dolls

A Christmas Miracle

December 25, 2015 by J.B.

It was almost a year without Christmas.

OK, that’s not true – but Christmas was nearly delayed by a few days. The Cascade Mountains here in Washington received more snow in the last week than in all of last winter. Interstate 90, the only direct route between the sanctuary and Seattle, was closed for days due to avalanches in the mountain pass, and many of our volunteers were stuck on the other side. Thankfully, the highway was reopened last night and volunteer Patti was able to make it over this morning with the chimps’ Christmas dinner.

I don’t know if that qualifies as a Christmas miracle, but the support we’ve been receiving over the last month has certainly been miraculous. Packages have been arriving for weeks from generous donors, some long time supporters of the Cle Elum Seven and some who just discovered the sanctuary through stories about Foxie and her dolls in the UK, Germany, and Australia. You can guess what our newest supporters sent for Foxie! And our dedicated volunteers have been braving some treacherous conditions on the pass to reach the sanctuary. We are so grateful to everyone that helped make this a special holiday season for the chimps.

This Christmas was filled with great food, lots of boots and dolls, and a few surprises as well. Check out the video to see for yourself!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Troll Scarf Tug-o-War

August 21, 2015 by J.B.

It’s already being heralded as the match of the century – Jamie vs Foxie in an epic Troll Scarf Tug-o-War battle! Turn up your sound for the full effect.

Negra, troll dolls, and overcoming anxiety

August 16, 2014 by Diana

If you read J.B.’s blog post yesterday, you know that we’ve had quite an interesting development at the sanctuary. Negra, who normally ignores enrichment, has taken a shine to troll dolls, which up until now have been Foxie’s “thing.”

An unrelated fact that you may have noticed if you’ve been with us for a while is that Negra is not as often pictured participating in forages on Young’s Hill as the other chimpanzees. Sometimes Negra decides not to join the group on the hill for forages. We are not entirely sure why this is, and we are trying to figure it out right now (more on that later).

The new development today is that Negra took a troll doll with her to forage on the hill!

It certainly seems that Foxie is able to get comfort from her dolls that she carries everywhere – a kind of security blanket, and perhaps Negra is experiencing something similar with the dolls now.

This is a not-very-good photo of Negra, with the troll doll in her right hand as she is walking back to the greenhouse with a mouthful of lettuce:

Here is Negra passing Foxie (her inspiration?). I like the way that chimpanzees, even when there is lots of room (like 2 acres), will go out of their way to have physical contact:

I was excited to get this photo – you can see Negra’s hand around the troll and Foxie’s around a Dora as they walk in opposite directions:

One of the many things that I love about Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is that all staff caregivers meet twice a month to talk about the chimpanzees and raise concerns or even just share stories. One of our recent topics has been Negra’s reluctance to participate in forages. For a while, every time that Negra did not forage with the group, we would give her a meal in the greenhouse or inside the building. But then it seemed that she wasn’t even considering going onto the hill, perhaps because she knew she would get her own private picnic. She does sometimes show anxiety about going on the hill, and we don’t want to cause her to miss lunch if she is responding out of genuine fear.

However, we do want to encourage all of the chimps to experience everything that the sanctuary has to offer, to get exercise, and to work on overcoming situations that might cause a little bit of anxiety. So, a few weeks ago we decided to try not giving Negra a private meal if she didn’t at least make a move to participate in the forage. This may be providing her the encouragement that she needed to join the group in foraging.

At our last meeting we decided to start recording the different factors that may be influencing Negra to choose whether or not to participate in forages on the hill. But now we might just have to add one – whether or not she has a troll doll with her!

Some things you just can’t explain

August 15, 2014 by J.B.

When Foxie first came to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in 2008, she had trouble adapting. She was cautious when it came to developing relationships with new people, though given her history that wasn’t an unreasonable approach. But she was also wary of her new surroundings, especially in larger spaces. Each time she was allowed into a new area, she would cling to the walls or walk in circles around the edge of the room. She was also uneasy with all the enrichment we provided to the chimps each day. She would go out of her way to avoid walking near the piles of toys we put in the playroom, and while the other chimps would make nests each night with fresh blankets, Foxie would push them out of the way to clear a spot for herself on the bare concrete floor. Weeks passed, and while the other chimps reveled in all the new opportunities available to them, Foxie continued to find comfort in the emptiness that was all she had known for 31 years.

Then one day she met Trixie.

It was just a doll, but Foxie was immediately drawn to it. Her reasons for choosing this troll doll, in all its pink-haired, pantsless glory, will remain one of life’s great mysteries. But we look back on that moment now as a turning point for Foxie. She hung onto Trixie and carried her everywhere she went. Supporters started sending in more dolls, and Foxie’s collection grew into the hundreds. The dolls were a source of entertainment for Foxie, but they also provided comfort and seemed to instill in her a sense of confidence and purpose. And they helped ease her into this new world filled with new people and things.

Whatever the reason for Foxie’s obsession, we thought it was uniquely hers. The other chimps would pick up trolls from time to time, but mostly just to initiate games of chase with Foxie. They didn’t seem to get it. This type of deep and lasting connection between chimp and troll was limited to one quirky chimpanzee at one quirky sanctuary in the mountains of Washington.

That is, until Negra decided it was time to get in on this whole “troll” thing.

For the last couple of weeks, Negra has been carrying around troll dolls everywhere. She takes them to bed and sleeps with them in her nest. She shows up at meal time with them tucked into her “pelvic pocket.”

We have no idea what makes a chimpanzee decide, at age 41 and after six years at the sanctuary, to adopt troll dolls. Maybe it’s like the chimpanzees at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia who all decided that it was cool to stick grass in their ears. Maybe she’s watched Foxie carry these things around for so long that she’s finally decided to see what the fuss is about. Or maybe Negra just realized that, after having her own children stolen from her in the lab, it felt good to care for someone, even if they are made of plastic.

Some things you just can’t explain.

Happy Birthday, Foxie!

August 8, 2014 by J.B.

It’s hard to believe, but Foxie turned 38 today. Though she may have grown another year older, she showed that she has no plans to start acting her age any time soon. As soon as we walked in the door in the morning, she began spinning and pirouetting and chasing us from one part of the building to another while passing her troll dolls back and forth.

To celebrate her big day, we served all of Foxie’s favorite foods (fruit, fruit, and more fruit!) and gave her a few dozen new troll and Dora the Explorer dolls. The chimps really enjoyed the birthday party – we tried to capture the look of sheer joy on their faces, but they would not stop inhaling watermelon long enough to be photographed.

Luckily we got some video of the party as well:

Many thanks to all who have donated in honor of Foxie’s birthday! Here’s to many more birthdays to come!

A Mouthful

April 25, 2014 by J.B.

We served breakfast in the greenhouse this morning, but afterwards the chimps enjoyed a chow forage on the hill. As soon as we opened the door, they raced up the hill in search of treats.

The trick to a chow forage, if you’re a chimp, is to collect the pieces in your mouth as you go so that you can gather as much as possible and enjoy them all at once.

Foxie:

Burrito:

Annie:

Sometimes you have to do some delicate rearranging to make room.

Missy:

Brute force works too…

Jamie:

But some things will always be more important than chow.

Foxie and Dora:

Photographing the elusive Foxie

April 19, 2014 by Diana

One super cool and unique auction item we have for Hoot! is the opportunity to photograph the chimpanzees with a lesson from professional photographers Karen Ducey and Dean Rutz, using long telephoto lenses and other professional-grade equipment! This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities!

Maybe the winner will be able to catch some photos like these of the first elusive, then charming Foxie with her troll dolls on Young’s Hill: