Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jody

Paparazzi

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As the weather turns from summer’s heat to winter’s chill the chimpanzees are adjusting their habits accordingly. The panels for the greenhouse walls have all been returned and the chimpanzees are finding the most pleasant spots to spend their time. The windows in the catwalk of the playroom are, of course, a reliable favorite. Recently the top wooden platform of the climbing structure in the greenhouse appears to have developed into a popular (and, most likely, the warmest) hang out during the day. While cleaning in the playroom today I realized the catwalk afforded a vantage point of this coveted spot that is pretty well hidden from view otherwise.

Here are the chimpanzees enjoying the warmth of the greenhouse at their leisure.

Missy & Jody playing together:
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Jody catches me taking pictures:
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Missy & Negra playing AND catching me with the camera:
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Young’s Hill Games

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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:

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Jamie:

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Missy:

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Some tight rope walking…

Missy:

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Some daredevil acrobatics…

Missy:

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And to top it all off, a perfect dismount from the shaky bridge…

Missy:

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Even the spectators enjoyed themselves…

Jody:

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But no one was happier than the star of the show…

Missy:

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Chimp ID: Jody

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We’re continuing our series of blog posts on chimpanzee identification today with Jody. (If you missed the posts about Annie, Burrito, Foxie, or Jamie, click on their names.)

Jody is one of the larger females in the group, though not as muscular as Jamie. She has a very sweet face, with her eyes a little closer together than those of the other chimpanzees.

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She’s missing parts of some of her toes due to old injuries. On her left foot, she’s missing the tips of her three middle toes (I couldn’t find a good photo). And here you can see that the second toe on her right foot is shorter than the rest.

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Jody has distinctly pink nipples:

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Her bottom lip is often droopy:

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If there’s one thing Jody is known for, it’s her love of comfort. She spends a lot of time reclining. When she’s eating, she likes to lie on her belly:

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Send in the troops

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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!)

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Jamie joined in, followed by Annie, and eventually Foxie as well:

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Thank you, Redfin!

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Today the chimpanzees enjoyed a party sponsored by Felicity Wood and Redfin! The chimpanzees enjoyed lots of new enrichment to include a giant Lego castle and a fabulous red and white themed food forage. While the chimps are always up for a party, Jamie in particular seemed to enjoy today and much to our delight she found countless projects to engage in throughout the afternoon. And if you aren’t already aware, finding something to enrich Jamie is no small feat.

Here Debbie realizes her dream of adult size Legos as Jamie helps her with the directions to building the castle:

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The finished result of Jamie and Debbie’s hard work and two amazing house pinatas:

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Here’s Jamie investigating the castle:

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Annie checking out a giant red crayon:

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Jody as her beautiful self:

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Jamie enjoying a cranberry raspberry “cocktail”:

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Annie investigating a new bowling set:

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Thank you so much for your time and effort in giving the chimpanzees a fun and interesting day, Redfin!

Words and Pictures

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think, perhaps, that depends on the picture. I am still learning to use the cameras to capture the chimpanzees’ lives in sanctuary. Generally, I prefer to use words to express myself especially as quite a few of my pictures turn out to be worth quite a lot less! However, I have been practicing and these two recent photos capture the dignity and serenity of the chimpanzees who are the focus of each. Even though the weather is turning, the mornings are chilly, and the wind hints at snow, the chimpanzees enjoy the opportunities of Young’s Hill to the fullest each day.

Missy keeping watch from one of the climbing structures on Young’s Hill:
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Jody pausing to look back over her shoulder during her explorations of Young’s Hill:
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Sky above, earth below

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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):

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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:

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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:

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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:

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And to MOVE for the sheer joy of moving like Missy:

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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.

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