Missy

Being a caregiver to chimpanzees is a great job, in my humble opinion. There are so many challenges that come with the job, but there are also the same if not more amount of rewards. You also see chimpanzees in a new light. Before moving up to Central Washington, I had studied chimpanzees for a couple of years. The studies, however, consisted of me helping to analyze data that was coming in from the field researchers. To learn about chimpanzees in a classroom setting is one thing, but working with them up close is another. To see everything you have read about in the flesh is like fitting the missing piece to the puzzle. The picture becomes clear. The intelligence, the emotions, the tenderness, the strength, and yes, the chaos. Everything about these beings changes. You see them in a whole new light.

Working with these individuals, you cannot help but wanting to know everything about them. That’s when the sadness kicks in. Reading about what they went through for decades is truly heartbreaking. The kicker is knowing the can never be truly free for various reasons. One example is chimpanzees are very territorial beings. They do not take kindly to strangers. The instinct for them in the wild is to kill any intruders into their home range, minus age appropriate females to diversify the genetic pool. Another example is everything a chimpanzee knows to do in the wild is passed onto them from their mothers and other elders in their community through observational learning. This includes things such as what to eat, how to get it and eat it, how to socialize and show respect to those higher in the hierarchy. Chimpanzees used in the biomedical labs, the entertainment industry, and those kept as pets are taken away from their mothers very early in their life. Sometimes after a few short hours. So they miss all these important life skills that they should know if they were in the wild.

One downfall is as a caregiver, the algorithms on social media tend to veer you toward animal related content. On paper, this would be great. The more exposure you can get, the more people will join in appreciating and help conservation efforts to save them. However, the reality is caregiver’s social media algorithms tend to only show the user what is popular. In the case of chimpanzees and other primates, these videos are the ones with them dressed up, doing tricks, playing with dogs or tiger cubs or guests. These are the videos that things like the exotic pet trade or entertainment. I will give props to the entertainment industry, which is trying to use CGI effects in lieu actual animals of late. Some studios are still falling behind that curve though. The more there is a want for chimpanzees to star in film, interact with guests at roadside zoos, or be kept as a pet, the more atrocious means are used to acquire infant chimpanzees.

Chimpanzees are a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This means chimpanzees in the wild are protected from being captured, killed, or traded. Or they should be protected from being captured, killed, and traded. Despite their CITES protection, chimpanzees are still being sought after as pets and props. Poachers almost exclusively target infants since they are smaller, a blank canvas in terms of training, and cute. In order to obtain an infant, poachers usually have to kill any adult in the area. Eight to ten adult chimpanzees are killed as they try to protect their family. Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center just posted a story on their Instagram account that is saddening and sickening, of an infant they rescued from poachers who still had his mother’s blood and hair clenched in his hands.

It can be hard to believe, but though most states ban the owning of primates (to some degree), there are still some where it is permissible. I personally believe all states should ban any primate from being a household pet. There are a plethora of reasons why. Besides the ethical reasoning due to the circumstances mentioned above, primates are notoriously difficult to keep. They need socialization with others of their kind. They are expensive. They need room. They are messy. They are violent. And they are strong. Most of these traits show up around the time they reach adolescence. This is why if you see these posts with chimpanzees, you are more than likely only going to see them in a certain age range. By the time they reach adulthood, they are no longer “manageable,” they lose their little white tuft on their back ends, and their skin tone changes dramatically, and they become nonprofitable in both the entertainment industry and pet trade.

There are many stories out there of events where a pet chimpanzee escaped from their cage and caused damage to property and/or leaving their keeper mutilated. In either case, the chimpanzee is usually the one that suffers in the end. Though the chimpanzees in our care do indeed live in enclosures, the lives of chimpanzees in accredited facilities are the best that they can get and that we can offer. We do everything in our power to make their lives as comfortable as possible and advocating for the end of these industry and trade practices. We never go into the enclosures with them and limit our physical contact. You know I love Burrito and would do anything for him (and everyone else of course), but I would never want to get into the same space as him. Burrito is goofy, charming, and playful, but he also can cause trouble, be destructive, and is incredibly strong. It would be highly irresponsible of me to do so. If I ever did and something bad happened, it would be him who suffers for my reckless decision. Essentially, he would be punished for being himself.

To help raise awareness, there are many things you can do. You can support an accredited sanctuary through donations and volunteer work. If you see a post on social media or anywhere really of a chimpanzee in an unnatural situation, you can help educate and inform by redirecting them to resources that explains why. You can also support any legislation being voted on by you government representative, both state and federal. Every so ofter a bill is proposed for the advocacy of chimpanzees and other primates and wild animals.

For Advocacy. For Conservation. For Chimpanzees.

Here are some photos from around the sanctuary!

Burrito on top of one of the stumps at the top of Young’s Hill

Missy and Jamie enjoying their breakfast in one of the windows of their Greenhouse

Missy!

Jamie enjoying a browse of goat’s beard dandelions

Negra also enjoyed the dandelions

Burrito, on the other hand, getting into my shots of Negra to make me stop taking pictures and play instead

The strawberry bed between Young’s Hill and The Bray beginning to produce berries

Beautiful, sweet Lucky!