Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Missy

Thanksgiving

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We have had a pretty fantastic Thanksgiving here at CSNW. The chimps came into the front rooms at 8:30 this morning for a breakfast of fruit smoothie, bananas, and cranberry sauce. While Jackie served the meal, the rest of us cleaned the playroom and prepared the Thanksgiving feast. By 10:30, cleaning was finished and we set out the food as a big forage in the playroom: pumpkins, green onions, bok choy, whole frozen apples, potatoes (sweet and otherwise), broccoli, bell peppers, parsnips, whole pomegranates, swiss chard, eggplant, and stuffing (all thanks to supporter Tamela!).

The chimps have been in terrific moods all day. Jamie made a magnificent nest out of blankets, a ball of yarn, a cardboard box, various toys, and a GIANT teddy bear. After she was done, she lounged inside it, quite visibly pleased with things, until Foxie marched over and started a vigorous tickle game. Meanwhile, Burrito and Negra groomed each other in front of Negra’s favorite window that looks out over the valley; Jody napped with a full belly; and Missy and Annie chased each other around the playroom.

For dinner, the chimps enjoyed oranges, strawberries, sparkling cider, and ridiculously delicious vegan meat, donated by our friends at Field Roast Grain Meat Co. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and thank you so much for your support and for helping to give the chimpanzees something to be thankful for this year.

Who’s in your wallet

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This is in response to a question from Shari on the last post. Below are the images of all of the credit card options with the chimpanzees names above them. We can only have five designs at a time, and Jody is not one of the images. I decided since her image is on most of our merchandise (t-shirts, soon-to-be-added bumper stickers, and tote bags), it was okay to leave her out of this first round of designs. Thanks for helping out the sanctuary by applying for one of these cards!

Burrito

Negra

Missy and Annie

Foxie

Jamie

Missy then and now

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Every once in a while it’s good to look back to see how far we’ve come. Though we are very focused on the future – the next celebration, the next event, the next fundraising initiative, the next building improvement, etc, looking back can be really motivating.

One way to do this is to see how much the chimpanzees have changed since their arrival to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

The below “before” and “after” photos appear in the 2010 calendar, which you can purchase through the online store (and, yes, I am looking forward to lots of people buying the calendar and sharing the Cle Elum Seven with friends, family and coworkers this year!)

Missy on her first day at CSNW, after years of living as a biomedical research subject and “breeder”

web_Missy Before Picture 044

Missy after one year in sanctuary

Missy_green bottle outside cropped MG_9376

A new game

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Missy and Annie are playful in the morning, sometimes chasing each other all over the playroom before we even turn the lights on. Lately, they have been playing a new game: chasing each other while balancing on the catwalk railing. I finally caught them in the act the other day. Good thing they have opposable toes….

Missy and her raisin board

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We included raisin boards in this morning’s enrichment, and Missy demonstrated a new technique for fishing the raisins out (at least one that I haven’t seen before). Rather than trying to pry the raisins out or poke them out the other side, she would insert the chopstick and push it all the way through, like she was sewing with a big needle. It seemed to work well, except for when her tool would get stuck, in which case she would just break it off and start over with a smaller stick.

Negra

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When you take care of chimpanzees in a sanctuary, your whole life revolves around trying to make them happy. You live for those moments when they are food squeaking over a good meal, or playing a wild game of chase around the outdoor enclosure. For some members of the Cle Elum Seven, we’ve begun to take these moments for granted. When does Missy not want to play chase? And is there ever a moment when Foxie is not playing with her troll dolls?

But for some chimps, its harder to tell when they are happy. Negra has one speed (slow) and a limited number of activities that she engages in (eat, sleep, groom, gaze out the window). Perhaps its due in part to her personality; some folks just live life at a different pace. But you can’t help but wonder how much of it is due to 35 years of confinement in a laboratory.

Determining what effect a lifetime of stress in the laboratory has on chimpanzees is currently the work of two researchers, Debra Durham and Hope Ferdowsian. Debra and Hope are conducting a large-scale study of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in ex-laboratory chimpanzees. This summer, we participated in interviews with the researchers to look for indications of PTSD in the Cle Elum Seven.

Debra recently penned an Op-Ed for the Orlando Sentinel (see Drawing Ourselves into the Lives of Chimpanzees), in which she comments on the improvements they have seen in Negra. And, as fate would have it, the article’s publication coincided nicely with this video we took of Negra playing with Missy right before Jamie’s birthday party. (My favorite part of the video? When Negra grabs both or Missy’s ears and shakes her head back and forth 🙂

Its not likely that Negra will ever be rambunctious like Missy, or acrobatic like Foxie. Usually, I take comfort in the fact that when Negra chooses to put a blanket over her head and stare out the window, at least she has a choice. But she does have her playful moments, and according to Debra and Hope’s research, she is still showing signs of improvement.  So we can all look forward to seeing Negra pull Missy’s legs and ears more and more in the days to come.

Dirty work

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Much of each day here at CSNW is spent cleaning. At 8:30 every morning, we invite the chimpanzees into the front rooms (four adjoining rooms adjacent to the playroom) for breakfast, and if everybody chooses to come in, staff and volunteers then enter the playroom and begin a thorough cleaning. The process usually takes about an hour and a half; during this time, the chimps occupy themselves in the front rooms by playing, nesting, or watching us clean (Jamie, especially, is always very interested in what we’re doing). Once we’re all finished and locked up, the chimps move to the playroom and we repeat the cleaning routine in the front rooms.

Here is a video of the daily playroom cleaning routine. It’s exhausting for sure, but it’s all part of providing a nice home for the Cle Elum Seven.