Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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be mine

Be Mine, Foxie

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“Foxieee!!…” is an unapologetic and relatively common fan-girl level squeal you might hear ringing through the chimp house on any given day I greet her. Given that we’re both grown women, it’s ridiculous, but the joy in seeing this effervescent sprite of a person will not be contained. Nor should it be. Foxie’s typical response to this is for her hair to stand on end (pilo, in chimp lingo), run toward me, toss me her doll du jour, and sprint or pirouette off for a game of chase. If I’m extra fortunate, she might pause long enough to push her lips through the caging and greet me with a breathy pant and a kiss to the back of my hand. Oh, and I’m pilo, too, but unfortunately my hair doesn’t stand on end. 😉

I have had the profound privilege and joy of knowing Foxie and her beloved group members for around 13 and a half years or so now. For those of you who may be newer to our blog, they were the original group of seven chimpanzees who arrived to the sanctuary on June 13, 2008. It’s equally hard to believe so much time has passed as to imagine any time without them. When I look back on photos from earlier years I see a lot less gray hair on both of us, a little less hitch in our giddy-ups, but speaking for myself, always a heart the shape of her.

We’re asked all the time who among the chimpanzees is our “favorite”. Foxie is not my favorite. She is my family.

I cherish, no less, each of the unique relationships I have with the chimpanzees, a gracious gift of their choosing from them to us. And just as with humans, for whatever ineffable reasons, sometimes you just connect with one another in different ways.

Foxie was born on August, 8, 1976, to her mother, Winny, and her father, Brian, at the then Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (now Texas Biomedical Research Institute) in San Antonio, Texas. Winny gave birth to 11 children and she died while living at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico in 2013. Our records don’t indicate where Brian wound up, but it was unlikely in sanctuary. As is common for all chimpanzees used in biomedical research, Foxie has numerous full and half-siblings. Most are only listed as numbers. Her one younger sibling who we do have information on is her half-sister, Sophie, who was also born to Winny and thankfully resides at Save the Chimps in Florida.

What I find particularly delightful and interesting about Sophie, who would not have known Foxie, is that she also loves her dolls, especially stuffed monkeys. (Of important note if you are going to be Foxie’s friend: she DETESTS stuffed primate dolls and they are guaranteed to meet a swift and violent end involving immediate de-stuffing and beheading, so don’t even THINK about sending her one! 🙂 Foxie is a troll>Dora>Strawberry Shortcake & friends purist.).

Sophie and her monkeys. (Photos courtesy of Save the Chimps):

And my personal favorite, carrying her giant witch:

Foxie herself went on to be used in biomedical research for thirty years before arriving to her sanctuary home. Used as a “breeder” (lab terms) and in hepatitis vaccine research, Foxie gave birth to two sons, David and Steve, a rare set of twins, and two daughters, Angie and Kelsey. And like most chimpanzee mothers in labs, her children were stolen from her within days of birth to continue the cycle of research. Devastatingly, David and Steve died while still in the labs. And thankfully, Kelsey eventually made it to Chimp Haven in Louisiana (Caregiver Sabrina was so fortunate to work with her!). It’s our understanding that Kelsey has since passed away, but we’re profoundly grateful she had a chance to experience a wonderful life in sanctuary. And Foxie’s only remaining daughter, Angie, is living happily at Save the Chimps.

Kelsey (photo courtesy of staff caregiver, Sabrina):

Angie (the 1st). Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps:

When J.B., Diana, and Sarah (our former Director) met Foxie’s group, they had been living in a windowless basement of the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania (which leases animals to labs for research) for over two years. Their cages were the size of bathroom stalls and they were lined up next to one another.

Foxie arrived here in 2008 as all her group members did, ghosts of themselves:

Foxie, nearly sixteen years living in sanctuary later, because of you:

I’ll never know how Foxie, or any of the chimpanzees, found the inner strength to survive a day in the labs, let alone over thirty years. But I hope she somehow always knew the magic she holds, the wondrous person she is. I think she did. She is one of the most intuitive and loving friends a chimp or a human could hope for. She is brave, cautiously adventurous, joyful beyond imagine, and she has a closet full of sassy pants and she’s not afraid to wear them while spitting in your face or round kicking steel doors to rile the neighbors.

As previously mentioned, probably one of the most well known and endearing facts about Foxie is her unwavering love (and to be honest, sometimes, love/hate) for her dolls. An intrigue first sparked shortly after her arrival, on July 13, 2008 (according to one of the very first blog posts!) by the chance meeting of Trixie the Troll, who staff happened across at Goodwill and thought the chimpanzees might be interested in. Foxie was interested. And she scooped Trixie right up:

All these years later, Foxie has hundreds of dolls (thanks again to you) and it’s rare to find her without one. She still enjoys her trolls, but some years ago she discovered Dora the Explorer dolls (she was over the moon for France Dora!) and now she’s primarily committed to Strawberry Shortcake and her friends. Of course it’s emotionally appealing to make the common assumption she’s replacing her lost children with the dolls. Does Foxie often exhibit mothering behavior toward her dolls? Yes. And does she also bite, beat and stomp the bejebus out of them? Yes. We can never know what’s inside her head, she’s her own person after all, but they clearly provide her with comfort, joy, and sometimes a means of expressing some very strong emotions. And that’s all we need to know.

One of Foxie’s favorite games is to pass her dolls back and forth through the caging with us as we chase her with them. These games are often raucous games complete with backflips (her, not me), hanging upside down and kicking about (still her) and wildly laughing hearts (both of us). But some of my most cherished times are when we’re just sitting together quietly, her hugging her doll close to her before handing them to me, then I in turn hug and “kiss” them before handing them back. Even now I think what an absolute act of courage for her to part with something she so dearly loves, feeling safe in the trust we will return what is rightfully hers to her as soon as she asks.

While I’m hugging the doll, Foxie will often nod her head and smile, softly hooing, or sometimes serenely gaze into the distance, lost in a passing thought. And so it goes for some time. Every outstretched hand, doll, and gaze, I hope, a sacred weaving, the tapestry of her strong spirit healing and reinforced with each thread of love and honoring from my heart to hers. Eventually she’ll tuck the doll into her, hold my gaze as she gently touches the back of my hand with her fingertips and then move on to her other important chimp business.

Foxie just being Foxie makes our hearts sing, but her courageous and curious spirit is something to witness. She’s one of the few chimpanzees who declines building a nest, preferring, nay, insisting, on sleeping on the bare ground. She doesn’t like blankets, or most things, touching her (and don’t try to tie any such thing around her dolls, either!). She’s not comfortable on structures that move and tests new ones out step by step, bite by bite. All of this makes perfect sense given her history. But what I love is that she doesn’t allow her fear or discomfort to deter her. She can be fearless! She just does things in her own way and time. Which is exactly what sanctuary is all about.

In 2016, long-time supporters made the Twister, an amazing structure on Young’s Hill, possible for the chimps. It’s an amazing tower of firehose with a crow’s nest at the very top. Occasionally we’d see Foxie attempt to climb up with her friends, but she always got part way and headed back down, vexed by all the moving parts.

Well, fast forward to a summer day two years later. I was walking around the perimeter with the chimpanzees when I noticed Foxie heading toward the Twister, and Jody, her dear friend, right behind her with a look of pure determination. What was going to happen?! I could see it as if in slow motion…as if Jody was telling Foxie, “That’s it, Foxie, today’s the day you’re going to the top!” Foxie climbed a few feet up one of the beams of the structure and hesitated. Jody came up right alongside her and ushered her, to my complete thrill and amazement, all the way to the top! I couldn’t believe it! I whooped and hollered and threw my hands in the air, announcing it on the radio, so proud of her! She glanced over at me and pounded her fists on the platform. I still remember the look of satisfaction and awe on her face as she took in the view. I’m forever grateful to Jody for that day. That’s just who she was to her family. To us all.

We hold immense gratitude for all of you who have made Foxie’s life here in sanctuary possible. Countless moments of adventure, choice, hope, healing, and love, all in her own choosing and time. YOU changed her life. And our special thanks go out to Foxie’s Pals: Vicki, Monica, Chris & Lee Ann, Donna, Sharlene, Donna, Jon & Sandra, Linda, Penelope, Jordan, Sara, Connie, Virginia, William, Nancy, Kimberly, JJ, and Jayne.

I believe the world became a more magical place the day Foxie was born. And though it would be some thirty years later before I would know it, so did my heart. If you find yourself in need of  some Foxie level enchantment in your life, please consider becoming Foxie’s Pal, too. From our hearts, thank you for being here.

Be Mine, Terry

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Terry. Dear, sweet, loveable Terry.

Terry was born on June 13, 1990 at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). According to our records, his father was Conrad and his mother was Carrie. Although I can’t currently put faces to the names of his parents, the act of naming them and acknowledging their life in biomedical research feels significant.

Terry lived at LEMSIP for the first six years of his life before going to Wildlife Waystation (WW) in 1996 when LEMSIP closed. Terry was taken from his parents at a very young age to be raised in the ‘nursery’ by human technicians. Being born in a lab means that he was denied many things that he would have experienced had he been born in the wild, and one of these things is the opportunity to know his mom. To highlight how traumatizing that must have been, consider that wild male chimpanzees live in their natal groups their whole lives, are nursed by their mothers for the first five years, and then rely on them still as they transition to adulthood.

Interestingly, Dr. Mahoney, who was acting director of LEMSIP when it was closing, wrote about sending the juvenile chimps to WW in his book titled From Elephants to Mice and mentioned Terry by name. He labeled Terry, who was six and a half years old at the time, as ‘the philosopher of the group’.

Terry lived at WW for 25 years before he came to CSNW with the rest of the ‘Lucky Six‘ (Terry + Cy, Gordo, Rayne, Dora, and Lucky) on June 26, 2021. He now lives in a group of nine, after the integration of his group with Honey B, Willy B, and Mave in April of 2022. Amazingly, we found out in 2023 that Terry and Mave are half-siblings! They share a father (Conrad) and they also share lightly colored, speckled noses. 🙂

Mave (left) with half-brother, Terry (right)

Terry is a special guy. Lovingly referred to as ‘Teeny tiny Terry‘ (and, sometimes, ‘Meatball‘, due to his hunched posture) he is a big guy with an extremely gentle heart. One of my favorite memories of Terry is when we gave them roses for enrichment and Terry sat with his, gently grooming the individual petals with just one of his large fingers. Seeing such a big guy holding such a little flower with such care is a memory I will always hold dear.

Terry is known for blowing raspberries all day, every day- it is the chorus to which we live our lives. And, honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves to groom his caregivers boots and will give you his full, undivided attention when he does. My favorite thing is when he crouches down on his side to better groom our boots, eyes focused on whatever he has deemed needs to be groomed, and teeth clacks in his lip smacking kind of way.

He has a way of making you feel like your presence really matters.

Not just with his human friends, either. He is a reliable and popular member of his family of nine. In the afternoons, he is often seen grooming the others in big grooming piles and is known to play with just about everyone. He is loveable, all around.

Terry (left) plays with Honey B (right)

He loves most all foods and gets really excited for things like apples, corn, and red bell peppers. And, as soon as he is done with one item and ready for you to serve the next, you better believe he will start blowing raspberries. The loud raspberries fulfill two actions- he gets your attention, and he also likely scrambles your thoughts a bit so that you forget if you gave him the whole serving of produce or not. Teeny Tiny Terry may also be a Teeny Tiny Trickster.

When I started as a caregiver here, and was still in the beginning phases of training, I remember Terry would find me whenever I was on that side of the building. As I was doing safety or chimp ID tests, he would often be sitting right in front of me raspberry-ing away. At that point in our training we limit our interactions to polite head nods, but I was so looking forward to getting to know Terry when I was cleared for interactions.

What has followed is a friendship that I feel honored to have. I often try to find time in the afternoons to hang out with him and the result is us passing a stick back and forth so that he grooms my boot, I groom his arm, he grooms my hand, I groom his leg, so on and so forth. After a while of that, he will often pause to look away for a moment. When he turns back to me, he will stand up slightly and begin to poke the bottom of my boots harder with his fingers. A few breathy pants later and we’re off on a game of chase.

Oh, and he also really loves snowballs. Because, you know, Teeny Tiny Terry isn’t complete without a Teeny Tiny Snowball. 🙂

Terry’s gentle nature is in stark contrast to the unkind situation he was born into. He owes us nothing, but he makes our days better by just being himself and for that I will be forever grateful.

Terry is a one of a kind kind of guy and we’re so lucky to know him. A huge thank you to his current Chimpanzee Pal’s Vicki, Monica, Robert & Debbie, Amy, Debbie, and Holly for sponsoring him.

You, too, can be Terry’s Chimpanzee Pal and help us give him the care and love he deserves!

Fall in love with him today, just like we have. 

Be Mine, Betsy

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Lovely Betsy Cow is one of the bovine family of four we currently have at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Just like the chimpanzees, each of the cattle have their own very distinct personalities and roles within their group.

Betsy, as the video says, is the quintessential “mom” – much like Jody was for her chimp friends before she passed away.

Betsy is so motherly that she nursed Meredith when Honey had mastitis and she continued to let Nutmeg nurse for years, even after he was twice her size!

Also similar to the chimpanzees, Betsy had a varied past before reaching sanctuary. We know that she was used in the dairy industry for a number of years. We don’t know how many calves she had in total before she was purchased, along with Honey Cow, to be part of a reality television called Utopia where urban folks were brought to a farm in California to learn how to live a rural life. The series didn’t last too long, and when it ended, the producer wanted to send pregnant Betsy and the rest of the family to a sanctuary rather than back to the dairy. So, Farm Sanctuary was contacted, and pregnant Betsy, Honey, and baby Meredith went to their northern California sanctuary.

In 2018, after acquiring some more land, we were contemplating rescuing farmed animals to graze on the greatly expanded pastures. It just so happened that Farm Sanctuary was shutting down their northern California site and looking to place Betsy and her family!

Betsy is someone who I liked right away. Some animals (including humans) take a while to get to know and need a lot of space. Not Betsy. Though she’s she’s very vigilant, she is also curious and is usually the first to approach new people (and lick them, if they will let her).

She’s also the most likely to boldly walk out of her space if there’s a gate open (something Jenna and I both know well now), while the rest of her family watches with more apprehension. She has no hesitation going into the creek to eat the greens there or dunk her face in some mud.

I am so glad that Betsy found her way to us. She has brought me joy  since the day she stepped off the trailer.

Thanks goes to her admirers and current Betsy Buddies: Monica, Jackie and (human) Betsy.

You too can help us celebrate all that Betsy embodies by becoming her Bovine Buddy!

Become a Bovine Buddy

Be mine, Negra

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Negra is a grumpy old lady. I have a feeling she’s been a grumpy old lady since she was born.

Mind you, we didn’t even know Negra until she was 35 years old. We met during our first trip to the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania, back in 2007. Technically we didn’t even really meet her that time, because she hid behind the solid panel of her cage during most of the visit. My only memory of her from that initial encounter was the sight of her fingers reaching through the food slot, signalling that it was time for more peanuts.

During subsequent trips she started to come out of her shell, but only slightly. She was aloof, overweight, and severely arthritic. Her skin was ashen. In contrast to the others, who studied us intently, spat upon us, and even invited us to play, Negra remained largely disengaged. She seemed to have given up long ago.

Negra in lab cage

Near the end of our final visit, we emerged from the stuffy, windowless basement in which they were kept and removed our PPE. We sat on a nearby picnic table to cool off and began talking about what we thought life might have in store for Negra and her six companions once they made their cross-country journey to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Everyone agreed: Negra was in such a state that if we could just give her one year in sanctuary, we would consider it a victory. It felt like a big if.

For Negra, everything about her life in sanctuary was new. As far as we know, she hadn’t seen the sun or breathed fresh air in decades. As an infant, she had been captured in Africa and shipped to the United States for use as a biomedical research subject. She spent much of her life at the infamous Coulston Foundation in New Mexico, where she was bred to produce more chimpanzees for research and where she underwent regular dartings, biopsies, and surgeries as the subject of hepatitis vaccines safety trials. She had given birth to three children, all taken from her prematurely (and all, thankfully, later released from research as well – Angel and Noah now live at Save the Chimps in Florida and Heidi lives at Chimp Haven in Louisiana). When we met Negra at Buckshire in 2008, she was in a tortuous state of limbo: no longer leased to other laboratories for active research but needlessly confined to a barren cage nonetheless.

The sanctuary in 2008 was still a work in progress. But despite the outdoor area being still unfinished, Negra’s new home gave her room to walk and climb as well as sunshine and nearly endless vistas from every window of her two-story playroom. Somehow, seeing her in the environment of the sanctuary made her sickly state that much more apparent. At the lab, it was to be expected. At the sanctuary, and in the light of day, it was a shocking contrast.

We learned early on that Negra does things in her own time. And by that I mean some other time. Her bed—one of the many simple comforts she was never afforded—became a protective cocoon, the one place where she finally felt safe. We counted ourselves lucky on the rare occasions when she emerged from it to grace us with her presence.

Time passed surprisingly quickly in those early days. As the first anniversary of the chimps’ arrival rolled around, we toasted the fact that Negra had achieved her year in sanctuary. She had done it! And yet, rather than feeling like a the happy ending we envisioned, it started to feel more like a new beginning.

Two years later, we were able to complete the larger outdoor habitat where Negra, at the age of 38, finally stepped all the way outdoors.

It was a big deal to us. Her reaction, on the other hand, was a resounding big whoop…Bed was much warmer and softer, anyway, and far less chimpy and peopley.

But over time she would come to enjoy the outdoors as she does everything else: In her own way and on her own time. She only took advantage of the lower quarter of the 2-acre enclosure, perhaps fearing the thought of being so far away from the comfort and security of the familiar. Still, it was always exciting to catch her outside. Calls could be heard over the staff’s two-way radios whenever she emerged: Negra is outside! Negra is outside! Upon hearing the news, everyone would leave their tasks momentarily to watch her bask, however briefly, in the morning sun.

Negra has now had far more than the single year we had hoped to provide to her in sanctuary. In fact, she has now lived for over 15 years outside that hellish basement. And somehow she actually becomes younger with each passing year.

Last spring, as I was walking to the chimp house, I saw a lone figure moving through the tall grass at the very top of the hill, as far away from the building as you can get. I grabbed a camera with a telephoto lens and raced to catch up, partly to document the occasion but mostly because I couldn’t believe my naked eyes. When I reached the top I saw Negra atop the climbing tower, looking out across the Cascade Mountains and nibbling gently on a pine bough. At the age of 49, she was still recovering, still making progress, just as she does everything else: in her own time.

Of course, neither time nor experience in sanctuary have softened the old lady. Negra, now 50, is still a grump. And she’d still prefer the comfort of a warm nest to an outdoor adventure any day.

But who are we to tell a chimpanzee how to live? I’ll always find joy in witnessing those moments of courage but I recognize that sanctuary means different things to different people. For Negra it means peanuts and lettuce, sweet spring grass, a troll doll companion in the summer, peanut butter food puzzles, wrestling with her friend Burrito, a heaping pile of blankets, an occasional walk through the grass, and, perhaps most importantly, the freedom to choose among them as she pleases.

It’s a life made possible by those who have supported this sanctuary, with a special thanks to Negra’s Pals, Vicki, Monica, Chris & Lee Ann, Donna, Kathleen, Sharlene, Star, Stacey, Lorna, Jean, Melissa & Bruce, Jenny, and Alice.

You can be Negra’s Pal, too, and give this grumpy old lady the Valentine she deserves.

Be mine, Burrito

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Burrito is an easy guy to blog about because he’s always up to something! His playful nature makes him popular among caregivers and his chimpanzee group mates alike. Along with his playful side, he also has a wild streak that isn’t unusual among male chimpanzees. In between play bouts you might find him stirring up trouble in his group or doing one of his favorite activities of all, being a nosy neighbor and intensely tracking all the goings on of the other chimpanzee group.

Burrito was born January 6th, 1983 in a biomedical laboratory where he was used for Hepatitis B vaccine safety trials as an infant. He was moved at a young age to the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania and then taken in to someone’s home as a “pet” and also used in the entertainment industry before he was moved back to the lab. In 2008 Burrito and his group mates were finally welcomed into sanctuary life at CSNW.

Burrito generally enjoys baked foods like sweet potatoes and onions. When he is recovering from a trip to the clinic, Burrito gets to eat one of his favorite foods (bagels!) as a very special treat. He makes very high food squeaks when he’s eating something he loves!

While Burrito is playful with just about everyone in his group, we often consider Foxie to be his BFF. Here he diligently grooms her foot:

Burrito’s thirst for play is unquenchable!

Burrito’s lust for life in general is so admirable. He’s survived some very tough events in his lifetime but it hasn’t slowed him down one bit.

Being the popular guy that he is, Burrito has a long list of Chimpanzee Pals that you too can be a part of. Thanks so much to Burrito’s Pals: Vicki, Monica, Chris & Lee Ann, Donna, Sharlene, Paulette, Gracie, Ally, Carrie, Julie, Ka Yi, James, Kathy, Jennifer, Cheney, Sheeru & Jaanvi, Martine, Shelley, Megan & Philip, Kimberly, Janet, Kristin & Max, Heather & Jarrod, and Beth.

This goes without saying, but make sure to fall in love with Burrito Chimpanzee this Valentine’s Month!

Be Mine, Willy B

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Willy B is a very unique person. He is aloof a lot of the time with the humans around him, but sometimes surprises us with the gift of a game of chase! Most of the time he is busy keeping track of Cy and spending time grooming with him. This makes sense, as Cy is a wonderful leader of his group and protector of Willy B when disputes occur in the group, in addition to Honey B and Mave. Willy B can be a bit awkward, both with chimps and humans, which often manifests itself as avoiding eye contact or seemingly not understanding the expected repercussions of his actions within his group. For example, Willy B may display, which can be perceived as a threat by others in his group who respond by becoming upset and chasing Willy B. He often seems almost surprised when this happens, and can become fearful and rely on others to defend him from the individuals he upset with his display. He is very fortunate to have strong friendships that help him navigate living in a larger group. Willy B has grown in many other ways since he arrived at the sanctuary too, including conquering The Bray and enjoying many small but joyful moments of sanctuary within his larger group of chimpanzees.

Cy inside the box with Willy B to the right, after playing together.

Cy and Willy B grooming

Willy B was born November 30, 1990 at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). Our records say his father’s name was Stu, and only provide a number for his mother: #526. Willy B moved to Wildlife Waystation along with over 30 other chimpanzees when LEMSIP closed in 1996, where he stayed until his journey to CSNW in 2019. Willy B arrived with Mave and Honey B on August 18, 2019 after Wildlife Waystation announced it was closing. They have since been integrated with the Lucky Six to form a group of nine.

L to R: Honey B grooming Mave grooming Willy B

Willy B is a big fan of many different foods, and serving him any type of crunchy vegetable (especially fennel) always makes my day as he holds it to the side of his mouth and crunch, crunch, crunches it like a rabbit! It is a very small thing but always makes me laugh, and I love watching him enjoy his meals because he so thoroughly enjoys them. He especially enjoys coconuts and is improving his techniques to get them open.

Willy B with a coconut

Willy B, while he often appears serious, definitely has a goofy side too. He loves to appreciate his reflection if you let him look at himself on your phone, and makes some silly faces while doing so. He also loves to watch chimp videos, and has his own curated YouTube channel with all his favorite videos! Interestingly enough, he seems to prefer watching his videos on a phone versus the big screen. He has a very specific spot he likes to watch his videos in during our first round of cleaning for the day, right by where we keep the tools for cleaning, so he can easily get your attention to set up his stories with some persistent raspberries. He will often build himself a nest to sit or lay in while he watches his videos, and sometimes gets so excited by them that he can’t contain his excitement and lets out a pant hoot! I have shown him some videos of chimps that I used to work with, and he seems to have a favorite as of now…Ivy. I had thought Carlee would be his favorite, as I have a lot of videos of her as a rowdy baby playing with the other juveniles in her group and she is always up to silly antics, but he didn’t show very much interest in her. As soon as I showed him a video of Ivy looking at herself, he leaned towards the glass window where my phone was to get a better look, and watched intently throughout the rest of the video.

Willy B’s face while looking at himself in my phone camera

Beautiful Ivy of Chimp Haven

I am loving continuing to get to know Willy B every day, and have been so happily surprised by several play sessions with him in just the past week! You have to pay close attention to realize he is interested, as often it starts with him tapping his wrist against the caging to get your attention which can be very subtle, and then requires some persistence on your part to get the game going. Volunteer Krissy and I had the best play session with him last week, stomping around with him while playing chase and then just stomping our feet while he stomped his. We all just enjoyed the moment of being silly, being ourselves, and sharing the moment together.

A huge thank you to Willy B’s pals: Vicki, Monica, Kathleen, Sharlene, Candy and Karla for their support of this wonderful chimpanzee!

If you think Willy B is as fun as I do, make him your Valentine by becoming his Pal today! We appreciate it!

 

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

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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 kiss 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!