Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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more on Travis and pet ownership

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Although much of the coverage on the tragedy of Travis, the chimpanzee in Connecticut who mauled Charla Nash and was subsequently shot and killed, has been frustrating to say the least, there have been a couple of good interviews included in media items very recently which I wanted to share.

This video segment includes an interview from an expert at Save the Chimps Sanctuary in Florida.

This article adds more information to the bigger story. Here’s are a few excerpts from the article:

“A chimpanzee who was shot and killed earlier this week for mauling a Connecticut woman was the offspring of a chimpanzee who made headlines eight years ago when a Festus teenager shot and killed her…..

In 2001, Travis’ 28-year-old mother, Suzy, escaped from Connie Braun Casey’s farm along Highway CC near Festus…..

April Truitt, a primate expert who runs the Kentucky-based Primate Rescue Center Inc., said chimps are too wild to be privately owned. She put more blame on the Caseys for the Connecticut incident than on Herold. She said the Caseys should not have been breeding and selling chimps.”

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You can read my reaction to the mauling in this post from Tuesday. One aspect of this story that has not been getting enough coverage is how the demand for chimpanzee “actors” helps to fuel breeding operations like Connie Casey’s. Chimpanzees should not be pets, should not be used in entertainment, and should not be used in biomedical research. There is no legitimate reason for a chimpanzee breeding operation to exist.

Jamie and Burrito were both “raised” by humans for the first years of their lives and used as “entertainers” when they were young. When they became unmanageable like any chimpanzee would, they were put into biomedical research.

Thankfully they now live in a safe, secure, and social environment at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, but others like them are not in sanctuaries, and the tragedy of Travis will occur again if laws are not put into place to make the private ownership of chimpanzees and their use in entertainment illegal.

One immediate action that you can take is to urge your federal representatives to support the Captive Primate Safety Act which would make the interstate and foreign commerce of primates illegal. Learn more from the Humane Society of the United States.

Tragedy of keeping chimpanzees as pets

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We prefer to keep things focused on the positive and love sharing the daily lives of the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. But the fact is that it is a shame our sanctuary has to exist at all. The Cle Elum Seven never should have been used in research or entertainment. Chimpanzees simply do not belong in biomedical research, entertainment or in people’s homes as pets. Period. And yesterday there was evidence for some of the reasons why this is true.

On Monday afternoon in Stamford, Connecticut a 15 year old chimpanzee “pet” named Travis attacked a woman he had known for years, leaving her in critical condition. When the police arrived at the scene, they fatally shot Travis. There are now numerous stories with greater detail about this incident all over the news, including NBC.

Travis was bred in captivity to be used by humans. He reportedly appeared in commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola. His owners drove him around town. And this was not the first time the authorities of Stamford had to be called in to try to contain him.

For those of us who care for chimpanzees, it is difficult not to be angry about this incident. We know that chimpanzees should not be kept as pets – we’ve seen tragedies like this before. We know that chimpanzees should only be kept in secure enclosures. We know that chimpanzees in entertainment are usually discarded after a few years because they become too difficult to “handle.” And we know that chimpanzees are intelligent, social, amazing, and, yes, sometimes violent beings.

There should be laws in place in every state banning the keeping of chimpanzees as pets. Hollywood by choice or by being forced through legislation should never use a chimpanzee in entertainment again. Our hope is that this tragedy will create action to make these things happen, and we will do our part to help.

More on the Valentine’s Day happenings

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Lest you think that the chimpanzees had too laid-back of a day, they also had a romp outside before dinner.

Jamie was sporting a new look

Jamie wearing headband around neck

Jody climbed up to the cargo net outside and discovered a pecan in the shell, which she brought back down with her

Jody climbing back down after finding a nut in the cargo net

At dinner, we set up yet another forage, which included the strawberries Pam made

Peanut butter Valentine's strawberries

Pam even packaged them in these cute take-out containers

Jody with "take out" strawberries

I guess Jody was the star of the day. This is her in her typical super-relaxed pose. Ahhh – Valentine’s Day

Jody on Valentine's Day, just holding her feet

Valentine’s Day video

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That is Foxie (yes, Foxie!) going through the enrichment bags full of goodies in the first part of the video. The day went like this: Fresh fruit & smoothie for breakfast (and the crepes that Negra went crazy for!), big cleaning and disinfecting of the playroom, then setting up the party which consisted of new toys, decorations. treats, and, of course… love!  Then an early dinner after a mid-day romp outside.

Dinner was very exciting. Keith visited and passed out the first course – green onions. (Keith has moved to the other side of the mountains and was visiting for the first time since leaving a couple of weeks ago, so the chimpanzees were very happy to see him). In anticipation of the Valentine’s Day dinner, we bought some great produce that we don’t always have and Pam brought some over from Seattle too. Elizabeth, our new staff member, cooked up beets and added them to brown rice. And we set out a forage of snap peas, rhubarb, coconuts, fruit salad with blueberries, pineapple and banana, and of course the peanut-butter dipped strawberries rolled in nuts that Pam made.

Thank you to all who donated for the day and made it possible!!! I have never experienced such a Valentine’s celebration before. I have more photos which I hope to post tomorrow.

What a wonderful day.

A few Valentine’s photos

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Here are a few shots of the day. The first is Jody with a treat enrichment that Robbi made – Robbi is an expert chimpanzee party-planner and brought lots of great stuff over. The second is Burrito enjoying Pam’s heart-shaped banana bread. He REALLY enjoyed it. The third photo is Jamie getting a new toy out of a bag that Robbi brought. Even though, as the KIMA piece showed, we do have a lot of toys, variety is important and fun new toys are appreciated by the chimpanzees.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Here are a couple of preview shots. The first is the heart-shaped banana bread that Pam made – I had to take a photo before we cut it up to distribute. The second is fresh squeezed grape juice in plastic champagne glasses (thank you Debbie for your juicing and Rozsika for the idea for the glasses!).  Actual party photos to be posted soon. The morning began with Negra not particularly interested in coming in for breakfast, which would have changed the party plans, as we were going to set things up after cleaning the playroom. When she saw the crepes that Denice made, though, Negra threw off the blanket she had on over her shoulders and scampered down to the front rooms. And boy did she squeek when Elizabeth served her the crepes!

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KIMA story

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Visit KIMA for the written story and to comment!

Check out that shed, in the above segment, that Jim built and Audrey and Brian helped put together 🙂

*Note that the Sippin’ for the Seven wine tasting event is in Roslyn at the Masonic Building. Vintage Vine, wine and antique shop, is organizing the event and has managed to get 22 wineries and at least one brewing company to participate! It is going to be so much fun.