As we’ve mentioned numerous times on the blog, Jamie is almost constantly busy doing something. And she definitely has her own style during her activities.
chimp rescue
NY Times op-ed by Charles Siebert
One year ago, before the Cle Elum Seven arrived at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, I posted a blog entry with a link to a radio interview with Charles Siebert on This American Life.
Today, Siebert had an op-ed printed in the New York Times entitled Something Wild. Here is an excerpt:
There is something about chimpanzees — their tantalizing closeness to us in both appearance and genetic detail — that has always driven human beings to behavioral extremes, actions that reflect a deep discomfort with our own animality, and invariably turn out bad for both us and them.
Siebert uses specific examples of chimpanzee individuals to illustrate humans’ uncomfortable relationship with our closest evolutionary relatives, and our stubborn desire to make them fit into our concepts of of who they are, which manifest not from observing and appreciating chimpanzees as a distinct species, but from our attempts to make them our human-like playthings as “pets” and “entertainers” or human surrogates in biomedical research.
Siebert explains what I have observed of captive chimpanzees – they live in a world of lost identity. They did not have the opportunity to grow up within a chimpanzee culture, but they cannot fit into our human culture either, no matter how hard we try to force them to.
Sanctuaries like Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest try to make the best out of the inherently unjust situation of captivity. We allow the chimpanzees to be who they are, which is sometimes a strange mix of learned “human” behaviors and a renewed expression of their instinctual chimpanzee selves. Our deepest hope is that we can provide for those in our care while working to ensure that one day sanctuaries like ours will not be necessary because chimpanzees will no longer be used for human purposes.
more on Travis and pet ownership
Although much of the coverage on the tragedy of Travis, the chimpanzee in Connecticut who mauled Charla Nash and was subsequently shot and killed, has been frustrating to say the least, there have been a couple of good interviews included in media items very recently which I wanted to share.
This video segment includes an interview from an expert at Save the Chimps Sanctuary in Florida.
This article adds more information to the bigger story. Here’s are a few excerpts from the article:
“A chimpanzee who was shot and killed earlier this week for mauling a Connecticut woman was the offspring of a chimpanzee who made headlines eight years ago when a Festus teenager shot and killed her…..
In 2001, Travis’ 28-year-old mother, Suzy, escaped from Connie Braun Casey’s farm along Highway CC near Festus…..
April Truitt, a primate expert who runs the Kentucky-based Primate Rescue Center Inc., said chimps are too wild to be privately owned. She put more blame on the Caseys for the Connecticut incident than on Herold. She said the Caseys should not have been breeding and selling chimps.”
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You can read my reaction to the mauling in this post from Tuesday. One aspect of this story that has not been getting enough coverage is how the demand for chimpanzee “actors” helps to fuel breeding operations like Connie Casey’s. Chimpanzees should not be pets, should not be used in entertainment, and should not be used in biomedical research. There is no legitimate reason for a chimpanzee breeding operation to exist.
Jamie and Burrito were both “raised” by humans for the first years of their lives and used as “entertainers” when they were young. When they became unmanageable like any chimpanzee would, they were put into biomedical research.
Thankfully they now live in a safe, secure, and social environment at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, but others like them are not in sanctuaries, and the tragedy of Travis will occur again if laws are not put into place to make the private ownership of chimpanzees and their use in entertainment illegal.
One immediate action that you can take is to urge your federal representatives to support the Captive Primate Safety Act which would make the interstate and foreign commerce of primates illegal. Learn more from the Humane Society of the United States.
More on the Valentine’s Day happenings
Lest you think that the chimpanzees had too laid-back of a day, they also had a romp outside before dinner.
Jamie was sporting a new look
Jody climbed up to the cargo net outside and discovered a pecan in the shell, which she brought back down with her
At dinner, we set up yet another forage, which included the strawberries Pam made
Pam even packaged them in these cute take-out containers
I guess Jody was the star of the day. This is her in her typical super-relaxed pose. Ahhh – Valentine’s Day
Sippin’ 4 the Seven
So, we have this totally amazing and fun event coming up – a wine tasting in Roslyn, WA being organized by this cool wine and antique shop called Vintage Vine. The event, Sippin’ for the Seven, among many other things, will be the debut of the new photo slideshow – all of the great photos of the chimpanzees in a five and a half minute slideshow set to music.
In my ideal world, everyone who reads the blog would be able to come and celebrate, raise a bit of needed funds, see the slideshow and listen to stories of the chimpanzees.
This is kind of a big event for us, so anyone who lives remotely close by should definitely try to make it. Roslyn is a great town (it’s where they filmed the show Northern Exposure), and there are places to stay overnight if you’d rather not drive back home after the sippin’.
If you really can’t come, we understand (say you live in South Carolina or California, for example). You can still participate in the event by making a donation. If you donate $40 or more using this donation form: http://chimpsanctuarynw.kintera.org/Sippin, I will send you a wine glass with the CSNW logo on it and a really nice postcard.
If you own a business, you can sponsor the event and we’ll include your business in the event program – contact me for details: [email protected]
Let’s see how much fun we can all have raising funds for the Cle Elum Seven!
Those helpful opposable toes
For dinner, Elizabeth set out a lovely forage of bowls of creamy wheat cereal (aka farina) with fresh strawberries as well as whole apples. We’ve been getting a LOT of apples lately, so Elizabeth and I decided to set out three for each chimpanzee. Missy got it just right. Those opposable toes really do come in handy when you want to keep a grip on your two back-up fruit!
Today was the first day I had seen the chimps since the big fight and I was AMAZED at how quickly injuries are healing. Chimpanzees are darn tough – phsyically and in spirit. They would have to be to be able to survive everything that they have been through in their lives. Burrito and Missy spent a lot of time grooming, and Burrito displayed a couple of times during the day. So, things seem to be returning to the status quo.
I was talking to the chimps’ friend Margie the day of the fight, and she compared the chimps’ fighting and quick making-up to how some big human families interact – screaming matches one minute and sitting down to dinner the next 🙂
Watch the chimps on KTCS Connects (PBS) tonight!
Tonight is the night! Please watch KCTS Connects at 7:30pm on Channel 9 in Western WA and BC and Channel 47 in Central WA. If you can’t watch tonight, it re-airs Sunday 1/25/09 at 10:30am on Channel 9.
And if you’re not in the Washington area, we’ll let you know when it gets posted online.
In the meantime, read the synopsis of the show.
