Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Nature

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The chimps all have different ways of interacting with the natural world. Jamie seems to revel in the opportunities that nature provides. If the rest of the gang would join her, she’d stay out all day hiking, climbing, exploring. There is territory to defend and there are squirrels to hunt (she hasn’t caught one outside yet, not for lack of trying).

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Unfortunately for Jamie (but fortunately for the deer), some parts of nature will always be out of reach. When that happens, the best you can do is sit back and observe.

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Jody loves being outside in the natural world, but sometimes she’d rather take hers to go. Every day, she breaks off a piece of bamboo and drags it inside so that she can enjoy it from the comfort of the greenhouse. To each her own.

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Jamie and Foxie vs the GoPro

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If you follow the sanctuary on Facebook, you’ll know that this is posting a bit later than usual because Jamie decided she wanted to take several post-dinner walks around Young’s Hill tonight.

It’s a beautiful end-of-summer evening, so of course I could not refuse the request. Once she was satisfied, I came back in to review the footage the GoPro captured this morning.

The GoPro revealed that Jamie had quite the day. She spent a good 30 minutes on the termite mound, then decided to check out the GoPro camera, which is securely locked in a steel casing (you’ll see why below). Foxie took her turn at the camera too.

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More medical equipment

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Exciting news – we received an ultrasound machine! The machine (pictured below, on the left) comes courtesy of Pacific Vascular in Bothell, WA and is capable of doing cardiac, abdominal, and, as you might have guessed, vascular imaging. A million thanks to Pacific Vascular, to supporter Karen Gates and her son Jack for making the connection and advocating for us, and to Bob for giving us a tutorial.

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Providence Medical Center in Everett, WA has come through again, this time with a centrifuge (below, on the right). Thanks Dan!

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And Kittitas Valley Healthcare has donated both an endoscopy tower and a mayo stand. Thank you Judi and everyone at KVH!

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We’re still looking for a steam autoclave, a laryngoscope, and a portable x-ray machine. And ideally, we’d love to have a second, more portable, ultrasound machine for doing imaging inside the chimp house when the chimps aren’t under anesthesia (especially for Burrito). So if you know of any companies that might be willing to donate these items, please let us know!

Board Member Profile: Kimber Leblicq

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Learn all about our current Board President, Kimber Leblicq, in this post. This is the second post in the series profiling our fantastic Board of Directors. If you missed the first one that introduced outgoing Board President David, you can view it here.

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While Kimber is just beginning a term as Board President, she has been involved with Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest for a very long time. Kimber’s professional background is in communications, marketing, and fundraising in the non-profit sector in the Northwest. She is also a compassionate advocate for animal welfare and the environment and manages to make  unique sculptural jewelry in addition to all of her other interests!

She has joked with founder Keith and former board member Mary Murray, that, if you counted the two of them, Kimber was the third volunteer for CSNW. This was before Keith purchased the property for the sanctuary, before there were staff, and before Keith had even learned about Burrito, Foxie, Jody, Missy, Annie, Jamie, and Negra.

In 2004 Mary and Keith met Kimber in a coffee shop to discuss Keith’s vision for the organization. Kimber immediately offered her skills and expertise to help advise and build what became the foundation of the organization during this early start-up phase.

Over three years Kimber and an advisory committee created a marketing and development plan; drafted a strategic plan; crafted the mission, vision, and values statements; wrote grant proposals to seek seed funding; reached out to other sanctuaries and primate advocates for a feasibility study; and set up the organizational structure to prepare for the day they were going to welcome chimpanzees. All of this preparation meant that there was already a strong organization in place before the chimpanzees arrived. And it certainly built up the anticipation for that day!

Before the Cle Elum Seven arrived in 2008, the official Board of Directors was formed and Kimber transitioned off of the committee. Kimber proudly watched the fledgling organization grow, and, in 2011, the board asked if she would like to join once again to serve in official capacity.

In her current role as Board President, Kimber is looking forward to launching our new strategic plan, which will drive the organization’s road-map for the next five years.

I’ll end with how she feels about CSNW in her own words, “Serving the Cle Elum Seven is the most important work that I have done as a volunteer. Giving them what they deserve fulfills me every day. I have a deep respect for our organization, for our staff, and for our army of volunteers who work hard to meet the needs of our chimps. Thank you also to our donors for their generous support. It’s a pleasure and an honor to work with like-minded and passionate people and thank you all for being a part of our family.”

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Elephant Nature Foundation, Thailand. Medo and Kimber

Happy Birthday, Missy!

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Missy turned 38 today, and to celebrate we made the day all about her. Volunteers Patti and Annie brought some of Missy’s favorite foods and toys, and we did forages in the greenhouse and on Young’s Hill for breakfast. We also harvested cattails from the pond. Tonight, we’ll put out Kongs after dinner, which are her favorite food puzzles.

The Cle Elum Seven really have aged backwards since coming to the sanctuary – it’s hard to believe that playful, active Missy is 38 years old. Let’s hope she never acts her age.

Tool Use and the Termite Mound

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Jane Goodall’s research was ground-breaking in many ways, but one of her most important discoveries was that chimpanzees possess the ability to use tools. At the time, it was thought that tool use was a defining characteristic of the human species. But shortly after she began studying the chimpanzees of Gombe, Dr. Jane saw them using sticks to fish termites out of their nests. When she reported her findings to her mentor, Louis Leakey, he famously wrote, “Now we must redefine tool, redefine Man, or accept chimpanzees as humans.”

Over the last 50 years, primatologists have discovered that the use of tools to “fish” for termites and ants is even more complex than had originally been thought. Chimpanzees have been observed bringing “tool kits,” containing a variety of tools for different purposes, to the nests. For example, some tools are used specifically to perforate the nests of army ants. Breaking nests open by hand tends to result in an aggressive counter-attack by the ants, and may even cause them to relocate the nest. Using the perforating tool results in a less painful experience and allows for the harvesting of the ants to be sustainable. Other tools are used specifically for dipping into the nest, and their size and shape, as well as the technique for ingesting the insects once they are caught, are influenced by the behavior of the insects being harvested. And all of these techniques are influenced by culture, which is to say that they are learned and not determined by genetics and environment alone. They differ from community to community, as each community has its own set of knowledge and traditions.

When we built Young’s Hill, the Young’s provided the funds for us to build an artificial termite mound. The mound is actually hollow and consists of concrete laid over a rebar framework. Stainless steel tubes protrude through the concrete, and we can climb in and attach PVC tubes filled with food treats on the inside. The mound also protects critical irrigation components for the bamboo groves.

Most captive chimpanzees, having been raised outside of the cultures found in free-living communities, do not consider insects to be food. So we stick with what they enjoy – in this case, frozen banana mixed with peanut butter and almond milk.

If you’re impressed with Jamie’s tool-using abilities, vote for her in the Humane Society of the United States’ chimpanzee art contest.

Jamie’s sunflower seed painting

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So, by now you hopefully know that Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s chimpanzee boss-lady Jamie is entered in this very unique chimpanzee-only art contest sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.

You can and should vote for her piece every day until the contest ends on August 22nd at 5:00 ET. The sanctuary that cares for the winning chimpanzee will receive a $10,000 grant from HSUS!

If you aren’t on our e-news list (which you can remedy by signing up here), or if you missed the email sent out yesterday, below is the video we shared of Jamie during the session where she created her mixed media masterpiece that is in the contest.

There are many things that I like about this video and Jamie’s approach. In particular, I like the way she carefully applies the paint to the sunflower seed shell with her finger and the way she wipes off her hands when she’s done. These are classic Jamie things to do.

I hope you appreciate the effort she put into her art and give her your vote! The voting website even allows you to be reminded to vote each day by texting CHIMPART TO 30644 (message and data rates may apply).

In other good news, MSN shared this video on their page today!