Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
The days have been getting hotter out here in Cle Elum and we have been working to provide the chimps with enrichment to help them stay cool. In Sofia’s Ask Us Anything blog last week, she talked about how we gave them pools of diluted Gatorade as temps were close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We were able to snag some fun reaction videos from Cy’s group and I wanted to share them with you today! Enjoy, stay cool, and happy summer!
Rayne and Gordo:
Terry with one of the roses we put in the pools:
If you read the blog daily you have probably heard us use the words elusive or aloof to describe Gordo at some point in time. Gordo has been coming out of his shell for a while now, but recently he has been REALLY playful with not only his chimp friends, but his human friends too. I use this word a lot when talking about the chimps, but it has really been a true honor to watch Gordo flourish in sanctuary. But that is what it is, an honor, especially a chimp like Gordo who always seemed more reserved than others. When someone like Gordo lets you into his circle how could you not!
Gordo’s birthday is on Tuesday, he turns 34! We still have a few party things on the wish list for him!
Bonus photo of Mave:
Thank you all for your questions and ideas! If you missed yesterday’s blog, check it out here! We are so grateful for your support and curiosity! We will be sorting through them and we look forward to writing these ideas for future blogs!
I am somewhat sorry for the redundancy of play videos, but I’m sure no one will mind. This play session happened a few days ago. It started out with Lucky playing a game of chase with caregiver Katelyn. Then Honey B couldn’t resist the urge to join in on the fun. Then slowly more and more chimpanzees joined in! And don’t worry! Though Cy and Willy B were not a part of this play session, they were elsewhere grooming with each other. They were off having their own quality time.
Here are some photos taken in between filming the play session:
Lucky, Dora, Gordo, and Terry play:
Dora and Rayne:
And here are some photos from today!
Rayne excitedly watching from a bird’s eye view as breakfast is being brought out:
Dora taking an afternoon nap in the Riverview Greenhouse:
Willy B excited about a pool full of Gatorade:
There are always amazing moments happening in the chimp house, some weeks you hold them closer to your chest. For me, I have been holding them tight to my chest. So I thought I would share a few little moments with some of the “Big Boys’!
The other day Cy found me and instigated a big game of chase. Sometimes we were sprinting back and forth in the Marmot room, other times we were walking from Marmot room to Riverview greenhouse, and then we were off sprinting again! Often we would take a break in Riverview and just sit with each other, before he was off sprinting again.
The other morning Gordo was really playful. He was bunny hopping around and chasing everywhere. Eventually, Gordo sat down in one of his favorite enrichment items, a box! We sat peacefully together while Gordo enjoyed the warm greenhouse sun. We didn’t do much together after, we just enjoyed each others company.
This photo is of Terry looking adoringly into one of his favorites foods, an avocado! My moment with Terry though is just the sweet kisses he gives us. Throughout the day he will blow raspberries (or Bronx cheer) to get your attention so he can groom your boots or give you a little kiss on the hand. Terry just likes to spend quality time with his caregivers.
Burrito might not be in the “Big Boys Club”, but he has got a big heart! Recently, we have been playing a lot of chase in the greenhouse and Burrito has been throwing out his somersaults too! To be honest, any moment I get with Burrito is a blessing and truly special.
The residents here at the sanctuary came from unnatural backgrounds, we know this. Whether it be biomedical research, entertainment, or raised in their early years as a pet, their lives have been far from what they would have experienced in the wild. Though Negra and Annie, and possibly Jody, were born in the wild, they were taken from their home and families across the ocean by humans. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about this fact and I often find it impossible not to dwell on it.
Over the years, our staff have worked to piece together the life histories of our residents. While there is some that is still unknown to us, we have learned quite a bit. As one of the newest caregivers, I am still working to know all these histories. Sometimes, their names appear in stories, our hearts stop, and we know a little bit more about the chimps we have the honor to work with.
A few weeks ago, there was a book sitting on top of the table in the foyer of the chimp house. It was From Elephants to Mice: Animals who have touched my soul (2010) by Dr. James Mahoney. Dr. Mahoney is a complicated character, to say the least. He was a veterinarian and a research professor at the New York University School of Medicine, where he worked at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). He conducted invasive biomedical research, but later in life became vocal about the conflicting emotions he had about this research. He published a few books over his lifetime and while I have not read Saving Molly: A Research Veterinarian’s Choices (1998), I wanted to read his second novel because, as we know, all of the newly integrated group of 9 were born at LEMSIP.
I am not here to pass judgement on Dr. Mahoney, or to stir any pot, but merely to share parts of the story that I found heavy on my heart after finishing his book. I believe knowledge is power and with more knowledge we can better understand and serve the chimps that call CSNW home.
In 1995, LEMSIP closed and was taken over by the Coulston Foundation of Alamogordo, New Mexico. Dr. Mahoney was made acting director during this time and the deal made between the two organizations included the transfer of 100 chimps from LEMSIP to the Coulston Foundation. When Dr. Mahoney and his colleagues received instructions to arrange transport for the babies from New York to New Mexico, Dr. Mahoney called the founder and director of Wildlife Waystation in California to ask if they could take the babies- in less than a week. The plan is laid out in the book, but the summation is that (under the cover of night) two trucks would arrive at LEMSIP. Maintenance crews and technicians would work together to ensure the safety of the cages during transport and load up the 32 juveniles from the nursery to the transport trucks for their cross-country road trip. He discussed the heartache for the laboratory technicians loading up the chimps, and writes:
“For Cynthia, the heartbreak of separation would be felt most strongly for Cy, her namesake, and Terry, the philosopher of the group, both 6 1/2 years old.” (pg. 209)
After a few set backs, the convoy of juvenile chimpanzees made it safely from New York to Wildlife Waystation- all without the knowledge of the Coulston Foundation and in less than a week since they began planning the move. Terry, Cy, and the other juveniles lived at Wildlife Waystation until it closed down. Willy B, Honey B, and Mave came to us in August of 2019. Cy, Terry, Gordo, Rayne, Dora, and Lucky followed and arrived in June of 2021.
The Coulston Foundation is well known for their infamous animal welfare violations, and I could write a novel about how I feel knowing that so many chimps ended up there. In 2006, though, the Coulston Foundation went bankrupt and the chimpanzees that remained were transferred to Save the Chimps, a sanctuary in Florida, over time. The last group was transferred to sanctuary in 2011.
I find myself grateful to know this part of the lives of everyone in Cy’s group, it feels like I have learned something important about some good friends. I find myself grateful that Dr. Mahoney risked it to save the juveniles and that they are able to live the sanctuary life. I find myself angry that they were there to begin with, that they never had the opportunity to live life the way they were meant to in Africa, and enraged that so many of their family members and peers went on to Coulston- but relieved to know that some have found sanctuary at Save the Chimps. It is overwhelming.
Nine of those juveniles that rode across the United States now call CSNW home. They have indoor/outdoor access, enrichment, yummy meals, veterinary care, and so much more. We can never repay them fully, but we can try.
The 16 chimps we care for are so much more than their pasts, but we have to understand what they’ve been through to better be there for them now.
Terry, now:
Cy, now:
BONUS PHOTO: Annie and Negra, enjoying the cool and rainy morning in their Greenhouse.
This post was going to be about Rayne and Honey B and what a fantastic duo they are. When they are doing their mall walking in the morning, I can hardly tell them apart. Rayne seeks out the more aloof Honey B for interactions all the time, and has even been joining her and Willy B in the front rooms at night as they bed down.
I captured a few photos of Rayne grooming Honey B today in the sunny front rooms and then converted them to black and white.
These photos are of a touching moment between two half-sisters who were recently united at the sanctuary. When I was watching them interact and taking these photos with the thought of being able to share this moment, my heart was bursting with joy. I’m so glad Honey B has Rayne now, and I’m so glad Rayne has Honey B. It wasn’t easy to get to this moment, but this is what sanctuary is all about.
Then I looked at the photos again. I asked myself how they would be perceived by people who don’t know this touching backstory or maybe don’t know anything at all about Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. What would they see?
We all jump to opinions, myself very much included in that “we”. This tendency often serves us well because we can make incredibly quick judgements that help us avoid harm and allow us to make sense of the world. This ability to quickly assess our surroundings and form judgements, despite its advantages, may just be at the root of all of our societal problems. And there’s no clearer window into that than on social media. We can see a single image and jump to so many conclusions in an instant, even if we have practically no knowledge or real understanding of what we are looking at or what the overall context is.
This has been on my mind for a long time. I know that sanctuaries, us included, censor and filter the images and information that we share about the places where we work. For one, we don’t always trust that “the general public” will take the extra time to gain more information or to consider that they don’t know as much as they think they do about the realities of life in a sanctuary.
For the vast majority of you who are reading this, you get it more than the average person. You’re curious, and maybe you’ve been reading this blog for a bit so you have the broader context. The feelings that arise when you look at images of the chimps comes from that knowledge. But when we post something on social media, it can go out to a bunch of people that don’t have that same knowledge.
Here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, we made the decision to try not to filter too much. We show all of the spaces of the sanctuary, knowing that when we share a video of the chimps in the front rooms people will say, “that is not a sanctuary because the chimps are in cages.” It’s not the first time I’ve written about this. See here and here.
We value transparency and truth, and we try to sprinkle in the tough stuff in between all the fun and polish. But I think we still fall short. We want to make sure our “brand” is positive and uplifting and shows the stark contrast between “before” and “now.” We have learned through comments what fulfills people’s expectations about sanctuaries, what they respond positively to, and what raises concerns or confusion; this learning process inevitably influences what we share.
It worries me.
I know that other sanctuaries avoid certain subjects altogether, or never allow public photos of certain parts of their facilities. I absolutely understand this. No one wants to spend their evening, after posting a beautiful photo, answering questions that come from ignorance, like “why are you torturing that poor creature. She should be free.” No one wants the place they love and are proud of to suddenly be the target of a social media mob. There are people out there who have zero qualms about fabricating or deeply twisting things, and some of them are able to convince others of their stories.
The problem is, by not sharing more, we sanctuaries are perpetuating the ignorance and the overly idyllic view of what a sanctuary “should” be. I fear that this cycle is getting worse. I don’t know exactly what the answer is. The truth is that it can be difficult to discern a good sanctuary from a terrible facility. A good sanctuary will make occasional mistakes (it turns out sanctuaries are run by humans, and humans are fallible). Plus, standards change over time (thank goodness).
There’s a whole heck of a lot of nuance when making judgements about a sanctuary or any facility caring for others, and people these days don’t seem to be very good at nuance. We don’t want to hear about grey areas. We want to form an opinion.
If one is truly attempting to ascertain the relative “goodness” of a sanctuary, one place to start is looking for oversight. For example, we voluntarily have a USDA license and are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. This is a start, but there are always going to be issues with the standards used to evaluate facilities, the subjective judgements of the humans doing the evaluating, and the decision whether to seek accreditation or not.
I will be sharing the updated interview I did with Jen Feuerstein about the group integration process, and we get into some of the realities of the challenges of caring for chimpanzees in captivity and the incredibly difficult choices that are made in the hopes that their lives can be improved. I promise we’ll share more on other difficult subjects in the future.
In the meantime, here are some more carefully-curated photos of Rayne and Honey B today 😉
Yesterday, Kelsi wrote about all the emotions that accompany the introduction process. She talked about how proud we are of the 9 chimps that are working so hard to make their new group work and how rewarding it is to see new friendships form. It’s hard to believe that when I first started a few months ago, there was a group of 3 and a group of 6. Back then, we talked a lot about how the goal was to integrate them into one larger social group, which would provide each chimp more social partners- which is hugely important and beneficial for chimpanzees in many ways. As I went through training, I watched the caregivers work on smaller intro’s every day to provide the chimps the opportunity to build a strong foundation that they could then build off on in the months to come. Then, we watched as the final door was opened and for the first time there was a group of 9. While this is a blog continuation emphasizing how proud we are of the chimps and an acknowledgement on how hard they have worked, I want to take a moment and say how proud I am of this group of humans that I get to call coworkers. Words could never do the staff and volunteers here justice.
It has officially been over two months (!!) since that day and, although we are still a little ‘stitous, it is really exciting to watch new group dynamics form. Honey B is making friends, the guys are figuring things out, Dora is everyone’s new best friend… every day there is something exciting!
On top of all that, exciting things are happening on the other side of the chimp house too. Burrito has been healing really well since his dental procedure last week! Today he was reunited with his group of 6 ladies and I believe he is currently enjoying the beautiful day out in the greenhouse. Plus, we received a kind donation from a local chiropractor that made Jamie’s day. Check out the video to see what it could be! 🙂
Also, a BIG thanks to everyone who has donated so far to our June matching campaign from Jennifer Douglas that Kelsi mentioned in her blog post yesterday. When I started to write this post, Diana just shared that we are only a few hundred dollars away from reaching the full $50,000 match because of all of your generosity!
Burrito earlier today, before being reunited with his group:
Jamie and Burrito grooming in the Greenhouse this afternoon.
Willy B checking his teeth out in selfie mode:
Cy chillin’ in the Oakwood Greenhouse this afternoon.
