Some friends to the Northeast in Canada, sent a generous donation last week. We used a tiny bit of it for some fun toys like this Pirates of the Caribbean tent. Jamie, Jody, Missy and Annie all had their turn playing with it, then it ended up being part of Jody’s bed.
chimpanzee
Opposable toes – why chimpanzees are superior
Mushy post about Negra
I’ve wanted to write this for a while, but I’ve been trying to figure out a way to write it so that it doesn’t sound so mushy that people think it is out of character for me. I think I’m just going to go for it, though…
I’m in love with Negra. It started when I met her in December, but when J.B. and I visited last month, I fell harder. There was this moment when the bars of the caging seemed to disappear. It was as though Negra and I were no longer in the basement of a laboratory with me wearing a tyvex suit and plastic face shield. It was just the two of us sharing the experience of looking into each others eyes. So, like anyone newly in love, I want to tell everyone I know about her and explain why she is so special.
She has a very calm and gentle demeanor, but she’s also clearly emotionally strong and independent. She currently spends most of her days sleeping, although she’ll get up for food. Food is one of the few pleasures that she has in her current life, and she’ll take whatever is offered to her. She has the best relaxed face that I have ever seen – her bottom lip drops so low it practically touches her chest. We don’t have any photos yet, but I’m sure we’ll be able to get a good one of Negra’s drooped-lip face once she is safely in her new home at CSNW.
After observing me playing with some of the other chimpanzees, Negra came down off of her ledge. That’s when she won me over. She just looked at me for a while at first. After sizing me up, she got up and started to play a good, although rather slow, game of chase. It probably only lasted for a couple of minutes, but it was fantastic – a great indication that she has good days ahead of her at the sanctuary. She went back to her concrete ledge, but continued to watch me. When it was time for us to go, I said goodbye to Negra. She returned my goodbye by playfully stomping her foot on the wall from her position laying down.
I can’t wait to see her again.
Diana
Missy & Annie
J.B. and I had our second visit with the Buckshire Seven this past weekend. On our last visit, there were two chimpanzees who were rather aloof and mostly stayed in the background – Missy and Annie. This visit was quite the opposite.
After we were there for a bit and we had given out some kale (which Missy loves) and dried fruit, Missy engaged in a lot of play with us – stomping her feet and slapping her hands against the old tire that hangs in her cage. Once Annie saw Missy playing, she joined in too. It wasn’t long before they were playing with each other – their foreheads pressed together and their arms wrapped around each other, then separating and slapping each others hands, arms and shoulders. It feels really good to “transfer” play sessions this way, and I think it’s always a subconscious goal of mine to help foster play between chimpanzees. As I was watching Annie and Missy play I was imagining them in their new home in Cle Elum; I was picturing them on a platform in front of one of the windows laughing that breathy chimpanzee laugh and tickling each other.
ABC News story about Chimpanzees in Entertainmnet
Yesterday an article written by Ashley Phillips entitled “Scientists Criticize Use of Chimps in Media” was published. The full article is available here. Below are some excerpts:
Constantly using chimps for laughs leads the TV- and movie-viewing public to mistakenly believe that the animals aren’t an endangered species, a group of scientists that includes Jane Goodall said this week in Science.
In 2005 and 2006, two separate studies conducted by two different conservation organizations found the same thing: Visitors were more likely to believe that gorillas and orangutans were endangered than chimps. When asked why, the visitors all pointed to the use of chimps in the media.
This is obviously an issue that is very important to us, and this research illustrates one reason why it is wrong to use chimpanzees in entertainment. There are many other reasons which directly affect the individuals being used. Please visit primatepatrol.org to learn more and to sign up for action alerts. If you’re already signed-up, let us know about your advocacy on behalf of apes in entertainment.
Jody’s Eyes
This post was written by J.B., who also visited the chimpanzees at Buckshire in December.
The first thing that struck me about Jody, besides her diminutive size, was her gaze. She has large, soulful eyes that follow you intently. Though Jody is an active member of her social group, she is keenly interested in the comings and goings of the humans around her.
Jody was born in 1975. Little is known about her life prior to Buckshire, but it is believed that she was used in a circus. Like most chimpanzees in entertainment, she was discarded when she was no longer useful, and sold to a laboratory. There, she would spend decades as a breeder, producing yet another generation of chimpanzees for research. Jody eventually had 7 babies, each taken from her shortly after birth. For a chimpanzee mother, there is no greater tragedy than the loss of a child.
At Buckshire, Jody spends most of her time with her friends Foxie and Burrito. She has earned a reputation as a troublemaker, and if she needs someone to get into trouble with, Jamie is all too eager to help. But for the most part, Jody would rather play with her friends, and we eagerly anticipate the day when the chimpanzees can play together in their new home.
J.B.
Jamie and choices
Jamie is someone who could be referred to as a “character.†She clearly likes attention and demanded a lot of it from me and the other Direct Care Committee members who accompanied me on my first visit to Buckshire to meet the chimpanzees. Jamie was the most gregarious of the group and was full of energy. She was clearly pleased to have the rapt attention of new people and really enjoyed having her feet tickled (with newspaper) and playing chase.
The first physical feature that I noticed about Jamie was that her belly had almost no hair. This was obviously due to “over-grooming†– Jamie picks out the hair on her belly and the skin underneath the hair. Over-grooming is considered a form of self-mutilation and can be the result of a stressful, unpredictable life or a sign of utter boredom. Often, this type of behavior gradually disappears when a chimpanzee is moved to a sanctuary which provides a stimulating environment.
A big element that is missing from the day-to-day life of the chimpanzees at Buckshire is the lack of choice. Born into captivity, Jamie’s entire life has been determined by the humans who claimed ownership over her. Her early years were spent as a “performer†in a circus, and then she was passed on to the biomedical research industry. There are very few opportunities to make choices in her daily existence at Buckshire. For Jamie, I believe this will be the biggest benefit to her new life at CSNW. I imagine that once she figures out that are so many things that she can do and ask for, she will probably be quite demanding of the time and energy of the staff at the sanctuary. And they will, no doubt, be elated to indulge her desires.
Diana
