Troll dolls play many roles in Foxie’s life. They are a source of companionship, comfort, and not least, fun.
chimpanzee
Jamie’s Paper Throne
One surefire way to enrich a chimpanzee is to give her several rolls of paper.
Inspector Jody
Jody often takes it upon herself to oversee the goings-on at the sanctuary. She wants everything to proceed as smoothly as possible. When we’re shifting the chimps to close off an area for cleaning, Jody sometimes hangs back in the doorway, ushering everyone through with an outstretched arm, and only going through herself when she’s confident that everyone else is accounted for. When the sanctuary is infiltrated by an unwelcome mouse or snake or squirrel, Jody is at the front lines of the war, bravely fighting for the safety of her chimp family.
While volunteer caregiver Becca was serving lunch to the chimpanzees in the greenhouse this afternoon, Jody was keeping a close eye on Young’s Hill. As soon as lunch was over, she ventured out and was on high alert. She was convinced that there was something of concern happening on the opposite side of the hill, but none of the other chimps seemed at all worried, and Jody didn’t seem to be able to work up the courage to go investigate on her own. Instead, she stood at a safe distance and monitored the situation.
After a few minutes, she seemed reassured that no one was in immediate danger, and she retreated to the greenhouse for a well-deserved rest.
Negra building trust and HOOT! tonight
Today is a big day for me—it is my last day as a staff caregiver at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. I am excited to say that I will be beginning a new position with an animal advocacy group where I can utilize all my skills I’ve learned while developing and working on the Eyes on Apes program and fighting for chimpanzees everywhere. It is not a goodbye for me, though—I will be working from home, which means I will remain very much apart of the lives of the Cle Elum Seven and their human friends, too! Sorry guys, you can’t get rid of me just yet 😉
Though I am not saying goodbye, I have been reflecting a lot lately on my time here at CSNW and the relationships I’ve built with the chimpanzees over the last seven years! I started as a volunteer just a couple months after the chimpanzees arrived and they stole my heart. At the time, I was a graduate student working with signing chimpanzees in Ellensburg (a similar background to many of the CSNW staff) but I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. Since chimpanzee caregiving jobs are few and far between, odds were that I would end up doing something completely unrelated. But as I spent more time at CSNW, seeing the chimpanzees change and grow in sanctuary, my career path became solidified. Words can truly never express how amazing it is to witness the incredible transformation and second chance that sanctuary can provide for chimpanzees.
Negra is a perfect example. She was stolen from her mother and captured from Africa as an infant, and then forced into research to be used in invasive vaccination testing for human diseases. She was also used a breeder, and had her three babies taken from her within days of birth. As if that wasn’t already bad enough, Negra was kept in complete isolation for nearly two years.
Negra has no grounds to trust humans. How could she? After everything that they had done to her—no one is surprised that she isn’t quick to trust someone. Negra’s changes in sanctuary have been very gradual, but we have seen a lot of growth. Negra from day one was (understandably) untrusting and preferred solitude. It became clear after a little while that Negra exhibited symptoms of someone with PTSD and depression. But as the years went by, we saw Negra playing—first with her chimpanzee friends, and then with humans! And she slowly became more trusting as well.
I learned very early on that Negra does not like to be touched. It is likely that she had several negative experiences in the lab, literally being poked and prodded, and so even a gentle knuckle rub would make her scream and run away. After some time, though, she would occasionally ask for a knuckle rub by offering her back to her caregivers. I remember the first time I gave Negra a knuckle rub I was almost in tears, just thinking about how long it took her to realize that she was safe here—and I would not hurt her.
Honestly, I’m not sure that she’s completely convinced of that fact. Just due to the sheer horror of her past, she has not fully moved on from those nightmares. Every once-in-a-while, something will startle Negra and the PTSD symptoms come through. As we started working on positive reinforcement training a little over a month ago, Negra was not thrilled with the sound of the clicker. Something about that sound associated with a bad memory for her, and she did not react very well at first. However, we were able to muffle the clicker sound by placing it in our pockets, and that seemed to work just fine. (And now she is fine without the muffle!) The next step was getting her comfortable with the target—the PVC tubes we use also were uncomfortable for her at first. After a few sessions though, she became more used to it, and realized that getting grapes and chow are totally worth touching that stupid stick. 😉
Ultimately, the positive reinforcement training is something that will be really incredible for Negra. We will be able to work up to a point where we can perform stress-free medical checks. And, if we ever needed to anesthetize her for any reason, we will be able to do so without any trauma, because she will have learned that presenting her shoulder for a poke results in a positive experience.
Since trust doesn’t come easy for her, and since she prefers routine over new things, I was worried that as her primary trainer, I would not be Negra’s biggest fan. However, I completely miscalculated how things would go. Instead of causing a strain on our relationship, training has made our friendship so much stronger. She has impressed me so much with her progress in our sessions, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. What I thought would take months, she has accomplished in just a few weeks. Negra not only confidently touches the target wherever I place it, but she also has started opening her mouth (a useful behavior for dental checks) and she is even presenting her shoulder.
Since this video was taken, she has become more reliable with the behaviors and is very comfortable with me touching her shoulder (even with a stick!)
Now that I’ve exhausted everyone with such a wordy post, here are a bunch of some of my favorite photos of Negra:
Tonight, we will be celebrating the last seven years of sanctuary at our annual HOOT! gala event in Seattle. We will be sharing stories of the gradual changes and new experiences that sanctuary has given Queen Negra and her chimpanzee family (or should I say the royal subjects under her reign?)
There really is no better send-off for me headed into my new adventure than joining everyone tonight in this celebration of sanctuary. I look forward to seeing you all there!
New heights to scale
Construction began this week on the chimpanzees new climbing structures on Young’s Hill and they are amazing! You may recall our Share the Chimp Love fundraiser last February, in which we asked you to help us meet our goal of raising $12,000 to go toward the direct care of the chimpanzees, as well as keeping our savings on track to meet our future goals. Thanks to your incredible generosity in helping us not only reach, but surpass (!), our goal, we were also able to meet our goal of building a new structure for the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill.
The sanctuary’s founder, Keith LaChappelle, has been here all week working with J.B. and he brought reinforcements. Long time friend of the chimps, Nick (who travels from out of state each year just to volunteer his time with projects for the chimps), has also been here, along with Josh, John, Bill, and Marc. These guys have been working tirelessly in the heat to get things ready for the chimpanzees to enjoy as soon as possible.
The structure, situated at the very top of Young’s Hill, is the highest yet and comprised of two climbing towers which are connected by an amazing swinging bridge. From the chimp’s view in the greenhouse, this is the left side of the structure:
Here’s the right side:
And the entire structure:
And thanks to the generosity of Provitro Biosciences, we have been gifted with even more beautiful bamboo to add to the chimpanzees outdoor enclosure. Here’s J.B. bringing some in:
I’m not sure who is more excited, the chimpanzees, or the humans in anticipation of seeing the chimpanzees check things out. If all goes as planned, everything should be complete tomorrow and ready for chimpanzee inspection after that. Such an amazing way to end the week as we are all looking forward to our annual gala, Hoot!, this weekend.
The kindness, compassion and love you consistently show the chimpanzees often overwhelms us. We are immensely grateful to you to be in the position to continually improve the chimpanzees’ home and lives with each passing season. To be able to ensure their well being not only in the present, but also in the future, is something we could never fully express our gratitude for. And none of this would be possible without you.
The chimpanzees have spent the day relaxing in the hot greenhouse, keeping a close eye on the activity on the hill. Here are a few photos I caught of Foxie and troll, resting up for their new adventures ahead:
As part of our Share the Love fundraiser, two wonderful and generous families won the naming rights to the chimps’ new structure and they will each be naming the two towers. We will be holding a naming ceremony in the coming weeks and can’t wait to share it with you so stay tuned!
Serious face
Yesterday, Elizabeth posted this great blog about Jamie—if you missed it, definitely check it out.
Normally, I try not to post about the same chimpanzee two days in a row, just to keep things varied, but I took some photos of the Boss today and couldn’t resist putting them on the blog. Jamie was just chillin’ in the greenhouse this afternoon, demonstrating her serious face.
After I took these photos, she came down to take a look at them. She seemed to approve, so I figured they were good to go!
Jamie, Reinvented
Jamie is the undisputed leader of the Cle Elum Seven, but she is not a natural leader.
If Jamie spoke, her catchphrase would be “because I said so.” As a leader, she is not always interested in fairness or leniency. She isn’t interested in hearing your arguments or reasoning or appeals. She knows exactly how she believes things should be, and through sheer determination, she makes it happen.
At the sanctuary, one of our goals is to pinpoint exactly what each chimpanzee needs, and give that to them. Of course, all chimpanzees have basic needs like space to run, fresh air, good food, and other chimps. But beyond those basic needs, each individual has needs of their own. (For Foxie, it’s troll dolls. For Burrito, it’s lots of playtime with caregivers.) What Jamie needs is control and respect.
Decades of being forced to submit to the will of humans who did not always treat her kindly have done a number on Jamie’s confidence. It is very important to her that everyone believes in her dominance, but she doesn’t always believe in herself. She rules with an iron fist because she is insecure. She overcompensates.
It’s no surprise that Jamie isn’t the most skilled leader. When she arrived at the sanctuary seven years ago, she must have felt weary, demoralized, and completely defeated. Her life thus far had been devoid of choice, devoid of control. She was powerless. But Jamie decided to change her destiny. In an environment where she is given room to spread her wings, she has done so in the most astounding way. Her path hasn’t always been smooth, but Jamie has reclaimed the respect and dignity she lost to endless years in the labs. Jamie is the boss of ALL of us.
