Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
I love seeing the chimps on Young’s Hill with the forest as a backdrop. Though we can never return them to the wild, we can give them the next best thing. After living decades in the lab, I imagine it must feel pretty great to have open air, sunshine, and blue sky overhead. And the view isn’t too bad either.
The chimps are most active on Young’s Hill right after breakfast. With a full night’s sleep and a belly full of food, they are often looking to burn off a little energy. This morning, there were plenty of balance beam exercises…
Foxie:
Jamie:
Missy:
Some tight rope walking…
Missy:
Some daredevil acrobatics…
Missy:
And to top it all off, a perfect dismount from the shaky bridge…
Missy:
Even the spectators enjoyed themselves…
Jody:
But no one was happier than the star of the show…
Missy:
If you’re subscribed to our e-newsletter, you read about this rambunctious play between Annie and Foxie yesterday and what it says about how things have changed between these two in the last few years at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Subscribe here if you’re not already signed up to receive updates!
Chimpanzees naturally are very territorial. This is something universal for both wild and captive chimpanzees. When we see territorial displays in the Cle Elum Seven, it’s really wonderful because it means that they are not only exhibiting what we call species-typical behavior, but it also means that they see this is their home and it is worth protecting.
In the wild, individuals within a group will split off from the main group and go on a patrol to check the boundaries of their territory. They move silently through the forest to make sure there are no intruders. In most cases, these patrols are exclusively males. Watch this video from the Jane Goodall Institute to learn about male patrols:
Burrito is the only male at CSNW, so we don’t see a lot of the typical social organization of chimpanzees groups that we learn about in school. In captivity, the same rules don’t apply, especially when the group is comprised of an unusually large percentage of females compared to males. It’s one reason why in the wild, males are always the dominant figures within a group, but in captivity many times females are dominant (which is the case at CSNW with our boss lady, Jamie). So even though we see natural territorial behaviors from all of the Cle Elum Seven, we don’t really see patrols.
Today however, we saw a troop of chimps band together and defend their territory against the neighbor elk, who decided to pay us another visit today.
You’ll never believe who was leading the gang.
OK, maybe you will. It was Burrito. In the wild this would seem obvious—dominant male chimps would definitely be front and center in a patrol. But Burrito is not a typical male chimp. He never had older males to learn from and was never in a typical social group. After being in the lab for over 20 years, it’s really not surprising that he never developed the same way wild male chimps do. So this is why it was especially exciting to not only see the chimps on a patrol this morning, but for Burrito to be in the lead. The chimps continue to surprise us as they develop into their sanctuary life.
First, Jody started to follow Burrito (with a cattail in tow of course!)
Jamie joined in, followed by Annie, and eventually Foxie as well:
Outside of the entrance to the chimp house we keep one of the protocol cages that the chimpanzees lived in, in a windowless basement, during their decades being used in biomedical research. We must pass it each day as we unlock the door. It provides an opportunity for people who visit the sanctuary to envision to some degree what the chimpanzees’ lives consisted of before coming here. And it helps me remember every day why I’m here. It’s heartbreaking, of course, to look at. Imagine having spent every day of your life for over three decades living inside this (minus the scenery):
You never see the sky or green grass, you never feel the sun or the breeze, and for the most part you are unaware that anything exists outside of this view:
I spent several minutes today sitting inside this cage. I couldn’t stand up to my full height. It was hard to balance on the floor made of bars. And there is only a small, cold metal bench to sit on. The chimpanzees would not have had blankets to build nests with and no enrichment to engage their intelligent and active minds. I thought of my seven dear friends having lived every day this way in so much fear, uncertainty, boredom, and at many times, pain. You can imagine the wave of heartfelt sorrow and anger I felt for all they have endured. And what so many still do.
And then I looked out to the view of Young’s Hill from the cage:
Earlier today I told Jamie we would walk around Young’s Hill to her heart’s content. And boy did we. Around and around, up one side and turning to retrace our steps back down the other way. I lost count of how many times we went around. And for the first time that I’ve experienced, Burrito joined us in our patrol of the perimeter the entire way! Foxie and Dora, and even Jody came along for part of the way, while Annie and Missy chased each other up and down the hill. (It was cold today and Negra chose to stay in the comfort of her warm, cozy nest). Finally, after several laps around Young’s Hill, I suddenly lost sight of Jamie and had to go looking for her. This was a first! I eventually found her back in the front rooms, waiting for me to give her the cowgirl boot (which I had of course been wearing). I guess she had indeed walked to her heart’s content.
Imagine what it must feel like to these seven chimpanzee people to be able to see the sky above and feel the earth below, unobstructed.
Burrito:
And to MOVE for the sheer joy of moving like Missy:
Several days ago Jamie gifted me with an amazing moment. During a walk around the hill she had me wait while she foraged and climbed over every inch of the structures. At one point she suddenly climbed up a post, stood bipedally on the very top with her arms hanging at her sides and threw her head back as she stared up at the sky for several seconds. A simple, yet profound moment. Then she turned and looked at me, climbed down and raced me all the way back to the greenhouse with a huge play face. I am immeasurably grateful that the chimpanzees have the chance to call a sanctuary home. And I remember all those languishing in cages and labs who are still in need of their sanctuary.
Though that moment with Jamie will forever be burned into my mind, I unfortunately didn’t get a photo. But this is one of my favorites and I think it speaks volumes all the same.
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Ida Chan, in honor of Sarah Wong’s birthday! Ida shared the following: “We share this planet with all living things and must act responsibly toward all creatures big and small.” Ida and Sarah, thank you so much not only for caring about the chimpanzees, but for the lovely reminder of our interconnectedness to all of the amazing beings we are so fortunate to share our lives with. Sarah, have a wonderful birthday!!
Foxie and Negra enjoying some grooming time together:
This is Part 3 of our series of blog posts on chimpanzee identification. (See Annie’s and Burrito’s posts by clicking on their names.)
Most people can identify Foxie right away because she’s very rarely without at least one of her favorite dolls:
But there are other ways of identifying Foxie. She often walks with a rounded back:
You can also tell Foxie by her size. She’s very petite. Here you can see her next to Negra:
and next to Jody and Jamie:
And just for fun, see if you can spot one of my favorite Foxie quirks in the photos below.
