Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Negra in her cabin!

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I took some photos last night and had a whole blog post about night bags ruminating in my head, but then, today, this happened…

negra sit in cabinNegra finally spent some time in Negra’s Cabin!

The thinking behind the cabin that you helped us build through our 4th anniversary fundraising, was that the chimps, particularly fair-weather-loving Negra, needed a spot on the hill where they would be protected from the wind and rain, which we had both of today.

Here’s the full story of Negra’s big venture to her cabin –

Now that the snow is gone and we’ve had some warmer days, Negra has been spending a bit of her time on the hill, especially when we spread food around for the chimps to find. Below is a photo from last night of Negra heading back towards the greenhouse after gathering some sweet potato:

Negra sweet potato in mouth

Generally, Negra’s been going out long enough to gather food, then coming back inside, but today was a little different.

The weather has been weird today. One minute sunny and warm, the next windy and overcast, and the next sleeting. There was a window of good weather around the chimps’ lunchtime, so we decided to set up a forage on the hill. We’re defrosting the freezer today, so J.B. took a hammer to some frozen watermelon that had been in the freezer for who knows how long and we included that in the lunch forage.

Jody went for the frozen watermelon in the cabin, and took her stash away as Negra approached:

Negra approaching cabin

Negra approaching Jody in cabin

Negra displacing Jody in cabin

Once in the cabin, Negra actually just sat for a while. I think and hope that she was realizing how great it is in there!

Negra in cabin 1

Negra in cabin profile

negra sit in cabin

Jody got all of the watermelon from the cabin, but there was still some other food that Negra found:

Negra reaching for food in cabin

Negra eating tomato in cabin

Hopefully this is the first day of many that Negra will enjoy the warmth and protection of her cabin.

 

Chimps vs Horses

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Every once and a while, our neighbor’s horses escape their pastures and come over to the sanctuary. I like to watch the look on their faces when they see the chimps for the first time. It goes from interested to confused to frightened in about five seconds.

I think the chimps enjoy engaging in territorial behavior from time to time. CSNW is different than most other chimpanzee sanctuaries in that we have only one group and they are together at all times. They never see or hear other chimpanzees and therefore they rarely have a reason to defend their territory as a group or to patrol the boundaries of their enclosure. But occasional visits from wild deer, stray dogs, and escaped horses and cattle keep them on their toes.

Jamie, being the alpha that she is, seems to live for this kind of thing.

Nesting in the Cabin!

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We are having another spring-like day at the sanctuary today. I can’t tell you how great it feels! I just got back from playing a very exhausting game of chase with Jamie. She wanted me to chase her while I was holding a very specific pair of boots that her friend Wanda T. sent her recently. While I was being run around the outside of the fence by Jamie and then Missy, J.B. was taking some photos. And, guess what? Annie was making the first nest we’ve seen anyone make in Negra’s cabin!

annie nesting in Negra's cabin

Annie was repeatedly distracted by Missy, who kept coming by and inviting Annie to chase and wrestle, but J.B. said Annie went back a few times to work on her nest.

Today is just the kind of day that is perfect for Negra’s Cabin. With the lexan walls blocking the wind and maximizing the warmth of the sun, it’s the coziest spot on the hill. We definitely still have some winter ahead of us, but the first nest in the cabin is a hopeful sign of spring days to come!

Speaking of the cabin – the sign is almost done and will be installed soon! The sign has all of the names of those who donated towards our 4th Anniversary Fundraising, helping to exceed our goal amount so we could spend a little of that raised to build Negra’s cabin. Thank you to everyone who contributed to that fundraising campaign. It’s probably one of the most unique cabins ever built, and we can’t wait to see the chimps, maybe even Negra, spending time out there soaking up the sun. It’s truly amazing what we’ve been able to give the chimpanzees since their arrival, and it’s all because of you.

Here are some sneak peak photos of the sign:

Negra's Cabin donor sign 1

Negra's cabin sign 2

At last…

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This has been a long, snowy couple of months. But at last, the sun is out and the snow is gone…at least for now. The chimps have been celebrating this week by running, spinning, leaping, and climbing all over Young’s Hill.

OK, not everyone ran. Jody walked. But it was a brisk walk.

web Jody YH IMG_2701

Foxie brought along a troll. Dora had to wait inside.

web Foxie YH troll in mouth IMG_2707

Burrito was all over the place, which is still so exciting to see. He soaked in some sun in Negra’s Cabin.

web Burrito in Negras cabin YH IMG_2482

And climbed from platform to platform.

web Burrito on platform YH IMG_2787

Negra even spent some time outside in the sun this morning but you’ll have to take my word for it. We don’t often get photos of Negra when she’s out because she doesn’t seem to tolerate the paparazzi the way the others do.

Missy and Annie chased each other over every inch of the hill, smiling the entire time.

web Missy smile chase annie bamboo YH IMG_2598

web Missy smile cahse annie bamboo YH IMG_2589

web Missy smile annie play YH IMG_2512

web Missy grab annie foot play chase YH stump IMG_2640

web Missy annie smile play structure YH IMG_2658

I don’t know why Jamie doesn’t engage in this kind of rambunctious play outside. For whatever reason, she prefers to have the staff and volunteers chase her around the hill when she wants to blow off some steam. Volunteer Seana was happy to oblige, but she ended up with more a workout than she was expecting. Jamie first chased her clockwise around the 2-acre enclosure.

web Jamie Seana caregiver volunteer chase YH IMG_2538

web Jamie run downhill chase IMG_2567

Then when they got back to the bottom, Jamie turned around and ran the whole thing in reverse. This pattern continued until Seana and Jamie were exhausted.

web Jamiwe chase Seana uphill YH caregiver volunteer IMG_2638

web Jamie run YH IMG_2745

 

Jamie and her barrel

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One of my favorite stories from Jane Goodall’s book In the Shadow of Man was the story of Mike.

Mike was a small, low-ranking male who was continually threatened and attacked by higher ranking chimpanzees until the day he discovered a pair of empty kerosene cans at the research camp. By banging the cans together, Mike’s displays made a sound that none of the other chimpanzees had heard before. Imagine hearing the clashing and booming of metal on metal, when even the toughest chimpanzees were stuck shaking branches and throwing rocks. Mike may not have had the size and strength of Goliath or David Graybeard but he was clever – clever enough to rise to alpha male and remain there for six years after his first kerosene can display.

I see a lot of Mike in Jamie. While Jamie is by no means small, she clearly knows how to use objects in her displays to her advantage. While Burrito runs around clapping his hands, Jamie shows him how it’s done.

web Jamie pilo erect arrange barrel start display playroom PR IMG_2136

web Jamie drum barrel look at camera start display playroom PR IMG_2137

web Jamie display drum barrel playroom PR IMG_2139

web Jamie display drum barrel playroom PR IMG_2140

Captivity

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We’ve been talking a lot about Jamie recently. She provides us with a lot to talk about, both on this blog and amongst the staff and volunteers at the sanctuary. We’ve told you about her artistic side, her love of cowboy boots, the challenges she presents to her caregivers to keep her busy mind active, and we’ve reflected on her complicated personality. There’s one thing that I sometimes mention to people when talking about Jamie in person. It’s something that I was thinking about as I took the photos below, and I don’t think I’ve shared it on the blog yet. So here it is –

I think Jamie is acutely aware of her captivity. I don’t say this about all of the chimpanzees. I don’t think Foxie, for example, with her goofy, please-everyone personality, thinks about how unfair it is that she is on the other side of the fencing from the humans, that we make a lot of decisions for her, and that we go off somewhere else at the end of the day. It’s impossible to know for sure, but I believe Jamie is very aware of all of these things, and she knows it’s not fair. I agree with her. Chimpanzees don’t belong in captivity. We do the best we possibly can with the resources we have to provide a happy life for the Cle Elum Seven, but we could never provide them with everything, especially the true freedom that they deserve (If you’re wondering why we don’t offer the chimps more freedom, take a look at this blog post and the link in it about the true nature of chimpanzees).

But things are getting better. More and more people are accepting the simple truth that chimpanzees don’t belong in captivity. The release of the NIH Council of Councils working group report the other day could be a watershed moment for chimpanzees in biomedical research in the United States, and the growing awareness of who chimpanzees are and what they deserve has played a huge role in this moment. It’s the countdown to the end of chimpanzees in biomedical research, and, in fact, someone is counting down – Lori Gruen launched a new website today called the Last 1,000. It is a list of all of the chimpanzees still in research and a tracking of these individuals from lab to sanctuary by highlighting their name or number in green. Lori’s already been able to highlight some of the chimpanzees who went from New Iberia to Chimp Haven just this week.

Though chimpanzees do not belong in captivity, those who are deserve the best quality of life we can provide them. Thank you for being a part of providing for Jamie.

Jamie top of structure in greenhouse

Jamie profile close up

Jamie side glance

jamie eyes closed