What a special week this has been! Over the last few days, we’ve received tons of items from our Amazon Wishlist, we received our brand new, top of the line camera from our amazing board members (which produced the spectacular footage below), and today, the chimps had the most awesome party! Special thanks to Robbi and Dick Brown, Leslie Sodaro, Jeani Goodrich, Diane and Syd Marcus, Sue Elfing, and the GFWC-Battleground, WA for all of the enrichment and to all of our amazing supporters and volunteers, who make days like this possible. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Jody
A wintry perk
Like many humans, chimpanzees generally prefer warmer temperatures. For that reason, winter is not much fun for the Cle Elum Seven, but there is one big consolation: they are treated to an all-you-can-eat snow buffet.
Playful Jody
In one of our recent blog comments, the topic of whether or not Foxie likes any other types of dolls (other than troll dolls) came up. Diana explained that for the most part, it seems like Foxie doesn’t like stuffed animals and that she and Jody will sometimes team up and violently shred them. Though I’ve seen Jody do this many times, Diana saying that reminded me of this clip I caught on Thanksgiving Day. Maybe it’s a love/hate kind of thing…?
Levi and Brandon Wood’s video
Today, Jody’s son Levi turns 27. He has been a research subject his entire life. The note in Jody’s file for this day twenty-seven years ago simply says, “Delivered healthy infant male #88 – removed & taken to nursery.” If she got a glimpse of Levi that day, it was probably the last time Jody saw her son.
Six weeks later, an adult male chimpanzee was transferred into Jody’s cage in the hopes of “breeding” her again.
Levi was among the unlucky group of chimpanzees who have already been moved from the Alamogordo Primate Facility to the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Learn more about the transfer of the Alamogordo chimps on Animal Protection of New Mexico’s FAQ page and learn how to help here: RetireTheChimps.org.
Also, for Jody and Levi, please support the Great Ape Protection Act, which would permanently retire all chimpanzees currently supported by the federal government and would ban the use of great apes in invasive biomedical research. Visit the HSUS TAKE ACTION link to contact your reps.
For inspiration, watch 10-year-old Brandon Wood’s video below. Brandon is one of the most active chimpanzee advocates out there. The dedication of someone so young is remarkable. You can follow Brandon through his blog, his Facebook page or on Twitter. Visit his sites and thank him for working so hard for chimpanzees.
Celebrating Jody
As part of their Chimps Deserve Better campaign, the Humane Society of the United States named Jody Chimpanzee of the Month for November. We at CSNW might be biased, but we think Jody couldn’t be more deserving. Today we celebrated Jody with all of her favorite things.
Getting comfortable
This is one of my favorite sights: Jody gathering blankets for one of her huge, elaborate nests.
Intruder
While no match for equatorial Africa, living in rural Cle Elum does afford the chimpanzees some interesting experiences. The other day a garter snake made its way into the chimp house, and the chimps let their feelings on the matter be known.
