Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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love

Love for Terry

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Today is all about Terry, who is quite simply, a really easy guy to love!

Terry was born at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) on June 13, 1990. According to his records, his father may have been Conrad and his mother Carrie. He is half siblings with our very own Mave. After LEMSIP shut down in 1996, Terry was transferred to Wildlife Waystation together with more than 30 other chimpanzees and then to his life at CSNW in 2021 as part of the “Lucky 6.”

Little Terry at LEMSIP:

Terry is best known as being a big friendly guy at the sanctuary. He LOVES having visitors of any kind, whether it’s a caregiver he knows well or a brand new volunteer, he’s just meeting. Terry is one of our resident greeters and will push a chair right up to the window so he can say hello to a new friend.

Everyone loves Terry’s unique “kiss.”

Terry would definitely be considered a “bro” if he were a human, but he also has a sweet sensitive side. He has even been known to gently groom tiny little insects out of the petals of a flower.

Terry likes to show his tough side to the girls next door. One of my favorite things is to watch Terry do his unique chest beating displays when he’s outside.

Terry enjoys most food. He’s one of the least picky chimps around here. He uses a raspberry type sound called a Bronx Cheer to get caregiver’s attention.

Terry uses his sanctuary space well. He likes being outside or spending time with his friends grooming in a sunny greenhouse.

Terry currently has 9 Pals who know just how lovable Terry is.  Be sure to join the Terry fan club today!

 

 

Love for Mave

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Today we continue our Valentine’s series with some love for Mave.

Mave was born on September 25th, 1989  to mother, Lulu, and father, Conrad, at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). She is half-siblings with own very own Terry, whose father was also Conrad. We didn’t know this at first but should have guessed by the floof alone. I can only assume Conrad was rather hirsute, as well.

Mave (L) and Terry (R)

Like all laboratory chimpanzees, Mave was taken from her mother at a very young age. She was immediately paired with another infant chimpanzee named Goliath. Mave was reportedly an anxious infant, and Goliath became her rock. Throughout her childhood in the lab, she would continue to rely on Goliath for support.

When LEMSIP ended its chimpanzee program in 1996, Mave, Goliath, and 30 other chimpanzees were transferred to the Wildlife Waystation in California. Mave and Goliath stayed together at the Waystation until Goliath’s death, some time around 2018. I can only imagine how devastated Mave must have been. She was soon moved to live with Willy B and Honey B, and as the Waystation began to close, this unlikely threesome came to live at CSNW.

Despite her upbringing, Mave has a high degree of social intelligence. Anyone who can successfully navigate life with Honey B and Willy B would have to, I guess. She’s the kind of chimp that can fit into almost any group—she knows who to groom, who to console, who to support, and who to put in their place. And she does this all with a quiet ease that belies her anxious childhood.

A key to her ability to make friends is the thing I consider to be her superpower: hugging. I have to admit, I sometimes tire of people asking if we wish we could hug the chimps. They are adults, they have each other and don’t need us, it’s far too dangerous…I could go on. I really don’t want to hug the chimps. But if I were a chimp? I’d be first in line for a hug from Mave. Despite the disappointing outcome of our initial effort to integrate Mave’s group with Jamie’s, I wall always remember this hug (and I’m sure Burrito will, too).

Within a couple of years of that first attempt, Mave’s group was once again being integrated with another, and this time she met someone who would take all the hugs she had to give: her new friend, Dora.

These two hit it off instantly. Sometimes I wonder if Dora somehow filled that Goliath-shaped hole in Mave’s heart.

But like so many love stories, this one was complicated, as their families didn’t always get along. And eventually the two groups had to be separated. But while the other chimpanzees at the sanctuary remain in their fixed groups, Mave and Dora (better known as Mora) get to cross back and forth between groups so that their friendship can continue.

Like her friends Willy B and Honey B, Mave had a difficult time becoming comfortable with the outdoors. But she worked hard to overcome her fears, and now she can often be found soaking up the sun on one of the platforms in her 2-acre habitat known as the Bray.

We’re grateful to Mave’s Pals for supporting her life in sanctuary. If you’d like to give Mave a (virtual) hug, consider being her Pal today!

Love for Missy!

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Continuing our month of love, I have the distinct honor of writing about Missy, in the hopes that she will gain more Chimpanzee Pals.

Missy, in a word, is cool.

She is small in stature, but fits quite firmly in the “small but mighty” category. She packs a lot of muscle and a lot of spirit into a small frame.

Missy leap

Missy was born in captivity in 1975 and was owned by the Buckshire Corporation. She spent many years at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) that was part of New York University. There, she was used for hepatitis vaccine testing and breeding. Missy had two children during her time in biomedical research: Honey B, who lives here now, and Josh, who lives at Center for Great Apes. CGA recently wrote about Josh for an electronic newsletter and shared that he, too is quite small, weighing just 90 pounds! We don’t know Missy’s actual birth date, so we chose a date for her to celebrate: August 23rd.

Missy is very loyal to her boss, Jamie.

Missy reaching for Jamie

When we attempted the introductions between Missy’s group and the group of three that included Missy’s daughter in 2019, we learned that Missy relies on Jamie. I had always thought of Missy as quite self-reliant and confident. When she was separated from Jamie, however, she was as nervous as I’ve ever seen her. Now I think of Missy as a soldier who needs a sergeant. She understands hierarchy and wants to know her place in the order, even if her sergeant can be a bit of a bully (see Love for Jamie).

While Jamie and Honey B are both smarty-pants and mischievous in show-offy ways, Missy is quietly intelligent and clever.

She also knows how to crack herself up. This is one of my all-time favorite caught-on-camera moments of Missy. It’s from 15 years ago, so apologies for the poor quality:

Missy was Annie’s rock for the first decade or so at the sanctuary.

Just tonight, I watched Missy reach out to Annie to give her reassurance and bring her in for a hug when Annie was anxious. To both Missy and Annie’s credit, Annie has blossomed and doesn’t need Missy’s constant presence, but we still consider them best friends.

annie and missy outside

Missy is best known for being a runner. As soon as she had access to a large habitat, she ran. She’s been running ever since. J.B. described it best back then: “She is like a spring that was coiled up for decades, just waiting to be released.”

Missy has a new running buddy! She is thrilled when George, in the other habitat, challenges her to a race.

She can spot a tomato, her most favorite food in the whole wide world, from a hundred yards away. Her August birthday is perfectly timed for peak tomato season.

Are you a runner? Do you love tomatoes? Do you know someone who is / does? Well, then, it’s clearly time to become Missy’s Pal or give the gift of Pal sponsorship to your tomato-loving, uber cool, athletic BFF!

Missy currently has eleven pals. Thank you to those eleven for loving Missy, and thank you to everyone who has signed up to be a Pal or Buddy this month! Your support gives them the individualized care they deserve and keeps this blog going!

Love for Honey B

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What can we say about Honey B?  Honey B is playful, loyal, highly sensitive, so fun and sassy.  She is also intelligent, clever, sneaky, mischievous and unpredictable.  For all of these reasons, and so many more, we LOVE Honey B!

To a level unlike any other chimpanzee person at CSNW, Honey B keeps us on our toes.  Honey B may very well be systematically taking the Sanctuary apart, as we speak, one screw at a time.  Back in 2023, Honey B took down a panel in one of the greenhouses.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out here, Honey B gets down to business at 1:56.  At the end of each day, the Lead Caregiver has an extensive list to check off in order to safely and properly close up the chimp house for the evening.  Honey B’s antics have added some things to the list.  Such as the time she got a hold of the hose in the middle of the night.  Recently, when we were introducing George to Cy’s group, Honey B decided that “privacy” was overrated and made an adjustment to a paper covered window.  You can also count on Honey B to do what it takes to improve her living situation, whether it’s holding out in the front rooms for some alone time, or when she’s in the mezzanine with Willy B and gets tired of him throwing his bouncy balls around.

Honey B will be turning 37 on June 11th of this year.  She was born at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery to our very own Missy!  According to our records, her father was Herbie, which means that she is half siblings to Cy, Lucky and Rayne.  In 1996, she moved to Wildlife Waystation in California where she lived with Willy B and Mave.  After the facility closed in 2019, Honey B, Willy B and Mave moved to CSNW.

After some unsuccessful introductions, thus far, Honey B is still living with Willy B and Mave.  But she has many friendships with chimps from Cy’s group.  Especially Dora!  When we think of Dora’s best friend, we automatically think of Mave, however Honey B and Dora have a great friendship!  While Dora spends a lot of time lying about, and grooming with Mave, Honey B is for raucous play!

Honey B and I didn’t always get along.  When I first started volunteering in 2019, Honey B and her family were rather new to the sanctuary.  I had never met a chimp before, and I thought that her intense stare and spits to the face were “friendly”.  I soon learned that that was not the case.  It wasn’t until the summer of 2024 – 5 years later – that Honey B decided, out of the blue, that I was alright.  Prior to that time, Honey B would spit in my face, so forcefully that it once went through my mask, up my nose and down my throat!  I have a whole series of photos of myself covered in Honey B’s smoothies.  If I was cleaning in a room adjacent to a space that Honey B occupied  – like when she holds out in the front rooms – she wouldn’t let me or my tools anywhere near the shared mesh.  She would occasionally lure me to her by wiggling her sweet toes at me – you can always get me with a toe wiggle – then scream in my face.   But, once Honey B decided I wasn’t so bad, our relationship blossomed.  I’m always excited when I get a new scratch to the back of my hand or elbow because I know Honey B will be thrilled to spend some time grooming/bonding.  It really is an honor to be friends with the spitfire that is Honey B!

We would like to thank Honey B’s 8 pals for their support each month!  We couldn’t do what we do without it!  Do you have a pal yet?  You can become Honey B’s pal, or any other chimp’s or cow’s pal by clicking here.

Love for Jamie

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Continuing with the Valentine’s-month blog posts featuring each of those in our care, I made sure to reserve Jamie to write about because I do have a great deal of love for her.

Unfortunately, we don’t know a lot about Jamie’s history. Unlike many of the other chimpanzees at the sanctuary we are not aware of any of Jamie’s relatives. We don’t know where or exactly when she was born. We were told she was owned by an animal trainer until she was nine years old, but we don’t know how she was used. In addition to their use in movies and television shows, it wasn’t uncommon back then for chimpanzees to be used in roadside attractions or even rented out as entertainment for birthday parties. That’s our best guess as to how she was used to make money for her owner.

Many chimpanzees in similar situations, like George who was born on a training compound, were used in the entertainment industry for only a few years before they were deemed too strong, willful, or just too much trouble and cast aside, replaced by younger chimpanzees. At nine, Jamie remained in entertainment longer than most.

She bares the signs of being raised in a human environment. When she first arrived at the sanctuary in 2008, she would choose to wear clothes on a regular basis. She does something I’ve never seen another chimpanzee do: tie knots. Sometimes tied in the scarves that adorn her neck.

Sometimes tied in a nest-blanket she’s weaved through the mesh.

We choose to celebrate Jamie’s birthday on Halloween in honor of her mischievous ways.

Fittingly, Jamieween has become the biggest party of the year at the sanctuary.

 

I consider Jamie to be a good friend. A friendship that has developed over many years. The kind of friend I can just sit with in relaxed comfort.

I understand some of her frustrations of captivity, notice her need for things to be “just so”, and admire her ability to take charge and run towards potential threats to her group, like snakes.

There’s no question that she can be a bully and has a heightened sense of entitlement (she views all food as belonging to her, unless she says otherwise, for example). This quality can make her a less-than ideal roommate, especially for lower-ranking chimpanzees like Foxie and Annie. And it can lead to some funny moments, like this one years ago that reinforced her reputation for being “the party police.”

Perhaps because of her penchant for intimidation, when Jamie is in a good mood, being silly and playful, there’s really nothing better. And she can be quite funny. Jamie really appreciates when you listen to her and know what she wants. She releases a low moan/groan when she’s truly happy, which can often be when a human goes searching for and gives her the particular boot or book (or both) that she had in her mind.

Making Jamie happy makes everyone happy.

It doesn’t take much for Jamie to get up in the morning, because she has an internal list of items on her checklist for the day. Jamie is most likely to be found busy doing something, whether it’s patrolling her outdoor habitat, demanding something from her caregivers, working on a puzzle, or crafting her own enrichment.

 

I hope you have fallen even more in love with boss Jamie than you were before!

Big thanks to the 9 Chimpanzee Pals that have already showed their love of this complicated, multi-dimensional, intelligent, admirable, sometimes irascible chimpanzee.

If you would like to show your love and loyalty, I encourage you to become Jamie’s Chimpanzee Pal today.

Love for Burrito

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Not only is today Valentine’s Day, but today I have the distinct honor of highlighting everyone’s favorite chimpanzee, and my best friend, Burrito!!  Okay, I know he’s not EVERYONE’S favorite, but he’s pretty high up there, I’d say.

Has there ever been a chimpanzee as playful as Burrito?  Quite possibly not.  Burrito is always up for a game of chase, tug-o-war, whack-a-mole, tickle/poke with the spoon, or a run around Young’s Hill at a moments notice.  And when I say, “he’s up for it”, I really mean he DEMANDS it!  Bubba (Burrito) is ready first thing in the morning, blowing raspberries and begging for a game of chase.  Without fail, once Bubba is done with his lunch, he is relentlessly pounding on the caging, demanding that I drop everything to play, play, play.  And everyday, I remind him that I, too, need to eat lunch, and I promise to return to yuk it up.  Sure enough, he waits (patiently?) for my return from lunch so as to commence the caregiver/chimpanzee shenanigans!  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Burrito was born in a laboratory on January 6th, 1983.  That’s right, he turned 43 just last month!  He is half brothers to Noah, Negra’s son, and Clay, Jody’s son. He spent the majority of his first 25 years in biomedical research, though he was also used in the entertainment industry for a year or so, as a youth.  In 2008, he and his family, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Annie, Negra and Foxie, moved to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Cle Elum and were known far and wide as the Cle Elum 7.

For more about Burrito’s past, click here.

Burrito is best know for his endless, playful energy.  He’s also known for his resiliency.  Burrito was bitten not once, but TWICE by a rattlesnake, on two separate occasions a few years back!  It scared the daylights out of us!  We hope that Burrito has become wise with age and learned his lesson about snakes!  Don’t be a hero, man!

Burrito loves his toys.  He loves to put them in his mouth while playing and laughing.  Some favorites include wooden hammers, wooden blocks, plastic serving spoons, and anything that bounces!  If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’ve no doubt seen him bouncing on a Jolly Ball, or a Giant Kong!

Burrito will play with just about anyone who’s willing.  But his best friend is sweet Foxie.  He has taken to watching her back during family squabbles, and offering reassurance when needed.

Burrito has 16 pals!  Do you have a pal?  Are you looking for one?  Burrito would LOVE a new pal!  You can sign up to be Burrito’s pal (or another chimpanzee’s pal) here!

THANK YOU to all of Burrito’s Chimpanzee Pals!  Your donations keep us going!

Full Hearts

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Getting to know the new Lucky Six chimpanzees is an incredible experience. In some ways, it seems like they’ve been here much longer than one week. But it’s true that we barely know them. So each new observation, every moment spent with them, fills our hearts.

The thing is, it’s still the same with all of the other non-humans in our care. They are all such interesting and unique beings; we can never know everything there is to know about them, and we still delight in the little moments.

I’ve been reflecting on little moments lately because our dog Wilson, who I’ve written about on the blog before, passed away this week. He had numerous medical issues over the years, and far outlived anyone expectations. His end was sudden, but not surprising, and J.B. and I were both with him. Though his body, specifically his heart, was failing him, it never slowed him down or changed the goofy, lovable, big-headed, empathetic dog that he was. Our hearts are broken, but that’s because they were filled with so much love.

We’re surrounded by life at the sanctuary. Grief is a strange bargain we make, but it’s worth it to feel so much love.

 

Dora Chimpanzee
Dora watching herself eat dinner
The one and only Jamie. She tied this scarf on with purpose and wore it all afternoon.

 

Jody

 

Wilson