Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

chimpanzee retirement

June is for Negra

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If you have the CSNW 2019 calendar, you get to look at this beautiful photo of Negra all month long:

You’ll also notice (or may already know) that we celebrate Negra’s honorary birthday on June 13th, the anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Negra remains the eldest of the group of seven chimpanzees. She dominated our thoughts as we were preparing the sanctuary for the group’s arrival. She had spent the most time in biomedical research and had suffered perhaps more than any of the other chimpanzees, showing the signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder upon her arrival.

We were excited to see all of the chimpanzees fully realize their new sanctuary life, but I for one could not stop thinking about being able to witness Negra experience all of the new comforts, choices, and space at the sanctuary. This video of her in the playroom for the first time captured what will forever be one of my most cherished moments.

The expression on her face today in this photo reminded me of the video:

Which of course led me to think of the most iconic image of Negra that we have: Negra in the Sun

This is the original photo I took in 2008:

Then artist Margaret H. Parkinson created this breathtaking painting based on the photo:

Margaret’s painting then inspired other artists, most recently mosaic artist Lisa Whatne.

Here is a close-up of Lisa’s truly stunning piece:

And guess what!? The Negra in the Sun mosaic is available for bidding in the HOOT! 2019 gala auction on June 15th! Even those who are not able to make it to the event can place an absentee bid on this mosaic as well as most of the other items in the auction! Absentee bidding begins Monday, June 10th at 8:00 a.m. See all items on the auction preview site now (items are still being added).

I can’t wait to find out who the lucky winner of the mosaic is going to be!

A Study in Contrasts

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Ya’ll, even though it’s only May, it is summer weather out here today at the sanctuary.

Foxie was getting the most out of the airy greenhouse and lazy summer vibes by literally putting her feet up.

With a doll, of course.

Jody was doing the same, right next to Foxie.

But this is my favorite photo of the bunch. It shows Foxie, the picture of carefree relaxation, in stark contrast to Jamie, who broke herself away from a perfectly calm grooming session to take the opportunity to try the scare the living daylights out of the caregivers cleaning on the other side of the door.

To each her own, I say.

What’s Your Strategy?

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Today, while observing the chimpanzees forage on Young’s Hill, volunteer Patti said she likes how Negra goes about things.

While Missy is running from one structure to another, finding all of the food that was placed or hidden high up on the structures or the treat rock:

And Jody is busy running around collecting as much as she can, mostly from the ground (low hanging fruit, you might say):

Negra wanders about until she finds some food:

And then she plops herself down and simply enjoys what is at hand (in this case, a beet that she seems to have splayed open and a prized pineapple top):

After finishing, she’ll sit for a bit and look around before moving on to the next station:

J.B. described this as a lack of a strategy, but I think it’s still a strategy to have a laid back, “see what happens” way of approaching the forage.

Either way, she looked very happy out there. ❤️

Chimpanzees who collect

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Personally, I’ve never been much of a collector. I am not very neat, but I do enjoy when my surroundings are clutter-free. There’s a particular joy I get out of getting rid of things and thereby decreasing rather than increasing my possessions. But I’m fascinated by collectors and those who clearly get a unique satisfaction in their things.

It’s all the more fascinating to care for two chimpanzee collectors. Foxie is pretty famous for her doll collection, and most people who have been tuning in to our blog for a while know that Jamie loves cowboy boots. You might have also learned that she can be pretty into books too; when the two combine – books about cowboy boots – well, that must be something akin to heaven for her.

For a couple of weeks now, she’s been carrying around a book called Texas Boots purchased by a Jamie-fan through our Amazon.com wish list.

To say that she loves this book might be an understatement or a mischaracterization. Maybe there’s a particular word that describes the feeling collectors have for their things that transcends mere everyday love.

One interesting aspect of both Jamie’s and Foxie’s collections and how they interact with their chosen objects is that they share them with the humans. Jamie wants the staff and volunteers to put on her most cherished boots. Foxie passes her dolls to trusted caregivers for safekeeping and games of toss.

And now Jamie slides her beloved books and magazines under the caging so that we can carry them with us while we follow her around the outdoor expanse of Young’s Hill on her walks or just back and forth through the building.

This is the new routine.

Earlier this week, she passed me the Texas Boots book after we had finished up a session of Positive Reinforcement Training. I expected that we would carry out our usual post-PRT routine and walk around the hill, but it was a little dreary outside. So, instead, I sat on the other side of the caging with Jamie in the greenhouse and turned the pages of the book for her to see. She would focus longer on the images of people wearing boots, and she would nod her head when I turned a page, which is generally Jamie-speak for, “yes, I like that.” After flipping through the book a couple of times, I offered to give it back to her, and she took it.

She tucked it under her arm and continued to sit on the other side of the caging. We sat in contented silence in each other’s company like that for about five minutes (which is a really long time for an active chimpanzee!), until she got up to go about other activities.

It was one of the finest moments I’ve ever had with another being of any kind.

Jamie certainly has a way of implanting the desire to find more things that she likes – to fill her life with these moments of satisfaction that I can’t say that I completely understand, but that I appreciate beyond words.

Her boots, all of them donated to her, have been outgrowing their plastic bins for a while now, and it just so happened that the boot closet we were using for staff cleaning boots was emptied now that we have more space in Phase 1 of the expansion. So, I had the idea that we should put Jamie’s boots and other sundry things in that closet.

It’s in the perfect location because Jamie can see it from the playroom loft.

I had moved Jamie’s things into the closet when Anna was on vacation last week. Anna returned on Tuesday, and Jamie wasted no time in pointing out to Anna this exciting new home for her personal treasures. In case you too want to add to Jamie’s collection, I’ve added some more books to our wish list. When we receive items, we will put them in her closet so she can point them out for us to get for her.

In case you are worried that the other chimpanzees feel left out, I think they are just as mystified by Jamie’s attraction to certain objects as I am. Once in a while, I see Missy flipping through a book, and I even gave one to Burrito last week, which he unceremoniously tossed to the ground and walked away.

I guess you have to be a collector to get it.

Connections: Honoring James Douglas

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The truth about running a nonprofit animal sanctuary is that most of your time is spent interacting with humans.

I get that this might not sound all that appealing to everyone who is interested in embarking on a career in the sanctuary or animal protection field. Let’s face it, a lot of “animal people” feel strong connections to non-human animals, while feeling some disdain, awkwardness, or unease around their own human species.

Something I learned early on that seems to get reinforced more strongly each day, however, is that people who are drawn to help sanctuaries are some of the very best examples of the human species.

In eleven years, you can imagine that we’ve met a whole lot of (human) people in the form of volunteers, donors, staff members, students, and other supporters. We get to know people and we become aware of both the joys and the hardships that people face in their lives. I often find myself thinking and worrying about humans that are connected to the sanctuary far more than the chimpanzees.

Through our Sponsor-a-Day and Personalized Stones donation programs, we’ve also been introduced to the important human and non-human people in the lives of supporters, often after these influential people have already passed away.

It’s an incredible honor to be able to honor people.

When someone very close to the sanctuary passes away, though, I feel at a loss as to how to appropriately honor them.

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, and the world, recently lost an incredible man. Introduced to the sanctuary by his wife and CSNW volunteer, Jen, James Douglas was a long-serving board member who led CSNW through many transitions. He was full of optimism and positivity, even when faced with difficult situations. He was kind and generous. He was a natural leader. He was a friend and a mentor.

Although the sanctuary was a small part of his life, and he leaves behind many, many people who were changed by his life and affected by his loss, he played an outsized role in the relatively short life of the sanctuary. He meant a lot to us personally as well as to the development of the organization.

I plan to honor the legacy that he left behind at CSNW by working even harder to carry out the plans for the future that James helped to craft and to attempt to approach life and work with even just a small amount of the curiosity, joyfulness, and hope that he exemplified. The same qualities that I see in the chimpanzees.

Cheers to you, James.

Misfits Together

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Jamie and Burrito are undeniably the most human-focused of the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. They seek the attention of humans frequently, as evidenced by the many videos of humans walking around the hill “with” Jamie or playing tug of war with Burrito.

It’s probably no coincidence that both of them grew up in a human environment when they were very young. Burrito was a “pet” and Jamie was owned by a trainer. They may not have had the experience of having other chimpanzees around them until they got older.

All of the chimpanzees at CSNW, when compared to their wild counterparts, could be considered misfits. None of them grew up in a large family group in equatorial Africa, clinging to their mothers and playing with siblings. For Jamie and Burrito, though, they are even greater misfits because they identified with the humans.

And yet, they are still chimpanzees, and they now get to live with others of their species.

Burrito and Jamie don’t have the friendliest of relationships. Every once in a while, however, like today, I’ll find these two misfits just being chimpanzees and grooming each other – showing no interest in the humans in that moment, even when one appears with a camera in hand.

 

It’s a reminder that they are capable of knowing and understanding one another in ways that we humans will never be able to access.

And that is a beautiful thing.

An unusual day

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Today we messed with the chimpanzees’ routine. There is a tall structure in the greenhouse that needed some repair, so the chimpanzees weren’t able to get outside until J.B. and volunteer Chad finished their fix-it job.

All morning, Burrito alternated between his Tasmanian devil self and his adorable playful self.

Lest you think the change in routine or lack of outdoor access caused his Tasmanian devil self to appear, allow me to elaborate to explain that on pretty much any given day, Burrito alternates between these two extremes.

I only got a picture of the later, but you might be able to see a twinkle of mischief in those eyes.

Don’t let him fool you.

When the greenhouse (and the raceway that leads to the large outdoor habitat) was ready to be occupied by chimpanzees again, we decided to take advantage of the unusually warm weather and provide the chimps with a dinner forage outside. We spread and hid whole tomatoes, pieces of watermelon, and mini sweet peppers all over the enclosure.

Much to our delight, Queen Negra was as eager as everyone else to get outside.

Negra is not one to choose to exert much energy, but apparently the whole tomatoes were worth stretching to get:

Jamie utilized the coolest anatomical feature that separates chimpanzees from humans – opposable toes – to carry a tomato as she continued her foraging:

Jody demonstrated the large capacity of her lips by carrying three peppers stacked on top of one another other:

And now the chimpanzees are back inside, quiet as ever while making their blanket nests, to take a restful sleep and wake up tomorrow to another day of sanctuary life.