Now that the snow has melted and the sun has returned, the chimpanzees have been really enjoying being outside on Young’s Hill. This morning we witnessed an impressive burst of activity. I can imagine how good it must feel to them to be able to stretch their legs.
Cle Elum Seven
How well do you know the seven?
Today’s enrichment theme was “pre-made nests”, meaning the caregivers built nests based on the things each of the chimps typically incorporate into their nests, including the items in the nest, types of blankets, blanket placement and nest location. It was a lot of fun to set up! While the chimps love to build their own nests, it’s fun to mix things up a little bit every once in a while and do something kooky. All of the chimps went to their “correct” nest, which was very satisfying to us goofy humans! I would love to give you all the details, but we thought it might be fun to see how well YOU know the chimps instead. Can you guess who’s nest is who’s? While some are trickier to guess than others, there is a solid hint in each photo.
Food service
At CSNW, we follow the philosophy that the chimpanzees are in captivity not by choice, and we see it as our duty to let them live their lives out in the best possible way. Essentially, we see ourselves as servants. We clean their enclosures, we serve them their meals, and we play games that cater to what they like best. For instance, I heard Sarah had a box with trolls in it on her head the other day. Anything to make Foxie laugh! And last week, I heard that JB wore some cowgirl boots for Jamie.
On Monday I posted a photo of Jackie serving dinner to the chimps on our Facebook page. It made me realize that we don’t really post about their normal food service—when we post about food it is typically because of a big fun forage. Forages are more similar to how chimps would find food if they were in Africa, but we don’t do a forage for every meal mainly because we want to make sure everyone is getting enough food. Since they aren’t in the wild and aren’t able to continually forage, they depend completely on us to make sure they get their yummy fruits and veggies. Sometimes we make a prepared cooked dish, like oatmeal, rice, or pancakes. They love prepared meals but they are perfectly happy with just fresh produce which is the healthiest option anyway, so that is usually what they get.
For breakfast, we serve a fruit smoothie with ingredients that change daily but always include protein powder. We cut up a couple different fruits and also have a bowl full of nuts as an appetizer. They also get multi-vitamins, probiotics, and fiber at breakfast. Lunch is fresh veggies—usually about 3 or 4 veggies each. Dinner is either a prepared meal accompanied by a fruit and/or veggie, or more often just fresh produce. I like to do a mix of fruit and veggies at dinner, but it doesn’t really matter too much. We cut all the produce into pieces that fit nicely through the caging, and the chimps usually take the pieces to their hands or straight to their mouth. Smoothie and other drinks are served by pouring from a cup straight to their mouth. (This video shows a little bit of the breakfast routine.)
Below are some pictures of dinner tonight.
Negra getting pear to her mouth:
Annie getting pear to her hand:
Jamie getting orange to her mouth:
Missy getting onion to her hand:
Jamie getting banana to her mouth (and Missy enjoying hers in the background):
Foxie getting onion to her mouth:
A Big Day for Meg Lunnum
Today is Meg Lunnum’s birthday and her last day of work before retirement, and she has sponsored the day to celebrate. What a cause for celebration! Meg supports Negra through the Chimpanzee Pal program. We’ll make sure Negra gets lots of peanuts and lettuce (her favorites!) today in your honor, Meg.
Happy birthday and congratulations!
Take Action Tuesday: NIH comment form
Last week we sent out a newsletter regarding the good news from the NIH working group who met last Tuesday. To review some of the main points from the report, read Sarah’s blog here. They made several recommendations, but the biggest bottom line is: most of the chimpanzees currently being used in research should be retired into the Federal Sanctuary System, but a small number (they suggested around 50) should be held back in a reserve colony for possible future research.
The next step in the process is to solicit public comment regarding the recommendations, which is located here. It is quite daunting in its length and detail—but don’t let that stop you. All you need to do is fill in your name, email, and then scroll all the way to the bottom to fill in a box labeled “Overall Comments.” If you want to be more specific, leave a comment in the field for “Chimpanzee Research Colony Size and Placement: Recommendation SP2.” You can get to that field easily by selecting the “colony size and placement” option from the drop menu at the top of the page.
In your comments, encourage the NIH to accept the recommendations, but also remind them that there is no reason to have any chimpanzees in research—not even a small group of 50. You could mention that no other industrialized nation tests on chimpanzees. Chimpanzees have complex social, psychological, and physical needs that cannot be met in labs. They have been imprisoned for a crime they did not commit, and are injected with diseases or vaccines, forced to undergo surgeries, sometimes kept in solitary confinement, and regularly shot with darts to be anesthetized. Remember to remain polite and be succinct. If you want to share what you submit in the comments section here for others to see, feel free! We’ll share a copy of what we submit soon too.
If you haven’t seen it already, check out this site called “The Last 1000” that is a countdown to the end of chimpanzees in biomedical laboratories. You’ll notice that Negra’s daughter Heidi is on the list along with Jody’s children Levi and April, and Foxie’s son David. These remaining research chimpanzees deserve the kind of life that the Cle Elum Seven have—one with friends, laughter, sunshine, good food, giant nests, fun enrichment, and perhaps most importantly—choices.
Missy before and after
I sometimes think it is really interesting to look back at the photos of the chimps’ first few days in sanctuary. It’s shocking how much they have changed. Here is a picture of Missy in June 2008:
And here is one from earlier this month:
Chimps and snow and decisions
Even though the chimps have had access to it, it’s been too cold and windy to spend much time out on Young’s Hill lately. But they definitely love having the option! I love that even though we put snow in the playroom and greenhouse almost daily, the chimps sometimes see it as worth it to brave the cold to enjoy a snack on the hill. The other day, the large tub in the greenhouse was filled with snow so that the chimps didn’t have to go out to get it if they didn’t want to, but that didn’t keep everyone inside!
Annie on the hill:
Missy:
But I guess Foxie and Jamie saw it as more appealing to keep their feet dry and enjoy their snack in the greenhouse.
Foxie in the greenhouse:
Jamie:
