Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Dora and her Many Friends

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Dora the explorer seems to befriend many individuals here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. From time to time, we find other chimps besides Foxie with Dora. Though Dora does spend most of her time with Tiny aka Foxie. Jody too can find comfort in dolls. Jamie often uses Dora’s in a troll scarf or enjoys playing keep away from Foxie. Occasionally, Burrito has been spotted carrying a Dora for play. Negra every so often finds a doll and totes it around or taunts Foxie with it. This morning as I let the chimps onto Young’s Hill, Negra strolled out with Foxie’s new France Dora.

However, we have another Dora coming to town and as you can see, she is no doll :).

Bonus photos!

Honey B created a fort with boxes and an empty sandbox.

Burrito strutting his stuff out on Young’s Hill.

The Zen of Mave

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You may have noticed some of the most recent posts have been very lilac-y. That’s because lilacs are in bloom and before we know it, they will be gone. So we have been trying to take advantage of the season. Last week, I was able to capture these images.

To give a little background, Honey B, Willy B, and Mave tend to be a little suspicious of new foods or items. Last year it took them a while to even nibble at the lilacs. Same as last year, at first they seemed to be completely insulted we even offered it to them last week. Mave, however, ultimately collected all of them and was found munching on them throughout the afternoon. Last Thursday, when we received another collection of lilacs for the chimpanzees, we offered some to the Three. Honey B did end up with one, which she ended up passing to J.B. and he passed back to her. She began munching on hers shortly after.

Willy B was genuinely disinterested in them and walked right passed them.

But MAVE on the other hand had other plans. She collected as much as she could. But instead of immediately beginning to munch on them, she just casually carried them around with her for a while.

As she carried around her bouquet, she would take time just to sniff them.

As she sat in the Chute with her lilacs, sniffing them periodically, she gave off this aura of pure relaxation and content.

I tried the get the perfect photo of her in this state, however we try not to stay for too long when taking photos. It’s a “in and out” type of operation as to not stress them out. I though I had the perfect shot, but after I made my way back inside, I realized she had blinked during my opportunity. However, I will always admit she is blinking in this photo if anybody asked, but it almost added to the vibe of the situation and photo. You will have to imagine this photo but her eyes open for of a more realistic idea, but everyone who has seen it so far said, “She looks so zen in this photo!” which makes this imperfect photo the perfect photo of Mave. (Though Mave is always perfect!)

It’s almost impossible to know exactly what is happening in their minds, but we can always just imagine.

Here are some bonus photos from today:

Burrito

Burrito with a Dora the Explorer doll.
Burrito doing Burrito things.
Burrito walking through the long grass.

Negra

Negra enjoying an orange during a forage on Young’s Hill.

Annie

Annie eating chow biscuits during the forage.

Foxie

Foxie going back to get Dora the Explorer who fell off her back.

Jamie

Jamie teaching Sofìa and Sam about her rules about going around Young’s Hill with the Gator. Kelsi was there to also help them get used to Jamie’s rules.

Another Mother’s Day for Jody

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It’s Mother’s Day.

At the sanctuary, our celebration of this special day always includes a birthday party for Jody. Her actual date of birth is missing from her original records, but the date aligns with both Jody’s history as a biological mother and her honorary status as the group’s “den mother.”

Like Jody, Annie, Foxie, Missy and Negra (four of the sanctuary’s eight female chimps) also had offspring during their tenure as “breeders” in the laboratory. Altogether, we believe they gave birth to at least twenty-five infants. The newborns were each taken from them shortly after birth by the company that owned the chimps, and the separated infants were destined to be raised by humans in nurseries and sold as biomedical research subjects. At the time, this was a life sentence for chimps.

As advocates began to successfully pressure the laboratories to retire their captive chimpanzees from research, some of the aforementioned offspring were lucky enough to find sanctuary homes. In fact, Missy’s daughter Honey B found her way to CSNW thirteen years after her mother- almost three decades after they were pulled apart at birth. The two don’t seem to recognize each other or have any special bond, which is unsurprising given that chimpanzee social bonds are maintained through lifelong interaction and communication, not mere genetic relatedness or physical likeness. Still, they sometimes behave in ways that reveal some similarities that may be more than just coincidence, giving a bit of magic to their familial relationship.

I won’t add much more since we have written about this topic in the past and I feel like other staff could offer more heartfelt and insightful perspectives than mine. All I have to say is that, as someone who watches Jody interact with her companions and surroundings on a daily basis, she is a natural protector and shepherd to all around her.

Jody would have been an excellent mother to those nine children. She got robbed of that experience, and so did they.

The gravity of that injustice cannot be expressed through any words that I know.

The best that we can do now is provide Jody and her friends with a safe and comfortable sanctuary home, with opportunities to live a fulfilling life, and tirelessly advocate for non-humans who are still being exploited elsewhere.

So, on this well-deserved Mother’s Day, we celebrated not just Jody but all the mothers in our lives who have helped us to grow, learn, and live meaningful lives. We’re thankful that you exist and we love you all.

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Finally, since I was unable to take many photos while filming the embedded video, Chad was willing to share some images he captured of the big event!

Annie:

Jody:

Missy:

Burrito:

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P.S. Just in case you missed the usual title pun, I almost named this post “JO Mother, Where Art Thou?” but decided to keep it a bit more serious this week. I’ll think of something really corny for the next post. I promise.

they’re called playrooms for a reason

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Or maybe they should be called multi-purpose rooms?

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed watching these clips over and over!

I had many technical difficulties with computers and software today, so you are seeing this video after a great deal of perseverance. I almost gave up a few times, but I’m pretty stubborn.

I was thinking of you all in my stubbornness. I wanted to deliver some quality footage of the Californians in part of the new playroom space. It’s fun to be able to film through the windows for those close-up views, even when Willy B videobombs the camera.

Welcome (back) Sam and Sofía!

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All the waaaaaay back in January we had the pleasure of announcing that we were looking for 2 new staff members to come on board in time for the arrival of the incoming group of chimpanzees.  This past week we excitedly welcomed Samantha (Sam) and Sofía as our newest teammates! While they are the most recently hired employees at CSNW, they certainly aren’t strangers at the sanctuary. They are both former interns and Central Washington University Masters graduates that are returning to us after gaining further valuable experience in the outside world.

Sam returns to CSNW as a full-time caregiver after working for several years as a caregiver at Project Chimps, a sanctuary located in Northern Georgia. She brings with her a wealth of experience working with a large population of chimpanzees that come from biomedical research.

Jamie puts Sam through her paces

Sofía is back at the sanctuary as part of our caregiving and veterinary team.  In addition to her past primate experience at CSNW and CWU,  she has many years of experience working in the animal science and veterinary fields. Oh and she happens to love cattle, a passion that will come in handy around here!

Sofía cozies up to Nutmeg

I will let Sam and Sofía tell you more about themselves in their own future blogs, but for now, please join me in giving them a warm welcome back to the sanctuary!

Bonus! Negra looked pretty glorious picking edible plants on Young’s Hill this morning:

 

 

 

 

Amongst the Green Grass

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One of my favorite times of the year in the chimp house is when the grass is green and tall. Like so tall that it’s hard to find the chimps. Though, it might make it harder to do checks, I love that they can explore Young’s Hill stealthily.

Jody walking in the tall grass.

Don’t forget, today is the last day of GiveBig! Help us reach our goal of $45,000. Six new chimps will be here very soon and we are so close to finishing the new greenhouses! Every little bit will help.


It’s the Great Tomato Hunt, Missy!

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To watch Missy during a forage with tomatoes involved is like watching a pinball in a pinball machine. At first it seems like random zooming all over the place. But after a while, you realize that it’s all controlled and Missy indeed has a plan. The best way to describe it is “organized chaos.”

Last August, caregiver Anthony was able to perfectly describe Missy’s tomato obsession.

As soon as she spies us take those waxy red orbs out of the refrigerator, Missy turns into a ravenous lunatic whose sole objective is to ingest as many tomatoes as quickly as possible.”

When Missy first makes her way outside, first thing is to grab whatever tomato that is immediate vicinity.

Once all those are gone, it’s time to make her way to the structures. This serves as two benefits:

1) There are usually some hidden at the base of the structure.

2) Structures also provide a good vantage point to spot more tomatoes.

(Plus there may be a hidden one on the top of the structure.)

At times, when she is at a high view point, it almost seems that she plans out her route to capitalize on her movements.

While during the initial start of the forage, Missy eats as she goes. When she passes this stage, she begins collecting her prized foods. This is where her planning from the top comes in. Racing from one spot to the next, grabbing all that she can hold onto with her hands, feet, and mouth.

Once she cannot carry anymore, she anchors in a spot and enjoys the bounty of her tomato hunt.

It’s days like today, watching Missy zoom from place to place in the hunt for tomatoes, we feel very fortunate to be able to provide things they love. You can help us by donating to this year’s Give Big Washington campaign, which ends tomorrow. Anything helps us reach our goal and it directly helps them. So please consider donating if you can.

Bonus photos of Burrito and Jody grooming: