Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

You Win Some, You Lose Some

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Jamie lost a fight this morning. (Don’t worry – only her pride was injured.) Volunteer caregiver Denice and I were cleaning the playroom when shrill screaming broke out in the front rooms. I didn’t see what started the fight, but once I got to a place where I could observe, I could tell that some of the chimpanzees had a bone to pick with Jamie. Because Jamie is the alpha, it takes a lot of guts to stand up to her. Sometimes it seems that once one chimp works up the courage to tell Jamie what’s what, the others are more likely to join in.

During this morning’s dispute, Negra, Jody, and Annie had Jamie cornered in one of the front rooms. (Foxie and Burrito were doing their best to stay out of things, and Missy was hedging her bets and backing everyone up.) While most fights don’t actually involve a lot of physical contact between the chimps, there is always a lot of screaming and posturing. Eventually, everyone will say what they need to say, someone will back down, and the fight will be over. This morning it was Jamie who backed down; there really wasn’t much she could do against Negra, Jody, and Annie’s trifecta of fury.

Jamie runs a tight ship around here, and it’s not surprising that once in awhile the other chimps reach the end of their ropes and let her know. But I always feel a little sorry for Jamie when this happens. Her sense of self is completely intertwined with her dominance, and it can’t feel good to lose the control she works so hard for, even for a moment. Imagine that it’s your job to manage an office full of employees, typically obedient, who one day revolt against you without warning. You’re likely to feel angry, unsettled, and a little afraid.

But if there’s one thing we know about Jamie, it’s that she never loses her footing for long. After today’s fight she spent some time outside to clear her head:

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and then took a rejuvenating rest.

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Ice cold determination

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It is a beautiful, sunny day at the sanctuary, but looks can be deceiving. We’ve only made it up to 27 degrees with a wind chill of 15. It’s very still and quiet outside and even the birds seem to be hunkered down out of the cold.

“Negra’s Valley” that she loves to watch over from her nest and the view from Young’s Hill:

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If you are new to the blog, Young’s Hill is the chimpanzees’ 2-acre outdoor enclosure and the chimpanzees have access to it year round (providing the voltage on the electric fence stays in our established security perimeters). While the chimps don’t care to spend a lot of time outside in extreme temperatures hot or cold, the option is there as their choice to make. And if you’ve been following the blog for awhile, you know that it takes some pretty significant weather conditions to keep Jamie from her Young’s Hill perimeter walks. But today was not one of them. Jamie has walked (or more accurately, ran) around the hill with her caregivers five times in these temperatures!

All the other chimpanzees spent their day nesting, grooming, and playing in front of every available sunny window so everyone stayed nice and toasty. And it took awhile to “warm up” enough outside before even Jamie would brave the hill:

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Here a caregiver is offering to go on a walk with Jamie and she sees her favorite boots:

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She spent a few minutes pondering but decided she was up for it:

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There was a lot of poking her head out the door to test the waters so to speak, but once she set her mind to it she was off! Which meant the caregivers had to run to catch up with her! Jamie has a will and determination unlike anyone I know. Head into the wind, she wasn’t deterred:

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We passed a herd of deer at the top of the hill, but Jamie had no time to bother with them:

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Once we got to the other side of the hill where we were less protected from the wind Jamie decided we needed to pick up the pace. And I have to say I agreed. We ran all the way back to the greenhouse and warm blankets fresh from the dryer:

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In extreme temperatures we trust Jamie to make her own choices about going for walks or not. That said, given her determination we closely monitor temperatures, and Jamie, to make sure she stays safe and healthy. Rain, shine, snow or wind, Jamie makes the most of each day in sanctuary. And we couldn’t be happier to be running along side of her.

Take Action Tuesday: One Direction’s wrong turn

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Last month, we sent out an action alert about the band One Direction’s new music video with a chimpanzee named Eli. Several advocacy groups, experts, and supporters from around the world wrote to the band, but so far we haven’t heard any kind of commitment from the boys to avoid working with apes in future productions. Since their new album is releasing next week, we want to continue to put pressure on the band and ask that they make the pledge before their album release—and until they do, we will spread the word to fans and tell them not to buy the album.

Many of our readers are aware of the tragic lives of chimpanzees in entertainment—chimps like Jamie, for instance, live with trainers when they are young and when they are too big to be managed, they have to live inside a cage for the rest of their lives. Jamie is lucky to have reached a sanctuary, but many others have not had that chance. Some of Eli’s trainer’s former chimp “actors” have been cast off to decrepit roadside zoos. The trainer himself, Steve Martin, has been cited numerous times for things such as failure to have an environmental-enhancement program to promote the psychological well-being of primates, failure to supply adequate shelter from the elements and inadequate ventilation, failure to provide animals with minimum space, filthy cages, and improper feeding.

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We’re so disappointed that the One Direction band members are promoting the exotic animal trade rather than using their celebrity statuses to protect chimpanzees, who are critically endangered in the wild.

We urge you to continue to put pressure on One Direction to remove the photos and promise to never use apes again. Please post on their Facebook and Twitter pages and let them know that chimps like Eli should not be used in entertainment. Not only are there numerous welfare concerns, but seeing chimpanzees in close contact with humans perpetuates the idea that they can be treated as pets.

You may also send a letter to the band c/o Lisa Wolfe at [email protected]

Sample Comment on One Direction’s Facebook:

I am disappointed to see that One Direction went ahead and included clips with Eli in the Steal My Girl video, despite hearing from concerned advocates. Chimpanzees do not belong in music videos and you should know that Eli’s trainer is cited for dozens of animal welfare violations (www.eyesonapes.org/eli). Showing these images perpetuates the idea that chimps make good pets. Please make the compassionate decision pledge to never exploit great apes for entertainment purposes again. I won’t be buying your new album until you make that promise, and I’ll tell all my friends to do the same. Thank you for your consideration of my comments on this urgent matter.

Sample Tweets to One Direction:

@OneDirection sad to see Eli in #StealMyGirlVideo. I won’t buy your new album until you pledge to never use apes again! www.EyesOnApes.org/eli

@Louis_Tomlinson @zaynmalik Eli had a nasty chain on his neck in the #StealMyGirlVideo pics! Please promise you won’t work with apes again.

We would love to see Eli and all remaining chimpanzees in entertainment reach a sanctuary, so they can receive the lifetime quality care they deserve and get a second chance at life like Jamie. We’d love to hear stories about sanctuary life someday for Eli and others like this one of Jamie:

This morning, new volunteer caregiver-in-training Lizz kept Jamie busy for quite awhile by dropping a piece of banana just outside the fencing. Jamie first used a magazine, but when that didn’t help much, Denice gave her a plastic tube which was much more helpful. Once she got the banana up against the fencing she used her fingers to delicately move the banana to spot where she could pull it through. We’ve talked a lot before about Jamie’s knack for projects and keeping busy, but when she’s not working on various projects—she’s quite talented at nest-making, and consequently, nap-taking.

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The final thing you can do to help Eli is to spread the word! Please share this blog on social media and encourage your friends to speak up for him, too.

Kongs for Evening Enrichment

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Another one of our evening enrichment puzzles is putting nuts, peanut butter or mashed up banana into holes in kongs. The chimpanzees use their fingers or a tool (or a combination of both) to get at the tasty treats inside, but sometimes the treats can be pretty tough to get out.

Jamie spent the better part of the morning working on her kong that was left over from the previous evening. Evidently, there was a hazelnut that was trapped inside and she could not free it. She tried using all the tools at her disposal, including her finger, her tongue, the arm of a troll doll, and a short wooden tool. When none of them worked I offered her a hard plastic chop stick to use.

Happy Birthday, Larissa!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Larissa Madrigal! Today also happens to be Larissa’s birthday and she shared that there was no better gift than “helping our genetic superiors!”

What an incredibly generous thing to do on your own special day, Larissa. Thank you so much for caring about the chimpanzees and making their lives better! From all of the primates here at CSNW, we hope you have a fabulous birthday!!

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Evening Enrichment

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Each day we put out various enrichment items for the chimpanzees based on some sort of theme like “tea party day” or fort day”. These enrichment items include things like blankets, dora and troll dolls, boots, wooden and plastic toys, containers etc. This way the chimps can choose to use or not use the enrichment items throughout the day.

Each evening, after serving dinner and before turning out the lights, we also give the chimps some sort of puzzle to work on. The evening enrichment is aimed at keeping the chimps (mostly Jamie) occupied. The evening enrichment sometimes includes kongs with a few nuts inside, raisin boards, hanging puzzles, drink buckets.

Last night, we put out drink buckets for the chimps. This involved filling each bucket half full with water and adding in a few slices of tangerines (other nights we may use slices of lemon or lime). We set the buckets outside of the front rooms and playroom and gave each of the chimps a long “straw” to use to get at the flavored water.

Jamie the Fighter

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I spend more time with the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees than I do with most people in my life. I know them as the curious, playful, independent, opinionated individuals that sanctuary has allowed them to become.

I did not know Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra in their former lives as lab subjects, when they were mere shadows of their current selves. I often wonder how the vibrant personalities I know so well survived decades of trauma, boredom, fear, and loss.

There’s little doubt that life in a research lab is nearly unbearable for any chimpanzee (or, one could argue, for any living, feeling creature). It’s not surprising that many of them give up. But many others make it out the other side, and are able to rediscover their sense of joy and wonder, and their fighting spirit.

Here at the sanctuary, Jamie epitomizes “fighting spirit.” Despite being one of the youngest chimps in the group, she has appointed herself leader, and she runs the show. She demands the utmost respect from both her chimp and human family, and she gets it. If she wants something, she doesn’t wait and hope – she makes it happen. She is brilliant, difficult, fierce, and exacting, and we could not love or admire her more.

Due to incomplete lab records, we don’t know Jamie’s date of birth, so we celebrate her each year on Halloween (in loving tribute to her endearingly wicked nature). Our Jamie-ween party is always completely over the top (as it should be). This year’s party promises to be no different. Be sure to check back tomorrow for photos and/or video from Jamie’s birthday party, and in the meantime, here are some of my favorite photos of Jamie from birthdays past:

Jamie looking through a Halloween gift bag

Jamie drinking juice with a straw

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