Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

A Certain Point of View

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One of the things I try to share whenever I write the blog is the unique experience of being here at the sanctuary. I am trying to capture and translate, as much as is possible with words, pictures, and video, the reality of being here now so that you might get the feeling of it. Today, as we were cleaning the greenhouse in the morning, I was inspired to try to capture the chimpanzees in the playroom from the vantage point of inside the greenhouse. Although it was a bit dark in there [this morning was cold, wet, and decidedly snowy] I was able to shoot a short video of Annie and Missy playing together in the loft. I love the sound of their play sessions, especially from above. If you were in the chimp house while this bout of play was going on you would hear the breathy-pants of chimpanzee laughter, the slaps of hands against each other and the floor, followed by the bounding stomping feet of chimpanzees in the midst of chase. I can not think of happier sounds than these!

Most of this video has no sound but turn up the volume at the end to see what fun it can be trying to film video when chimpanzees are involved. Enjoy!

Today is in honor of Family Day!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Tanis Sklarchuk in honor of Family Day! Tanis sent us the following message:

“February 17, 2014, is Family Day in Ontario, Canada. This day is in honor of CSNW for creating such a wonderful family at the sanctuary, for the chimps and humans alike. Keep up the great work!”

Tanis, this is such a beautiful gift, thank you so much! We are so full of gratitude for you, and all of our wonderful supporters, who make it possible for the chimpanzees to have the family and home they deserve. Whether you live somewhere this day is recognized as a public holiday or not, it’s such a lovely thing to celebrate! Happy Family Day!

Jamie (left) receiving a brow bite/kiss from Negra (right) as she offers her a little reassurance. Just what friends and families are for.

Negra kiss Jamie

And thank you so very much to all of you who have helped us through our Share the Chimp Love campaign this month! We have 10 days left to reach our goal and are almost there! Every single gift makes a difference and helps to ensure that we are able to provide Annie, Missy, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody and Negra with the life long care they deserve. And it helps us to build up our reserves so that in the future we may be able to offer other chimpanzees in need their long awaited sanctuary family and home.

Power

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It’s impossible to overstate just how much power Jamie has over the staff and volunteers at CSNW. Sometimes, as I walk up the driveway to the chimp house in the morning, I find myself saying a silent prayer to the chimp gods that she is in a good mood. And if she isn’t, I pray that her attention will be directed at someone other than me.

But the chimp gods don’t seem to hear me, because this is the face that often greets us.

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Or worse, this:

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This is when you know it’s going to be a long day.

My love and admiration for Jamie is limitless. She is brilliant and creative and brave. But she also possesses a thirst for power and control unlike anyone I have ever known.

In the normal course of life at the sanctuary, Jamie and I sometimes find ourselves disagreeing about what should be done. I think Foxie should be given a banana, Jamie does not. I think I should open the chimps’ door to the greenhouse, Jamie does not. I think I should be able to stand at the sink and quietly scrub the chimps’ toys, Jamie does not.

When Jamie disagrees, she makes sure she is understood. In fights with the other chimps, she usually wins simply by screaming louder and longer than anyone else, but she’s not afraid to get physical if need be. She makes her opinion known to her caregivers with a mouthful of water or a handful of feces. And let me tell you, I don’t care how strongly you believe in doing something…flying feces always has a way of making you reconsider.

This particular character trait is not something I would look for in a human friend (especially the feces throwing). But with Jamie, it makes me admire her even more. How on earth did someone so in need of control and power, so determined to be respected by humans and chimps alike, ever survive life in the laboratory?

There needs to be a chimp equivalent to the word “dehumanizing,” because that’s what life was for her. You could see it in her eyes when we first met her in the lab.

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And if you couldn’t see it in her eyes, surely you couldn’t miss it tattooed across her chest.

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When the chimps first came to the sanctuary, I was so excited. But I can barely look at those photos of her now. She looks so powerless.

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I always wonder what the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees would be like if they had lived in the wild. If they had been raised by their mothers. If they had raised their own children. How much of the chimpanzees we know and love would we recognize?

I have a feeling Jamie would still have been a force to be reckoned with. I think it’s in her bones. But she would have been able to play by chimpanzee rules in a chimpanzee society, without ever knowing the indignity and humiliation of life in captivity.

To us, sanctuary is all about finding what each individual chimpanzee needs to be happy. And for Jamie, that’s easy…total and absolute power.

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So if being grumpy makes her happy, that’s cool with us.

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Jamie’s new favorite boots

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Jamie loves all her boots, but she definitely has some that are the center of her attention for awhile. I think of it like when I get a new song or album, I listen to it over and over until I’m sick of it—but I still like it and will want to listen to it again someday. Jamie’s songs on repeat right now are the boots she got from Bill last week. She can’t get enough of them! As soon as we try to wash them, she wants them back immediately, even if they are wet. And she’s asked JB to wear them around the hill, even when they are wet. Of course he is happy to oblige—anything to keep the boss in a good mood. I have a feeling these boots will be her favorite for awhile.

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Unintentional Enrichment

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Enrichment comes in many forms—food enrichment, social enrichment, object enrichment, and structural enrichment—but sometimes the most enriching things are completely unintentional. Nearly two years ago, JB took out the extremely heavy drain covers we used to have and exchanged them for lightweight covers. They are much easier to handle for the humans, but also much more likely the chimps could get it. However, the covers are durable and pose no danger to the chimps, so the risk of them grabbing it versus practically breaking our backs every time we had to lift the heavy drain cover was worth it!

After JB put in the new covers, we took bets on when the chimps (particularly Jamie) would get it. I guessed about 20 minutes after they had access to the playroom. Diana guessed that night while the humans were away, and JB guessed within 48 hours. We were all wrong! Twenty-three months was the actual answer. We didn’t see how she got it, but when we came into the chimp area a few days ago, Jamie had removed the drain cover, finally.

After removing it, she proceeded to clean it with some scraps of paper. Annie was very interested in watching her—I’m sure they know it is something they aren’t really supposed to have. (Kind of like this time we played keep-away with a laundry basket).

You’ll notice in the video that there is quite a mess in the playroom—it was the day after the Lunar New Year party, so there was a lot to clean up. Once breakfast was brought out, Jamie dropped the drain cover and exited the playroom so we could enter to retrieve it and clean up the party. As far as I am aware she hasn’t bothered to get the drain cover since, but it certainly was enriching for her that morning.

All’s right with the world

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Days and days of cold, gray skies and icy, freezing fogs have visited us here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest recently. However, that hasn’t deterred the chimpanzees from enjoying the privilege of Young’s Hill. Today was no exception; once finished with breakfast the chimpanzees ventured out into the frozen landscape to patrol, explore, and relish their freedom. I was lucky enough to capture an action sequence of Jamie climbing to the top of one of the wooden platforms in order to get a good view of her world. I hope you enjoy it!

Jamie approaches the pole to the wooden platform:
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Jamie looks up to survey the pole before climbing:
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Jamie begins her ascent:
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And makes her way up, hand over hand:
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Jamie dismounts and looks down to Missy (still sitting on the ground below):
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Once achieving the platform, Jamie surveys her domain:
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Routines

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The routine of each chimp house day that we’ve established with the chimpanzees allows them to know what to expect, and allows us to do the eight+ hours of work efficiently. But it’s not just the humans who have their routines. I’m always delighted to participate or witness a chimpanzee-created routine, like Jody’s morning greeting or Foxie’s after dinner, casual “give and take the troll” game.

Jamie’s routine of walking around Young’s Hill is probably one of the most written about aspects of our chimp-driven activities, but there’s one aspect of the walks that I really love because it seems to give Jamie so much pleasure. She doesn’t always do it, but more often than not, when Jamie takes me on a walk (which is really the way it goes), there’s a spot on the far side of the hill where she will veer away from the perimeter. She’ll walk on the log bridge over there or wander in the bamboo. I usually walk a little further and then wait. When she’s done with her lone exploration, she  comes barreling out, heading directly toward me. She doesn’t do this in an aggressive manner, though it was somewhat intimidating the first time I witnessed this; and I’m glad, for her sake and mine, that she is secure behind two tall electric fences. She just really seems to find it great fun to come out of hiding and run quickly towards her walking companion, and then continue the rest of the way around the perimeter.

I got a few photos of this today. They’re not award-winning images, but hopefully with the story behind them, you’ll have a better sense of what they are about.

Here’s an establishing photo to show what the landscape has looked like around the property for the last week or so. It’s not snow, it’s hoarfrost, the rather pretty cause of our power outage the other day. The cold temperature did not stop Jamie from walking around the hill twice today. These photos are from our second walk

hoarfrost above young's hill

Here’s Jamie leaving the perimeter:

Jamie walking away from perimeter

and here she is bursting out of hiding:

Jamie walk frost background

jamie running frost background

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