Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

coulston foundation

Negra’s story

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Today is the fifth anniversary of Negra and the Cle Elum Seven’s new lives in sanctuary. It’s amazing what sunshine and good food and comfort can do for these inspiring and resilient chimps. Today is the day to Give Five for our Queen on her birthday! Stay tuned for a video that we will be posting in just a little bit in celebration of five years of sanctuary.

Negra’s History:

Negra was captured from the wild, presumably in 1973, however she could be even older. Buckshire leased her to White Sands Research Center in March 1982 where she got the tattoo “#CA0041.”

WSRC started breeding Negra with Mack right away in April 1982, just one month after her arrival. Mack was a popular breeder – he was also paired at WSRC with Annie, Foxie, Jody, and is Burrito’s father. Tarzan, Rufus, and Spock are just a few other male breeder names we see in many of the chimps’ records. In between transfers to breeding pairs the females were sometimes housed alone, and sometimes with another female. At different points Annie was with Foxie and with Jody, Foxie was with Jody, Jody was with Negra, and Negra was with Karen, who was Burrito’s mother. The cross-over that we read about in these records is interesting, but also very sad. It only emphasizes how much these chimpanzees were used over and over to create more generations of lab chimps.

On November 29, 1983, technicians discovered Negra was pregnant. She gave birth to Heidi in January 1984.

1/8/84 – Delivered healthy female infant #91 Heidi. Removed & taken to nursery.

Heidi was taken immediately away, but Negra was able to stay with Angel (see below) for five whole days.

9/4/85 – Healthy infant born this date.

9/9/85 – Healthy infant removed and taken to nursery – female #126 Angel.

In early 1986 the scribbled notes indicate the lab techs believed Negra has some kind of infectious disease due to loose stool and negative parasite tests, and she was moved to isolation on March 31, 1986.

3/31/86 – Dr. ordered animal removed from main colony and placed in isolation for further testing.

The lab technicians took blood from Negra regularly, knocking her down each time. They took liver biopsies, which meant surgery. They tested her for hepatitis C on June 2, 1987, and for some reason the results did not return until over six months later on January 12, 1988. The entry for that date concluded that there was no evidence for the suspicion that Negra had hepatitis C. Negra had been housed in isolation for over a year and a half due to incorrect blood work. At this point, they transferred her back to the main chimp colony.

1/14/88 – Transferred from Quarantine to Bldg. 300 (Main colony) this date. 

1/14/88 – Enter cage #28 by herself. Home again.

Negra was transferred away from quarantine but was put back into the cage she had been in during that year and half, by herself. At this point it was considered her home to be alone in cage #28. Being alone didn’t last long, though. The next week, she was thrown back into breeding pairs.

10/17/89 – Infant born approximately 10:00am, taken from mother and removed to nursery. Infant boy. #205 Noah.

Even after living in isolation, undergoing tests, and having babies taken from her, WSRC still took more from her. In early January 1992, they used her in a study that involved injecting a serum near her lymph nodes in her left leg. By March they had done this five times, and prepped Negra for surgery to remove the nodes. As if that weren’t enough, just a couple months later, Negra was transferred again to another breeding pair. She did not have any more babies however, and left WSRC/Coulston with Annie, Foxie, and Jody to return to Buckshire on August 12, 1996.

Before coming to Cle Elum, Keith, J.B., Diana, and Sarah all met the chimps while they were still at Buckshire. Read this post to see what Diana said about Negra back then.

Negra, arriving at CSNW exactly five years ago today:

web Negra transfer cage 100_0162

web day 2 negra with blanket FR 4 Picture 106

Jamie and Negra at the barn doors:

web negra jamie groom barn doors early

Cage #28 is no longer Negra’s home. Now her home is Young’s Hill, where she’s really finding her place under the sun. It has taken her a little while to be fully comfortable on the hill, but this summer, she’s exploring and spending more and more time outside. Some days she’s hard to find! Seeing Negra, the honorary Queen of CSNW, able to relax and enjoy her home fills everyone around her with joy. She is the epitome of CSNW’s philosophy: Hope. Love. Home… Sanctuary.

web Negra nest under blanket catwalk PR orange IMG_9098

web Negra stand shade green grass bamboo look at camera YH (ek) IMG_9120

web Negra look down driveway sit on YH IMG_3167

web Negra blanket lay on top climbing structure GH watch chimps on YH IMG_7081

web Negra green grass in mouth Young's Hill YH IMG_7978

Negra getting some reassurance from Jamie:

web Negra seeking reassurance from Jamie approach 4 in series YH IMG_9410

 

Jody’s story

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We are continuing with our chimpanzee profiles leading up to Give Five Day and the five-year anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to sanctuary on June 13th. Today we feature Jody.

Jody has a unique personality. She’s very serious and independent, but also caring and kind, and will happily greet her caregivers every morning. She has beautiful, soulful eyes (something J.B. noticed when they first met at Buckshire). She loves to lounge around in the afternoon in the warm greenhouse, and builds the most fantastic nests. Seeing Jody nest is really fascinating. She is very diligent in the process—she seems to take it pretty seriously and sometimes she will have very elaborate nests. Lately, she’s been interested in nesting with the bamboo we planted in the greenhouse.

Jody was a little timid to go out on Young’s Hill at first, but after some encouragement she became fearless and will spend a long time out there—sometimes she is hiding behind structures and we have trouble finding her!

She is also very helpful. She will sometimes pull blankets out of doors when we ask nicely so that we can close them, and she will also “round up” stragglers at meal times, to get them to come out to the greenhouse for breakfast.

We celebrate Jody’s birthday on Mother’s Day, in honor of the 9 infants she had but was never able to properly care for as their mother. Jody’s records say that she was born in 1975, possibly from the wild, and that she may have spent a few years in a circus. Buckshire purchased Jody, and then in 1981 she was shipped to White Sands to be used in hepatitis research and for breeding. On her tenth day, she had her first knock-down. If her birth year is correct, she was six years old. She was given a new tattoo – “WSRC #37.”

Over the next year and a half, Jody was regularly transferred between cages. Sometimes she was with another female, sometimes by herself, but usually she was with a male for breeding purposes—Max, Mack, John, Magoo, and others all in an attempt to create the next generation of lab chimpanzees.

In January 1983, Jody gave birth for the first time. She was eight years old. The technician’s notes read:

1/4/83 – 4cc Ketaset IM. Delivered infant baby male – taken away to nursery… Baby – Male WSRC #66 OPY – appears healthy.

Jody never got to nurse Opy, or hold him, or carry him on her back, or teach him about the world. She was immediately knocked down with ketamine (a.k.a. Ketaset) and her baby was stolen. The “IM” in these notes stands for “intramuscular” meaning she—like all the other mothers—was being stabbed with syringes or shot with darts.

Six weeks after delivering and losing her first baby, Jody was put into a cage with a male named Rufus for breeding, and the cycle continued. She would go on to have eight other babies—Levi, April, Cliff, Clay, Adam, Andrea, Bart, and Taylor—as well as two miscarriages in just ten years.

11/23/83 – 4cc Ketaset IM. Delivered healthy infant male #88… removed and taken to nursery (Levi).

6/20/84 – Found approx. 2-month old fetus + placenta in cage this a.m.

4/26/85 – Delivered healthy looking baby at 10:30pm… 3cc Ketaset IM. Not taking care of baby. Infant removed to nursery (#119 April). Animal does not appear to be feeling well. Did not eat any fruit this date.

3/15/86 – Delivered healthy infant early a.m. this date. 3 1/2 cc Ketaset IM. Mother was leaving infant on the floor – infant removed + taken to nursery. Appears to be a healthy animal #142 Cliff, male.

5/20/87 – Delivered healthy male infant between 11:30 and 12:00 pm… 5cc Ketaset IM. Infant male #162 Clay removed and taken to nursery, Mother leaving infant unattended.

4/26/88 – PATHOLOGIST’S NOTE: Bloody mass found in cage – test indicates spontaneous abortion due to acute, hemorrhagic placentitis

1/4/89 – Arrived for night checks at 10:15pm… found infant alive in cage no more than one hour old – mother not taking good care of infant. 4 1/2 cc Ketaset IM. Removed infant male #0187 – appeared healthy.

9/30/90 – Delivered healthy infant female approx. 4 to 6 a.m. this date. Mother not taking good care of infant- leaving infant on floor unattended. 4 1/2 cc Vetalar IM, infant removed to nursery (#215 Andrea).

1/14/92 – Delivered healthy male at approx. 2:50pm this date. Mother not taking good care of baby. Leaving baby on floor unattended. 4.5 cc Vetalar IM Infant removed at 4:05pm, taken to nursery. Drew milk out for baby. (#226 Bart).

2/19/93 – Delivered infant early a.m. this date. 0515 hrs found infant on cage floor. Infant very cold. Removed infant immediately to nursery, mother not caring for infant. Infant male #236 Taylor.

Jody had the potential to be a great mother, but after being stolen from her own mother and forced to live in a lab, where baby after baby were taken from her, she was not attending to her infants the way she would have in a more natural environment. It really isn’t at all surprising that Jody wouldn’t create a bond with her infants when she had never had one with her own mother. She deserved to be raised with her mother and to learn what it is like to be loved unconditionally, and she deserved the chance to show her own children the same love.

Jody, upon arrival at CSNW:

web Jody transfer cage 100_0155

web jody stand in nest blanket FR 4 day 3 Picture 067

web jody look out window 3rd day Picture 054

web jody early FR4 100_0345

We sadly can’t make everything right again, and we can’t undo what’s been done. But what we can do is honor Jody and make every day more interesting and more exciting than the last. Now she can build elaborate nests with blankets and paper and bamboo shoots if that’s what she prefers, she can play wrestle with chimpanzee friends and groom in the comfort of a safe home, and she can explore her expansive open-air enclosure and feel the sun over her—something she likely hasn’t felt since she herself was a baby in the forests of Africa.

Jody after five years in sanctuary:

web Jody droopy lip grass yh IMG_8648

web Jody profile YH IMG_2467

web Jody best new blankets nest playroom IMG_2376

web Jody lie in blanket nest birthday party mother's day greenhouse GH IMG_1965 resized for Jody Pals

For five years Jody has been in sanctuary, free from all the horrors of the lab. Give Five in Jody’s honor today.

Foxie’s story

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Foxie might be the silliest being I’ve ever met. She truly can brighten anyone’s day with her bouncy head nods and loud laughter—even Jamie—the most serious being I’ve ever met, is entranced with her charm and playfulness. Foxie steals peoples’ hearts with her love of trolls and Dora dolls, especially when she rubs their belly on her own. She’s sweet, kind, and truly resilient. Read what Diana said about Foxie when they first met at Buckshire.

Foxie was born on August 8, 1976 at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in Texas (which became Texas Biomedical Research Institute and still houses chimpanzees for research). Buckshire purchased Foxie in 1983 and then leased her to Michale E. Keeling Center, another biomedical lab also in Texas. She was there for two years before being shipped back to Buckshire in October 1985. We don’t have any records of her early years, just that she was used in hepatitis A vaccine trials. In November 1985, she was shipped down south again to White Sands Research Center in New Mexico. Foxie was known as “#CA0130” at Buckshire and WSRC. At SFBR her tattoo was “#4-051.”

In two years, Foxie moved from one lab to another, back to Buckshire, and then to yet another lab. At WSRC she was used as a breeder. On December 21, 1987, she gave birth to Angie (who now, thankfully, lives at Save the Chimps in Florida) who was taken from her right away. Foxie also gave birth to Kelsey in 1989 and a set of twins, David and Steve. All were taken away from her within days of their births. She left Coulston on August 13, 1996 and remained at Buckshire for the next 12 years.

Foxie is known at CSNW for her love of troll dolls (and also Dora the Explorer dolls). Though it can seem endearing how she loves and hugs her dolls, it’s also a sad reminder that Foxie was never able to keep a baby of her own. She would get knocked down, and wake up with her babies stolen from her. After being traumatized in the lab, Foxie not surprisingly has likely suffered some psychological distress. She doesn’t really nest with blankets like the other chimpanzees do, and she doesn’t care about a lot of other enrichment unless they are her dolls that she adores.

Foxie is extremely forgiving. For all that humans have done to her—shipped her around, injected her with vaccine tests, and stolen her babies—she’s surprisingly very energetic and interactive with the humans. She can make anyone smile with her playful spins and pirouettes. She probably would have made an excellent mother if she’d been given the chance, but at least in sanctuary she is able to take her dolls with her outside, forage for fruit which she loves, and do somersaults and acrobatics that she never had the space to do in the labs she was caged in.

web foxie look out window early FR 4 100_0324

When Foxie first came to CSNW she was curious about the outdoors, which she’d never really experienced before.

web foxie look out barn doors curious early Picture 031

Now, Foxie confidently takes her precious dolls with her on adventures around Young’s Hill.

web Foxie walk put dora on back fruit in mouth forage YH (ek) IMG_9106

web Foxie walk YH troll in mouth dora on back IMG_7656

Give Five today to keep Foxie’s belly full of delicious fruit smoothies! (her favorite).

Burrito’s story

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Burrito is super goofy. He is often sweet and playful with caregivers – he likes to play chase and tug-of-war (though he does also have other sides to his personality). Seeing him play with his friend Foxie is one of the greatest sites to behold. He’s even goofy when he’s found a toy he decides to play with on his own.

Before the chimpanzees came to the sanctuary, Keith, J.B., Sarah, and Diana all met them while they were still in the basement at Buckshire. Read Diana’s first impressions of Burrito from January, 2008.

It’s easy to forget about Burrito’s past when he’s being happy and goofy, and we hope that he doesn’t think about it much either.

Burrito was born at White Sands Research Center on January 6, 1983. His father Mack was the father to many chimpanzees born within the laboratory.  At birth, Burrito was immediately taken from his mother, Karen, and placed in the “nursery” at White Sands. He was named “WSRC #67 – Raj” and was used in hepatitis B vaccine safety trials beginning in December 1984, when he not even two years old.

Burrito never had a chance to truly be a chimpanzee before coming to the sanctuary.

On August 1, 1986 Raj was shipped to the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania. He lived as a “house chimp” until February 1987 when his named was changed to Burrito, and he was then leased to an “animal act” with Jungle Larry until February 1988. Then he returned to Buckshire.

We don’t have any records for Burrito beyond that point, so it’s possible that he stayed at Buckshire for the next 20 years. Burrito’s early days were absolutely deprived of the nurturing care and attention chimpanzees need from their mothers to learn the skills to make it in the world. It’s not surprising at all that Burrito never really learned how to be a chimpanzee. At CSNW, the first time he swung across the posts in the outdoor area was so moving. Burrito can now, finally, be a chimpanzee. Watch this video of Burrito brachiating.

Burrito, just a few days after arriving at CSNW:

web burrito eat celery FR caging early Picture 009

Burrito and Jody in June 2008:

web burrito with mirror jody in back FR 4

Burrito has not always displayed the greatest confidence, especially with new things, but with every day that goes by, Burrito confidence grows and his bravery increases. After all Burrito has gone through, our hearts fill with so much pride when we see him displaying his “chimpanzee-ness” like he should have always been free to do.

Burrito on Young’s Hill:

web Burrito walk face camera Young's Hill YH IMG_6664

Burrito with Jody, nearly five years in sanctuary:

web cropped cabin burrito jody

Celebrate Burrito’s five years in sanctuary: Give Five today!

Annie’s story

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Leading up to the five year anniversary next week, we wanted to share the stories of each chimpanzee before they came to CSNW. Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra all were housed in a windowless basement at the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania before they were rescued in June 2008. Buckshire leased their chimps primarily to two laboratories: White Sands Research Center (which later became the infamous Coulston Foundation) in New Mexico, and the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (otherwise known as LEMSIP) in New York.

Through their decades in research, the chimpanzees were routinely anesthetized, or “knocked down,” for physical exams and to be injected with vaccines or provide blood samples for research. After giving birth to infants, they were anesthetized and their babies were removed from them and taken to a nursery where they would become the next generation of research chimpanzees.

Today, the chimpanzees no longer have to live in fear of being injected with vaccines or undergo invasive exams, they no longer have to sleep in 5 x 5 x 7 foot cages with slatted bars for a floor, and they no longer have to be alone. Now they have the feeling of sun on their backs when on Young’s Hill, they have the choice of what to play with or who to interact with, they get really healthy and delicious fresh fruit and veggies, and they can relax. CSNW has given them what they deserve, a peaceful and comfortable retirement.

Today, we’ll share Annie’s story:

We don’t know a lot about Annie’s infancy. She was reportedly captured from the wild to be used in research and it’s estimated that she was born in 1974. Buckshire purchase Annie from a private breeder and leased her out to White Sands Research Center where she was used in hepatitis vaccine research and also used as a breeder. Records indicate that she arrived at White Sands in late 1981. Ten days after her arrival to White Sands, she was knocked down to have her blood drawn and get a new tattoo—“WSRC #33.” A couple months later she was transferred to her first breeding cage.

Annie would have been a youngster, a merely seven years old when she was forced to breed. She was transferred back and forth for nearly two years and bred with at least seven different males—David, Max, Panchito, Rufus, Mack, Chuck, and Cheetah. In June 1983, she gave birth to her first infant, Tobias, who was immediately removed and taken to the nursery.

6/22/83 – Delivered infant male #78 Tobias, appears healthy – removed to nursery.

In the wild, chimpanzee mothers will nurse their babies for the first four or five years. Just like humans, their bond is incredibly strong. But in the lab, babies were immediately taken away from their mothers and never allowed to make that bond. Annie was never able to truly be a mother, and was instead transferred countless times between even more male breeding partners.

Over the next decade, Annie gave birth to five more babies—Abby, Brooke, Virgil, Mariah, and Damian. In the technicians’ reports she was said to be a good mother, observed nursing and cleaning her infants. In most cases, Annie’s infants were stolen from her within days of giving birth. In each case, she was knocked down and the babies were removed and taken to the nursery.

7/24/84 – Delivered healthy infant female #101 Abby. Removed and taken to nursery – infant appears in good health – mother cleaned very well.

9/12/87 – Delivered healthy infant female… mother taking good care of infant, clean and nursing. Infant #CA0168 (Brooke).

Annie got to care for Brooke for almost a whole week: 9/18/87 – Infant female removed and taken to nursery. Stayed on mother since 9/12 – excellent mother… both infant and mother appear in excellent health.

6/23/89 – Infant taken from mother at this time… to the nursery. Infant named Virgil #201.

9/24/91 – Took infant to nursery. Infant was a girl #224 (Mariah).

5/6/94 – Gave birth at approx. 2:20pm. Mother taking good care of baby. Infant is looking good at this time. (Damian #244)

5/7/94 – Animal anesthetized to remove baby… Baby was not holding onto mother or nursing.

After spending over a decade at WSRC (which became the Coulston Foundation), she finally was shipped back to Buckshire in late 1996. For the next 12 years, she stayed at Buckshire, never getting to be a mother to her babies, never getting to make true friends and never getting to really be a chimpanzee. Read what Diana said when she first met Annie (and Missy).

Annie, on her second day in sanctuary:

web Annie sit on FR4 bench second day before

In June 2008, she was rescued by Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and retired to live with the Cle Elum Seven, where she has had access to sun over her head and grass under her feet for probably the first time since she was captured from Africa.

Annie now, on Young’s Hill:

web Annie sit arms crossed next to treat rock YH IMG_6264

web Annie sit next to treat rock arms crossed YH IMG_6267

To honor Annie’s five years in sanctuary, Give Five today to help give her one meal of delicious fresh fruits and veggies. Share with your friends, too!