Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee

Role Models

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One of the reasons why we chose to introduce George to Cy’s group, at least to start, is that he needs some good role models. Having lived alone or with only one other chimpanzee for most of his life, he never had the opportunity to fully develop his social skills. And that can have serious consequences. Failure to follow the rules of a social group can get a chimp into trouble pretty quickly, especially when entering the group alone. We love Jamie and Willy B as people, but as leaders of their respective groups, they each leave a lot to be desired. They might be tough, but they are also insecure, capricious, and generally self-interested. I have a hard time imagining either of them sticking their neck out to defend a naive newcomer like George.

Cy and Rayne, on the other hand, are exemplars of true leadership. In addition to being tough, they are also kind, fair, tolerant, and forgiving. One way to think about the process that George is going through right now is that this is his chance to make mistakes. I hate to see him get in scuffles or to be in distress, but I can’t help thinking to myself: Screw up now George, it’s only going to get more difficult from here! We want him to offend Rayne when Rayne gets to decide how to respond, and not Rayne trailed by four other screaming chimps. We want him to learn about the privilege of dominance, and the price paid for disrespect, when Cy is the one doing the teaching.

George has proven himself to be up for the challenge of learning to be a chimp—as long as he keeps paying attention to his teachers.

Bovine Birthdays, Pasture Pedicures, and a Trip to the Vet

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Today is Honey‘s 18th Birthday! To celebrate, Diana brought over a basket of special treats from the chimp house, plus some pears from our very own orchard.

The cattle recently underwent their biannual foot trimmings. To trim our cows’ hooves, we utilize the services of a professional trimmer who brings specialized equipment that lifts the cows onto their sides and briefly restrains their legs. If their feet are in good shape, the trimming takes less than a minute per foot and the cows are quickly back to their normal routine.

Here, Meredith gets medications and vaccinations before being released from the chute:

Facilities and Grounds Technician, Teresa, adjusts Honey’s halter while the trimmer works on Honey’s feet:

Most trimmings are uneventful, but during Betsy’s trim, we discovered an anomaly in the medial claw of her back foot. It turned out to be an abscess—a fairly common injury, but one that would normally result in lameness. Betsy had showed absolutely no signs of discomfort whatsoever. She is one tough cow!

The abscess was opened up and drained and Besty was given medication and a bandage tough enough for a cow (is there anything duct tape can’t do?):

Dr. Erin conducted further exams, complete with x-rays, in the days following. Here, she utilizes standing sedation in one of our barn stanchions to safely treat Betsy’s foot:

After getting Betsy’s hoof cleaned up and examined, we attached a block for her comfort. Blocks are wood or polyurethane prosthetics thay are applied with a high-strength adhesive to a cow’s good claw when they have an injury which may be painful—this allows their weight to bear on the good side of their foot and relieves pressure on the painful side.

Radiographs of Betsy’s foot showed the possibility of bone changes near the abscess, so Dr. Erin felt a trip to the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital was warranted, just to be safe. Besty was loaded into our trailer for a trip to Eastern Washington for the afternoon:

The team at WSU, led by Dr. Olivarez, is highly skilled at bovine medicine and, just as importantly, they are incredibly caring and compassionate:

Once in the hospital, Betsy’s is led down an alley and into a stall:

Similar to a foot trim, she is then tilted onto her side:

Besty was given a thorough examination and treatment. Thankfully, the pathology was determined to be limited to the hoof and the vet team thought that with a little rest in the barn and proper follow-up care, she would heal just fine. She was then given a new hoof block and bandage:

The folks at WSU thought that Besty, age 18, might have been the oldest cow they had ever treated in the hospital.

When we got back to the barn late that night, Betsy was immediately greeted by her long-time herd mates who very clearly missed her:

We are hopeful that Betsy will be able to rejoin the girls in another week or so. For now, she is happy to eat her extra feed without any competition from her bossy friend, Honey:

 

 

Scenes from George and Rayne’s Day on the Bray

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George recently spent a full day with Rayne. Rayne is a wise, confident, and well-respected chimpanzee who gives George a lot of grace but isn’t afraid to hold him accountable when he gets out of line. George and Rayne have had many short meetings before, and while a few of those meetings began with brief conflicts, they always ended on a high note. This longer meeting was no exception. After a bit of arguing through the mesh, the pair got together and settled down for a day full of socializing, eating meals together, and running throughout the 2-acre habitat (both with each other and with the chimps next door!). Learning the rules can be tough for someone without much social experience, but George couldn’t ask for a better teacher.

Lost in Thought

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Lucky loves to groom and socialize with her caregivers, but she is often more reserved when it comes to her fellow chimpanzees. During an introduction with George this afternoon, she ignored him for a full 2-1/2 hours before finally agreeing to the briefest of play sessions. Having fulfilled her social obligations, she then returned to her nest and her cherished solitude.

Some introductions result in conflict, others in newfound friendships. And then there are those, like today’s, that result in two chimpanzees sharing the same space at the same time and nothing more. Which is all you can ask for sometimes. After all, Lucky never signed up to be on the welcoming committee.

Jamie and Foxie’s Exams

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From Dr. Erin:

The last few days have been even busier than usual at the sanctuary!

Both Jamie and Foxie had complete exams this week.  The decision to anesthetize any of the chimps is never taken lightly but when it comes to anesthetizing older chimps (Jamie is turning 48 in a couple weeks and Foxie is 49), we are especially careful and consider several factors before making the decision to perform an exam under anesthesia. These factors include what data we can get through positive reinforcement training, how long it’s been since their last exam, as well as any previous health concerns or current changes in behavior or affect that indicates there may be a health concern.

In Jamie’s case, as J.B. noted in a previous blog post, Jamie has been slowing down over the last several months and her belly has become more pronounced.  While the physical changes can certainly be ascribed to aging (ask me how I know) and the change in social structure since Jody’s passing,  we couldn’t be sure and there was something “off” enough about her that an exam was warranted.

With Foxie, we were concerned about a cough that developed this past summer and persisted in spite of various medications to address possible causes.

Both chimps did well under anesthesia and while Jamie wanted an extra day of rest before rejoining the group,  Foxie was clamoring to be back with her family before breakfast this morning.  The procedures consisted of a complete dental exam, including x rays and cleaning, abdominal ultrasound, echocardiogram, head to toe physical, full body x rays, and sample collection for diagnostic tests on blood, respiratory fluid and urine.

Jamie’s team on Friday included local professionals Dan Whitemarsh, DDS and Tanya Hebert, sonographer.  Traveling from west of the Cascades were Jaime Sheehan, echo tech, Milo Torres, LVT & the wonderful Dr. Dan Low and anesthesiology intern Pat Herndon.  Dr. Yousuf Jafarey, an experienced primate vet and dear friend, flew up from California just to participate in the exams!

Jaime Sheehan returned yesterday to perform Foxie’s echo as well. The rest of Foxie’s team consisted of Dr. Charles Dyer, the dentist from the Dental Coalition for Conservation (who performed in Missy’s dental care in July), Korey Krause, sonographer from Kittitas Valley Health, David Liston, MD and Kate Uselman, CRNA from Seattle on anesthesia, as well as Dr. Jafarey and myself.

We have some preliminary information from the exams that will help guide care for both of these amazing older ladies and are awaiting lab results, radiology, and cardiology reviews that will further inform protocols for keeping them as comfortable as possible in their golden years.

I am incredibly grateful to the professionals that lend their time, effort and expertise to these exams, it really is a team effort to ensure the chimps have the safest and most thorough exam possible. I am so appreciative and impressed by the staff and volunteers who rearrange schedules, take on extra work, come in early, deal with clinic equipment spilling into the foyer and all support each other as well as the chimps. I work with the most wonderful people!

And we are so fortunate to work with the incomparable Dr. Erin!

The team prepares blood samples:

Jamie’s teeth are examined and cleaned while she is given an abdominal ultrasound:

The team monitors Jamie during recovery:

Jamie sleeps off the events of the day:

Foxie receives a dental cleaning and abdominal ultrasound:

X-rays are taken of Foxie’s teeth:

Nothing speeds up recovery like some pudding in a cup:

Jamie and Foxie enjoying a lunch forage on the hill this afternoon:

It’s Nothing Personal

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Missy takes her job seriously. Like a hockey enforcer, her role is to aggressively protect her MVP, Jamie, and ensure everyone plays by the rules. But she’s also quick to reconcile after a conflict. After all, it’s nothing personal—she’s just doing her job.

Chimpanzees are actually quite well known for reconciling to maintain peace and repair relationships after conflicts. While chimpanzee fights can be loud, scary, and dangerous for those involved, opponents will often seek each other out almost immediately after a conflict to embrace, groom, and kiss. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but it demonstrates the value of social relationships in the chimp world.

Undercover Gorilla

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Terry loves to try to impress the ladies next door with his gorilla impression.

Chest-beating is not normally part of a chimpanzee’s behavioral repertoire. However, in areas where chimpanzee and gorilla territories overlap, such as the Republic of Congo, chimps have been seen imitating their gorilla cousins. Having been born in a laboratory, Terry couldn’t have learned his chest-beating from any gorillas, so he must have come up with it on his own.

Or could he actually be a gorilla disguised as a chimpanzee?