Jody didn’t quite know what to make of the plastic chimp toy we put out for enrichment the other day. She decided to take things into her own hands and threw a “car” at the toy.
She got out of the way in case the toy retaliated.
chimpanzee sanctuary
Foxie playing in mirror, continued
I caught a couple of still photos the other day when Foxie was playing with her troll-in-the-sock while watching herself in the mirror. Missy did persist in trying to get Foxie’s attention and eventually engaged Foxie in play. I think they are both “kooks” 🙂
Today Show spot
Sarah, CSNW’s Executive Director, was the expert voice on a segment on the Today Show this morning about chimpanzee pet ownership. The segment spent a great deal of time with a pet owner in Montana who has two male chimpanzees around six years old. These chimpanzees were bought from the same breeder who sold Travis, the chimpanzee who attacked Charla Nash in Connecticut last month and was killed because of the attack. The young chimpanzees in Montana, Connor and Kramer, recently escaped their enclosure and bit a woman.
Their owner has admitted in a public hearing that the chimps have bitten up to 40 people. She allowed the Today Show crew to be in the living room with the chimpanzees while filming. Clearly, this is a tragedy just waiting to happen. Just like Travis’ owner, Connor and Kramer’s “mother” may indeed love “her” chimpanzees, but she is not considering the best interest of them or of her community. Connor and Kramer need to be placed in a sanctuary before it is too late.
After watching the clip, please contact the Today Show and thank them for including expert opinion and encourage them to delve into that opinion deeper for future shows. There are many chimpanzee experts out there who will explain, as Sarah did, that chimpanzees do not belong in human homes and do not belong in entertainment. Jane Goodall recently wrote an excellent article on the subject for the L.A. Times.
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.
Tragedy of keeping chimpanzees as pets
We prefer to keep things focused on the positive and love sharing the daily lives of the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. But the fact is that it is a shame our sanctuary has to exist at all. The Cle Elum Seven never should have been used in research or entertainment. Chimpanzees simply do not belong in biomedical research, entertainment or in people’s homes as pets. Period. And yesterday there was evidence for some of the reasons why this is true.
On Monday afternoon in Stamford, Connecticut a 15 year old chimpanzee “pet” named Travis attacked a woman he had known for years, leaving her in critical condition. When the police arrived at the scene, they fatally shot Travis. There are now numerous stories with greater detail about this incident all over the news, including NBC.
Travis was bred in captivity to be used by humans. He reportedly appeared in commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola. His owners drove him around town. And this was not the first time the authorities of Stamford had to be called in to try to contain him.
For those of us who care for chimpanzees, it is difficult not to be angry about this incident. We know that chimpanzees should not be kept as pets – we’ve seen tragedies like this before. We know that chimpanzees should only be kept in secure enclosures. We know that chimpanzees in entertainment are usually discarded after a few years because they become too difficult to “handle.” And we know that chimpanzees are intelligent, social, amazing, and, yes, sometimes violent beings.
There should be laws in place in every state banning the keeping of chimpanzees as pets. Hollywood by choice or by being forced through legislation should never use a chimpanzee in entertainment again. Our hope is that this tragedy will create action to make these things happen, and we will do our part to help.
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
Valentine’s Day video
That is Foxie (yes, Foxie!) going through the enrichment bags full of goodies in the first part of the video. The day went like this: Fresh fruit & smoothie for breakfast (and the crepes that Negra went crazy for!), big cleaning and disinfecting of the playroom, then setting up the party which consisted of new toys, decorations. treats, and, of course… love! Then an early dinner after a mid-day romp outside.
Dinner was very exciting. Keith visited and passed out the first course – green onions. (Keith has moved to the other side of the mountains and was visiting for the first time since leaving a couple of weeks ago, so the chimpanzees were very happy to see him). In anticipation of the Valentine’s Day dinner, we bought some great produce that we don’t always have and Pam brought some over from Seattle too. Elizabeth, our new staff member, cooked up beets and added them to brown rice. And we set out a forage of snap peas, rhubarb, coconuts, fruit salad with blueberries, pineapple and banana, and of course the peanut-butter dipped strawberries rolled in nuts that Pam made.
Thank you to all who donated for the day and made it possible!!! I have never experienced such a Valentine’s celebration before. I have more photos which I hope to post tomorrow.
What a wonderful day.
