how the chimpanzees shouldn’t have been put in a situation where this was possible for me at all. But they were, and I’m one of a small number of people who get to spend my days taking care of them and trying to work towards a future when chimpanzees are no longer in any captive environment. Dreaming of that day, when chimpanzees are only found free in their native land, evokes a different and even deeper sense of awe.

The second element of the sanctuary + awe that was brought up for me is the land and natural surroundings where the sanctuary sits. As I wrote on our About Us page, the sanctuary is located on the traditional land of the Kittitas band of the Yakama Tribe. The native Kittitas people referred to what we now call the Cle Elum River near the sanctuary as Tle-el-Lum, meaning Swift Water. I imagine the members of this tribe had a reverential respect for the river and the life that it carried and nourished.

J.B. and I have lived on the sanctuary property for about fourteen years now, and the last several, since the sanctuary has acquired more land, have been without any human neighbors within sight. Our couch faces large windows that look out into the orchard and the pine trees beyond the orchard that stand tall on the hill overlooking the river. It’s an awesome view that never gets old.

When we walk out the door, we are always greeted by the sounds of stellar jays or eagles or other birds (this time of year its the busy twittering of juncos, in a few months it will be the longer calls of red wing blackbirds). The deer pass through the property regularly, the marmots and ground squirrels always show up in the spring, and every once in a while we see elk, bobcats, coyotes or wild turkeys.

 

The third element of the sanctuary + awe that I keep thinking about is the experiences of awe that chimpanzees might have. There have been a few studies in the wild that have approached this question, including some speculation about the possibility of “sacred trees.”

I don’t think we could definitively say what any chimpanzee is experiencing, but once in a while we catch the chimpanzees at the sanctuary in moments that just might be awe.

 

Here’s to more awe for everyone in 2023.

 

Taking it in

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Certain things about chimps are beyond our ability to measure, but I have no doubt that they share with us a sense of awe and wonder. Primatologists in the field have written about chimps going out of their way to stop and enjoy a sunset. We see the same thing when the chimps climb to the top of Young’s Hill and stare out at the valley below.

Jamie:

web Jamie YH view of valley below_MG_4302

Missy:

web Missy sit on log mound vast field in background look over valley YH IMG_4621

Other times we see them stop and stare up at the sky. It could be something as simple as a bird flying by or the clouds passing overhead, but it often seems like something more profound, like an effort to take in the vastness of their new world.

Burrito:

web Burrito look up sun in face clear sky YH IMG_1043

Missy:

web crop Missy hold tire swing look up YH IMG_3211

It’s in these moments that I have to remind myself where they came from, and to try to imagine what it must be like to still be discovering the most basic things about the world at nearly 40 years old.