Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimps

Burrito in a Tub

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The other day I was questioning J.B. as to whether he thought we deserved to have playful Burrito in our lives, and his reply was, “I don’t even think the world deserves Burrito.”

Deserving or not, here he is to spread joy to all of us, doing whatever it is he was doing or trying to do with an empty tub and a big tub full of water.

Speaking of spreading joy, have you registered for The Queen’s Brunch yet?

The virtual event is on June 13th, just eight days away!

I was going to share that there were some Burrito pillow cases available to buy now that had been carefully stashed away from past events, but the two we had were snatched up already!

There are, however, still a few pillow cases featuring Negra, Foxie, and Willy B on the online auction site. You might need to act fast to get one!

 

The Challenging Ones

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There’s something I deeply respect about non-humans who are reserved. The ones who would never just give away their affection to whoever passes by.

Don’t get me wrong, I love pups I’ve never met who run up to me like I’m a long-lost friend or chimpanzees who immediately want to play with strangers.

But for animals I expect to have a long-term relationship, I’m drawn to the aloof. The stand-offish. Even the disgruntled. Those who demand you earn their affection, because they deserve no less.

This is what first won me over with Negra.

She is not happy-go-lucky. She’s not one to seek out the attention of caregivers for a game or just to hang out. She’s the Queen, after all.

I’ve started to go through videos of Negra taken over the last 13 years to put together a video compilation for the Queen’s Brunch next month. It’s really great to revisit and be able to relive those moments with Negra where she allowed me or another caregiver to be a friend. It’s going to be difficult to whittle down the clips, but I hope you appreciate the video when we show it on June 13th.

JB grooms Negra's belly
Negra presenting her belly for J.B.

Jamie, unlike Negra, constantly seeks out the humans, but interactions are almost always 100% on her terms. She knows what she wants from us (usually some variation of walking around Young’s Hill), and she expects us to comply.

Today, she indicated that she wanted me to walk around the hill shortly after we had put out a lunch forage. I dutifully started the routine on the human-side of the fence. Instead of continuing the walk, however, Jamie planted herself in a fire hose hammock partway up the hill. I know from previous experience that she expected me to wait for her. Or maybe today she just wanted to be the subject of a photo shoot.

Missy, as we’ve said many times on the blog before, is a “chimps’ chimp”. She seems to view the humans as peripheral to her social circle. We serve a purpose in bringing her tomatoes, but most of the time she’s not looking for anything more than that from us. This is why it is always special when she spots a caregiver from a distance, gives a look, and takes off for a game of chase. Or when she comes up to the caging where a caregiver is sitting, turns around, and presses her back up, allowing, for a short while, the caregiver to groom her.

I don’t have photos of that from today, but I do have these photos of Missy gathering the bulk of the lilacs that Anna carefully placed in the treat rock.

Our dog Honey B was very much aloof. If you know dog breeds and I say she was a Chow Chow, you likely have some idea of her personality. If you are suddenly confused why we had a dog named Honey B before there was a chimpanzee at the sanctuary named Honey B, I direct you to this blog post that tells the unlikely story of the direct connection of these two.

Honey B the dog in 2011 standing near what became Young’s Hill, the outdoor habitat for the chimpanzees.

Honey B the dog had no time for anyone’s nonsense, so the fact that she chose to bestow her attention on me was a huge gift. Still, I had to work for her affection and respect her boundaries every step of the way.

There’s another nonhuman at the sanctuary right now who has similar qualities: Honey Cow.

Little by little, she is warming up to her caregivers. Yesterday, she was lying down in the sun, and I sat in front of her. I was sure she was going to get up when I reached out and touched her head. She half-heartedly swung away, but she stayed. One of these days, maybe one of us will completely win her over. On her terms.

Another Mother’s Day for Jody

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It’s Mother’s Day.

At the sanctuary, our celebration of this special day always includes a birthday party for Jody. Her actual date of birth is missing from her original records, but the date aligns with both Jody’s history as a biological mother and her honorary status as the group’s “den mother.”

Like Jody, Annie, Foxie, Missy and Negra (four of the sanctuary’s eight female chimps) also had offspring during their tenure as “breeders” in the laboratory. Altogether, we believe they gave birth to at least twenty-five infants. The newborns were each taken from them shortly after birth by the company that owned the chimps, and the separated infants were destined to be raised by humans in nurseries and sold as biomedical research subjects. At the time, this was a life sentence for chimps.

As advocates began to successfully pressure the laboratories to retire their captive chimpanzees from research, some of the aforementioned offspring were lucky enough to find sanctuary homes. In fact, Missy’s daughter Honey B found her way to CSNW thirteen years after her mother- almost three decades after they were pulled apart at birth. The two don’t seem to recognize each other or have any special bond, which is unsurprising given that chimpanzee social bonds are maintained through lifelong interaction and communication, not mere genetic relatedness or physical likeness. Still, they sometimes behave in ways that reveal some similarities that may be more than just coincidence, giving a bit of magic to their familial relationship.

I won’t add much more since we have written about this topic in the past and I feel like other staff could offer more heartfelt and insightful perspectives than mine. All I have to say is that, as someone who watches Jody interact with her companions and surroundings on a daily basis, she is a natural protector and shepherd to all around her.

Jody would have been an excellent mother to those nine children. She got robbed of that experience, and so did they.

The gravity of that injustice cannot be expressed through any words that I know.

The best that we can do now is provide Jody and her friends with a safe and comfortable sanctuary home, with opportunities to live a fulfilling life, and tirelessly advocate for non-humans who are still being exploited elsewhere.

So, on this well-deserved Mother’s Day, we celebrated not just Jody but all the mothers in our lives who have helped us to grow, learn, and live meaningful lives. We’re thankful that you exist and we love you all.

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Finally, since I was unable to take many photos while filming the embedded video, Chad was willing to share some images he captured of the big event!

Annie:

Jody:

Missy:

Burrito:

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P.S. Just in case you missed the usual title pun, I almost named this post “JO Mother, Where Art Thou?” but decided to keep it a bit more serious this week. I’ll think of something really corny for the next post. I promise.

Coach Honey B

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There is no one in the world like Honey B. She has so many different layers to her personality. She certainly has her mother’s charm and athletic ability. Missy loves making her caregivers run around the whole sanctuary while she only has to move a few steps. Missy as we all know is lightning fast. These traits may be genetically ingrained into Honey B. Honey B is FAST and on top of being quick, she has a thing for making her caregivers run around the entire building. Her preference is that we run inside, outside, up, down, back, forth, and through a construction site! If Honey B was a trainer she would be tough, but you would see results. Between Honey B’s workout routine and Burrito’s hill sprints you can see why we caregivers are out of breath and exhausted by the end of the day!

An Honest April Fool’s Day

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It was so, so hard to retrain myself today. After all, it’s the first day of the fourth month of this year, making it → A P R I L  F O O L ‘ S  D A Y ←, the best day of the year for light-hearted shenanigans.

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to come up with feasible pranks around here. We can’t play dramatic jokes on the chimps because so much of their daily routine is done just the way they like it and mixing things up can cause a lot of confusion. We also take safety very seriously, so surprising each other with unexpected circumstances can be risky, too. On top of all that, we’re just too darn busy to go around the sanctuary playing practical jokes on each other and cleaning up the resulting messes.

That leaves one plausible alternative: trying to fool all of you.

I considered writing a fake blog post that would be somewhat absurd but almost believable. The champions of this art form are the writers at The Onion who have made satirical hoaxes into their own brand of journalism. They miss their target occasionally, but most of their stuff is on point. The Onion has been in the game for a long time, giving their staff time to cover all sorts of topics, from politics to science. If you want to read some of their animal-themed articles, I recommend:

“Jane Goodall Announces She’s All About Lizards Now”

“Scientists Successfully Teach Gorilla It Will Die Someday”

“Zookeepers Confirm Pandas Not Mating Because They’re Scared of Messing Up Friendship”

Over the past couple of days, I mulled over some Onion-esque headlines that I could share today in an attempt to prank our blog followers. The actual, verified news in 2021 has been weird enough, giving me some inspiration. For example, I could have posted that:

  • We traded the cattle for a herd of goats because… you know.. goats.
  • J.B. made Burrito’s “Hey Girl” portrait into an NFT and sold it for $18.1 million
  • Missy and Annie are leaving the sanctuary to go on that cross-country road trip they’ve always talked about
  • Honey B is dropping her first studio album, titled Soap Bucket, under the pseudonym “Money B”
  • The crew divided Young’s Hill into ten smaller enclosures so the chimps can follow social distancing guidelines

The worst idea of them all was one so diabolical that I almost feel guilty for even thinking it up. I genuinely considered telling you all that today’s blog post would be the final one… EVER.

It was nearly perfect, as far as pranks go. Crucially, it’s actually quite believable. Apart from routine caregiving, the expansion has been the main priority for us lately. This growth necessitates fundraising for the new greenhouses, coordinating with contractors, painting and furnishing the new playrooms, and getting the records in order for the six chimpanzees we hope to welcome this summer. We are truly looking for ways to streamline our day-to-day operations to compensate for all the new tasks we’ve added to our schedules, and there’s now a precedent for spending less time on the blog. (In case you missed it, we recently had to post abbreviated blog entries for a few weeks while we participated in virtual training sessions.) My plan was to drop this sad news on all of you and then correct it before we resumed blogging tomorrow. Gotcha!

After discussing my idea with Diana and J.B., I was convinced that this joke could easily go too far. So many people use our social media as their primary window into the lives of the chimpanzees and cattle, whom they love from afar. Despite the tempting lure of April Fool’s glory, I just couldn’t break any of your hearts like that.

In light of all this, you’ll be surprised to know that the rest of this blog post is completely serious. There isn’t a single joke in here. Nothin’ but facts. Unaltered truth, fact-checked by yours truly. Exceptionally honest, through and through.

Besides April Fool’s Day, today was noteworthy for one main reason.

The contractors have finished their work in the new playrooms and these spaces are almost ready for chimps. There are now functioning hydraulic doors from the existing enclosures into each playroom. Notably, the crew had to modify some of the caging in the Mezzanine, resulting in a new “cubby”. Honey B, Mave and Willy B have been taking turns using the odd little space as breakfast nook and nesting cave, among other things. Poor Willy initially seemed nervous to touch the floor in this tiny little space, despite the fact that it’s the same material as the floors in his other indoor enclosures. He brought a plastic stool to sit on instead, limiting himself to a couple feet of head-room.

With the welding complete and doors working, J.B. was able to touch up the paint and Chad has begun hanging firehose “vines” for the chimps to climb on. Mave and Honey B supervised from the downstairs window and the new cubby, respectively. We plan to clean the new playrooms this weekend and then give some of the chimps access to them very, very soon. Stay tuned for updates!

Here are some additional photos of the new playrooms (including one of the vista from the upstairs windows).

Meanwhile, the contractors will begin securing the steel caging to the outdoor greenhouses. It may be difficult to visualize these new areas just yet, but you can trust us when we say that they’re going to be amazing multi-use habitats for Honey B, Mave and Willy B and six new chimpanzees. We already have a foundation and frame in place for these structures, so we’re confident that these spacious greenhouse enclosures will be ready before the summer!

P.S. I’m offering special internet bonus points to anyone who can find the marmot hidden somewhere in this post.

Morning Adventures and Afternoon Naps

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The staff will continue our positive reinforcement training this afternoon. But before we dive into our training, here are some photos of some chimpanzee adventures and naps.

Jody eating her breakfast clementine orange while looking out onto Young’s Hill.
Jody, Foxie (above) and Missy (below) take in this morning’s scenery from a platform after going out onto Young’s Hill.
Burrito later soon joined Foxie on the platform after Jody and Missy left.
Annie took some time for herself high above the bamboo on Young’s Hill. She later joined Missy and Jamie on a patrol around the parameter.
Foxie embraces one of her new Strawberry Shortcake dolls on the top platform in the Greenhouse.
Jamie embracing a cowboy boot while snoozing off. You may wonder why she doesn’t elect to lay down while taking her afternoon slumber. She is the boss you know and has to be ready to go at the drop of a hat. This photo was from yesterday, but Jamie is currently in this same position and I couldn’t get a better photo from today.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite piece of art! The three designs with the most votes will win the People’s Choice awards! So be sure to vote before March 14th!

Doll Wars: The Chimpire Strikes Back!

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A long time ago in a sanctuary far away…

The story begins with the great hero: Fox Hillwalker.

As a fearless defender of the Sanctuary Republic, Fox had learned the ways of the Enrichment Force, mastering this ancient art in order to maintain good chimpanzee welfare across the galaxy. Her weapon of choice was the Doll Saber, an elegant instrument of comfort and cheer that could be tossed, carried, and even used to scout distant worlds inhabited by strange creatures. Across the stars, Fox and her Doll Sabers were known for their extraordinary enrichment potential.

“I am no monkey!”

All was in balance until, one day, the ferocious leader Darth Jamie secured an especially powerful Doll Saber for herself.

Darth Jamie had already bent the peoples of the known universe to her will, offering them order and security in exchange for their obedience. (Those who did not submit met a messy and smelly fate.) By wielding the other side of the Enrichment Force, she trained an army of loyal boot-wearing caregivers to patrol the furthest reaches of the galaxy at her side, thus creating the First Galactic Chimpire.

“I find your lack of cool footwear… disturbing.”

Fox knew that the Doll Saber could not remain in the hands of such a powerful leader, but Darth Jamie was too powerful to take on alone, and her Chimperial associates would not turn on her lightly. Knowing that she would need friends if she hoped to win a rebellion, Fox ventured out in search of allies…

“I’m one with the Enrichment Force. The Enrichment Force is with me.”

First, she visited the palace of Negra the Hutt, a respected local warlord. Because she preferred dimly-lit comfort, Negra’s Palace was located near the galaxy’s heated core. When the bright sun rose above her planet that day, Negra grumbled something in her native tongue and closed the blanket shields, indicating that she wanted no part in the drama unfolding elsewhere. Fox knew she would have no success persuading Negra to leave her stronghold, and left alone.

“Ko rahto kama wahl bak? Bring me peanuts or leave my Playroom now!”

Further out in the galaxy, Fox encountered the charming renegade smuggler Han JoJo, but the latter had better things to do than get involved in politics. JoJo was more interested in pulling off unlikely stunts to acquire more vegetables. This was another dead end for Fox.

“Never tell me the odds.”

In the Greenhouse System, Fox ran into Annie-Wan Kenobi, a wise old master of the Enrichment Force. Annie-Wan advised Fox that Darth Jamie had become too powerful, and counseled that she let the Doll Saber go. She would not join Fox Hillwalker’s rebellion.

“Oh, I’m not brave enough for politics…”

Fox then reached out to an old friend, the bounty hunter Bubba Fett, who was cruising the Greenhouse System in his new spaceship. Despite biting off the tip of Fox’s ear long ago, the two were still friends. However, Fox was dismayed to find out that Bubba had recently aligned himself with Darth Jamie and was reluctant to join the rebellion. He briefly considered his friend’s intriguing proposal, but was quickly distracted by a passing caregiver and decided to play tickle instead. This is the way.

“I’m just a simple chimp trying to make my way in the universe.”

Fox’s last hope was Lando CalMissyan, a Chimperial magistrate who she hoped to turn against Darth Jamie. CalMissyan had grown rich in tomatoes by willfully submitting to Darth Jamie and enforcing her rule.

“Yeah, I’m middle-ranking these days. It’s the price you pay for being successful.”

When Fox went to CalMissyan begging for aid, the latter immediately went to the newly-crowned Chimperor and told her everything, reaffirming her boss’s trust. Darth Jamie was pleased.

“I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.”

The tables were turned. Fox now knew that she would have to face Darth Jamie alone if she wanted to wrest the Doll Saber from her grasp.

“I am a chimpanzee, like my ancestors before me!”

The two met in the Playroom Temple, a sacred place in which the Enrichment Force flows strongly, and began “aggressive negotiations.” Fox seized control of the Doll Saber, forcing Darth Jamie’s hand. There, they dueled for control of the sanctuary galaxy.

“Let her go, Fox!
“Let… her… go!”
“You turned her against me!”
“You have done that yourself!”
“You will not take her from me!”
” Your anger and your lust for power have already done that… now, you have become the very thing you swore to destroy.”
“I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Chimpire!”
“Your new Chimpire?”
“Don’t make me tickle you!”
“…my allegiance is to the chimpanzees, to sanctuary!”
“If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy!”

The duel seemed like it would never end, until Darth Jamie took the high ground.

“I will do what I must!”
“You will try!”
“It’s over Fox, I have the high ground!”
“You underestimate my power!”
“Don’t try it!”

Suddenly, as the two were embroiled in the throes of combat, their combined power separated the head of the Doll Saber from its body. Just like that, the weapon no longer had any connection to the Enrichment Force, and both Fox Hillwalker and Darth Jamie lost the will to possess it as their own.

Soon after, the Sanctuary Republic and Galactic Chimpire began an era of peace and restoration. Former rivals met in the Greenhouse System to forgive each other and engage in affiliative rituals to rebuild their friendships. Once again, the chimps had brought balance to the Enrichment Force.

Little did Darth Jamie know, Fox Hillwalker was recruiting an army of Doll Clones to join her cause and overthrow the Chimpire!

The saga continues…

[Also, if you still haven’t figured it out, this post is a Star Wars parody, then I apologize. It’s mostly fiction. The chimps weren’t really fighting over dolls (or waging war on a galactic scale, for that matter), but Jamie and Foxie really did have an epic wrestling session this morning that resulted in a Strawberry Shortcake doll being decapitated! That’s actually pretty normal around here.]