Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Missy

So much to be grateful for

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The past few weeks have been a wild rumpus of weather. Pouring rain, freezing rain, freezing fog, snow and ice. The chimpanzees have been troopers, and even boss lady Jamie has been handling the interruption in walks around Young’s Hill relatively well. But they relish every chance they get to stretch their bodies and minds in between the late autumn storms.

This week we’ve had a couple of beautifully bright, sunny mornings with warmer temperatures (meaning above freezing) and Jamie, Missy, Annie and Foxie, in particular, have been heading outside after breakfast to run, leap, climb and explore. J.B. and I both captured some of the happenings.

Missy (foreground) and Annie (background) both bipedal before they sprinted off through the bamboo in a game of chase.

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Annie (L) and Missy (R):

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I love Missy’s play face in this one:

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Foxie and France Dora pass by on their way to explore:

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Missy contemplates her next move:

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Foxie and her beloved new France Dora decide to take a climb and see what they can see:

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You can just see the river that runs below the sanctuary in the top left corner.

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Jamie has made sure we are making the most of every single walkable moment with the weather breaks. The forecast is predicting a snow storm beginning tonight and through tomorrow so maybe she knows there’s no time to waste.

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And with the holidays fast approaching, all is abuzz as we begin preparations for the chimps’ holiday celebration. Donations, gifts from our Wishlist for the chimps and humans alike, and holiday cards full of love and good wishes have been pouring in! And trolls! So many trolls for Foxie! We are constantly astounded by your generosity and are so full of gratitude to you all! And we would like to share a special thank you for long-time supporter, Diana Petri, for her amazingly generous gift of the new office computers Diana and I put on the Wishlist! Diana has been patching hers together for months and mine is an old PC that has been making crazy noises when it’s forced to wake up in the morning, so to say we are excited is an understatement.

But most importantly, each one of your gifts, whether for the chimpanzees, or to help the humans care for the chimpanzees, not only provides for their direct quality care, but allows us to focus more funds toward maintaining a secure future and beginning our exciting plans for expansion and growing our chimpanzee family. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to each and every one of you who have given your support, in whatever form that has come. Every single thought, dollar and gift makes an immense difference to the chimpanzees’ lives, both now and in the future.

And to get in the spirit of the season, I will leave you with this moment from today captured by Anna. Foxie, her new France Dora (out of sight, but who was being passed back and forth between us) and I sat down to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” this afternoon. The sweet Vince Guaraldi music is some of my favorite to listen to this time of year (not to mention seeing, and okay, yes, mimicking the Peanuts characters’ dancing scene) and as Foxie loves music and dancing I thought the show might be right up her alley. Sure enough, the second she heard the music she smiled and started head-bobbing along.

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Happiest of holiday seasons to all of you!

Missy’s mission

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Often times Missy will join Jamie on her perimeter walks around Young’s Hill (the chimps’ 2 acre outdoor enclosure), although I suspect her mission is a bit different than that of Jamie’s. Jamie is all business as she walks, checking to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary and that her home is safe from intruders (and that at least one cowboy-boot-wearing human is accompanying her on the other side of the fence).

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Missy on the other hand uses the opportunity to move every muscle in her body, while getting a cardio workout at the same time. It’s not that she doesn’t support the bosses’ mission (she is actually the first one to offer back up to any of the other chimps), it’s just that with so much to explore, there’s no time to waste. And you have to act fast to get snow and ice chunks before they melt.

Today, Missy walked behind Jamie about half way around Young’s Hill before venturing off.
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She paused briefly to eat a few small chunks of ice before continuing.

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She made sure to check all her favorite spots for the treats (you can see her arm reaching in the tire swing) while Annie sat on top of the structure.

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She found more treats on the ground below the fire hose.
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And then….Jackpot!!!
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The way to a chimpanzee’s heart…

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If we asked the chimpanzees what their caregivers’ #1 priority should be, “giving us food” would be the unanimous response. We serve other purposes too – we keep their enclosures clean, we serve as play partners – but nothing’s more important than food.

Because humans are always separated from the chimps by caging, we have two main strategies for getting food to the chimps. Most meals are served directly to the group by a trained caregiver. The chimps all gather in one place and the caregiver hands food to each chimp. This allows us to make sure that everyone’s getting enough food.

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The other type of meal is a forage: we close off a part of the chimps’ enclosure and scatter their meal around, and then let them back into that area so they can collect their own food. The advantage of forages is that they encourage “species-specific behavior” – basically, they let the chimps act like chimps. Free-living chimpanzees spend much of their day searching for food. The other advantage of forages is that the chimps lose their minds with excitement. As they watch us scatter their food, they break out in deafening food squeaks, pant hoots, and anticipatory screams.

Today volunteer caregiver Sandra and I set up a lunch forage in the greenhouse, and then watched the excitement unfold.

Annie:

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Missy:

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Burrito:

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These resilient spirits

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Foxie has become quite the celebrity. As Diana mentioned in her blog post several days ago, the story of Foxie’s history, her life in the lab, and her subsequent discovery of her love for troll dolls and Dora the Explorer and has been shared in The Dodo and the Huffington Post. Since then her story continues to travel the globe and has been seen in the Daily Mail, KOMO News, the Berliner Kurier to name a few, and most recently, ABC News. And it seems there’s more to come! We are thrilled to see Foxie’s story being shared and the opportunity for so many people to learn about all that she has overcome since arriving to her sanctuary home.

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As the stories relate, and you may be aware, Foxie was used in part as a “breeder” during her time in biomedical research (in addition to being used in hepatitis vaccination research, as were Annie, Burrito, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra). Foxie gave birth to four children, two daughters and two sons, a rare set of twins. All of whom were taken from her immediately, or shortly after birth, to continue their own lives being used as research subjects.

It’s hard to imagine such unfathomable loss and suffering. And yet, most of us can relate on some level. I think that is why Foxie’s story touches so many of us. And the fact that she has become so enamored with her beloved trolls and Dora the Explorer only appeals that much more to our hearts. While the dolls of course, will never make up for the loss of Foxie’s children, knowing that she’s found something that makes her heart light up and upon occasion direct her mothering instincts toward is immensely heartwarming.

But something that I hope also comes from this opportunity for more people to learn about Foxie’s story, is the opportunity for more people to learn about other chimpanzees with her history. For as truly special as Foxie and her story are, this is the story of every chimpanzee in biomedical research, and in fact, for every animal in biomedical research. This is the story of animals in the entertainment and pet industries, factory farming, and countless other arenas where animals’ lives, intelligence, emotions, families, communities, and well-being are seen as less valuable than ours.

Every time I see someone’s heart and mind open up when they learn of Foxie’s story, I am given hope that those who feel inclined to do so will seek out more information, ask questions, and consider how they can make a difference in the lives of others by the choices they make in their own. Because I can tell you, no matter how small you might feel what you have to offer is, it can make a huge difference to someone else.

This story is also that of Annie, Missy, Jody and Negra who also had their children stolen from them in the same manner. All of their children have been deprived of being raised and nurtured by their mother, being part of a chimpanzee family in which they learn important social skills and experience family bonding. Annie gave birth to 7 children, Jody gave birth to 9 children, Missy gave birth to 3 children and had one miscarriage, and Negra gave birth three children. And although Jamie and Burrito are not parents to any children we are aware of, they are not exempt from the devastating loss of family.

By this time, you might be thinking, “Katelyn, we don’t want to read all of this heartbreaking stuff!” I get that. But I also invite you to look beyond the painful things toward what you have helped provide these chimpanzees and hopefully, those to come in the future. All around us are examples of how resilient the human spirit is. And thanks to you, we get to see on a daily basis how resilient the chimpanzees’ spirits are when given the space to heal. They inspire me every single day. In short, they are my heroes. I am grateful to my bones that they each finally get the opportunity to find things that make their hearts and souls sing. Whether it’s a cowgirl boot, open spaces to run to one’s hearts content, a best friend, fresh food, a cozy blanket nest, or yes, a troll or Dora doll.  Thanks to you, each one of these very special people is provided with love, care, dignity and family.

Today, after a couple weeks of a seemingly endless wild rumpus of stormy weather, things have lulled and the sun even made an appearance. Annie, Foxie, Jody, and Missy were first onto the hill (yes, even before Jamie!) to stretch their legs and enjoy the fresh air. I watched them for a long time as they moved over the hill together, these chimpanzees who have become family for one another. Each enjoying their own activities, but staying within sight of one another, quick to offer backup or reassurance over perceived threats to their home, in this case, barking pups below and hawks calling out above. (Jamie eventually sauntered right past me and headed off to patrol the perimeter all on her own and Burrito chose to enjoy the greenhouse).

Annie enjoyed a long awaited sit in the sun. I love how relaxed her hands are and my heart melted a little when she sat gazing up at the sky.

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Jody (above) and Foxie (below) checked out the entire length of structures together:

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Just as Jody was headed back in after her stroll on the hill, she stopped on high alert and ran to back-up Missy from the dreaded dog barking.

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Jody and Missy patrolled the perimeter together and once it was certain the threats had been averted, Jody headed back to the warmer greenhouse and Missy continued exploring:

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And Negra chose to remain comfy and warm in her nest, knowing all is well:

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The traumas we are all inflicted with at some point in life always leave their marks. But so does hope. So does dignity. And so does love.

Jody in the spotlight

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In the spotlight today is Jody. She’s not often one for having her photo taken, so when the opportunity arose, I took it. During breakfast this morning, she took her banana and grapefruit from the Greenhouse area of their enclosure to sit on the bench in Front Room 4. We often refer to this room as the “Portrait Studio” because of the natural light that filters in through the window and bathes the chimps in a natural glow.

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My experience with Jody is that she is usually one of the first of the chimps to venture out on Young’s Hill (the chimps’ 2-acre outdoor enclosure) when they are given access each day. She also happens to be the chimp most likely to forage for every wild plant she can find on the hill. But since there is little in the form of wild plants growing during this time of the year, she seeks out snow and ice chunks to eat instead.

This morning she was the first outside as soon as I opened the door leading to Young’s Hill. She sat on a log near the raceway door (the area leading from the Greenhouse to the hill) for a few minutes before grabbing a few handfuls of snow. She then turned and went back into the Greenhouse to eat them. After that, she sat in the raceway and looked out.

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Later in the day, she ventured further up on Young’s Hill searching for snow and ice to eat. Then she followed Missy on part of her adventure of climbing every structure before returning to the Playroom area to relax in a blanket nest.

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Jody left, Missy right)
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Jody following Missy
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First snow day

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We all woke up to a couple inches of snow this morning and while the chimpanzees were not interested in going outside today, they were interested in eating the snow! Missy, Burrito and Annie were ready and waiting when I opened the door to Young’s Hill and immediately started food grunting when they saw the snow. They each took turns stretching out of the doorway to grab handfuls of the fluffy stuff. After breakfast was served, Jamie came in to nest bringing along of cup of snow to go that she had gathered:

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Some of the chimps don’t mind collecting their own snow, but others are quick to figure out it’s much easier to just ask their caregivers to fetch it for them. Foxie sat at the window blowing raspberries with gusto until I brought a bucket in for them to snack on. After cleaning, we filled buckets with snow and sunflower and pumpkin seeds and you should have heard the excitement!

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Jody inspected her options before relaxing with a big mouthful on the stairwell:

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Burrito’s plan was to just grab a bucket and shovel in as much as possible:

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And Foxie made the rounds and spent time at several buckets:

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If you look closely, you can see Foxie rubbing her happy toes together.

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And of course eating all that snow can make a person cold! So after the snow fest (which included snow in cowgirl boots!), Jamie bundled up to get warm:

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I couldn’t get any photos of Negra as she is now frequenting her “winter” nesting area which is, of course, in a cozy corner out of sight. But rest assured the Queen had grabbed herself her very own bucket of snow snacks to enjoy from the comfort of her nest.