Negra plays slower and less frequent than the other chimps. Missy and Foxie are very playful and active, but they slow down to Negra’s speed when she decides to engage in play with them.
Cle Elum 7
Foxie making a nest
During cleaning this morning, Jackie and I spotted Foxie starting to nest with some blankets, so we grabbed the camera and quickly got a few paparazzi style shots.
Happy Birthday to Annie from Marcia Douthwaite!
Marcia has sponsored today in celebration of Annie’s 37th birthday (we’re gearing up for the party right now!). Marcia is a regular blog reader, and a sweet and devoted supporter of the Cle Elum Seven. She even sponsors Annie and her best friend Missy through our Chimpanzee Pal program. Thanks, Marcia, for helping us give Annie and her friends the celebration they deserve!
Here’s the gorgeous birthday girl:
A birthday card for Annie
Annie’s birthday is tomorrow! We received this lovely birthday card in her honor from Paige Sobran:
It reads: May you be surrounded by friends, love and joy on your birthday… and green onions, trolls, blankets. From someone who checks for blog updates every day before I check my email.
Thanks, Paige! We’ll be celebrating Annie’s birthday in full force tomorrow—Diana and I have already laid out plans for a birthday “cake” (made from fruits and veggies) with all of Annie’s favorites!
Private eyes are watching you
Speaking of brown eyed girls:
Brown-eyed girl
Annie’s cousin?
Annie’s birthday is Saturday, so I thought I’d share a picture taken from when the raceway to Young’s Hill was built:
When I first met the Cle Elum Seven in 2008, I was working at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) in Ellensburg, just 20 miles away from CSNW. I was going to grad school studying the chimps’ use of sign language (which coincidentally, all of the CSNW staff members did before me as well).
I remember when I first saw Annie, I immediately thought she looked like Washoe.
Washoe and Annie were both captured from Africa. Washoe originally was captured for NASA to be a space chimp, but she was too big and so she ended up in Reno, NV where she learned sign language. Washoe lived in a couple different places across two decades before she was given sanctuary at CHCI, but thankfully she was never used in invasive biomedical research. She was much luckier than Annie, who was taken from Africa and put straight into invasive research.
Regardless of their backgrounds, captivity is never ideal for a chimpanzee. We can’t ever make up for the amount of space they would normally have in the wild, but with the opening of Young’s Hill, Annie will have more space to roam than ever before since leaving Africa.
