Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Foxie’s daughter

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Shelly C. is having trouble posting comments this morning, and wanted us to be sure to send this link of a photo of Angie, Foxie’s daughter. Angie is being cared for by Save the Chimps and will soon be making her journey to their beautiful sanctuary in Florida. Here is a link to her short bio, which includes a photo: http://www.savethechimps.org/bios_angie.asp

We at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest have plans to find other children of the chimpanzees under our care – we just haven’t had the time to do so yet, so thank you Shelly C. for finding Angie! It is so wonderful to learn that Angie is safe at another sanctuary and will soon be moving to Florida where she will live in a large social group and spend her days on an island.  I’ll see if I can find out any more information about Angie – just from the brief description, it sounds like she has a lot in common with Foxie.

Troll Mania

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Troll dolls have reached fad status at the chimp house. Jody recently caught on to the trend! Here’s a photo of her with a somewhat bald troll in her hip pocket.

Jody with troll in hip pocket

Foxie continues to carry around Princess (or her formerly pink-haired look alike) and allows us to wash the now-bald Trixie each day. When Foxie sees Trixie in the laundry basket drying out, she softly hoots or whimpers, indicating that she wants Trixie back. Then she carries around one big troll (Trixie) and one small troll for most of the day. We’re looking forward to adding to the troll clan – keep them coming!
Foxie and Princess 1

Foxie and Princess two

Foxie and Princess three

Two months & a big announcement

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A few days ago we reached a milestone – the chimpanzees have been at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest for two months. Decades in research, and now two months in sanctuary. So much has happened in that short time. We’ve learned so much about each of the chimpanzees, and they seem to be changing every day. Jamie has stopped plucking her hair, Foxie now handles enrichment and has displayed rudimentary nesting behavior, Burrito has been working on some really great displays in his expanded space, Jody’s hair is growing back in and she’s developing some muscle, Missy is playing all of the time, Annie is coming into ‘her own’ and standing up for herself, and Negra is enamored with the views out of the windows.

And now the big announcement – the chimpanzees will be in their outdoor area on August 26th!! I can’t wait to share photos and experiences of the chimps touching ground for the first time. Thank you all for you support – you’ve helped make all of this possible!

More party photos

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Negra looks on as Foxie opens a birthday gift

Foxie opening gift

Jody and Missy in a mess of wrapping paper. Missy with raisin board.

Jody and Missy in a mess of wrapping paper

Annie opening a gift

Annie opening gift

Missy and Jamie looking out window at horses in field. The chimps are still using a lot of the gifts, like the sturdy yellow table Jamie is sitting on, from the last party donated by blog readers through our Target and Amazon wish list; and the humans are very gratefully using all of the kitchen stuff we received! We’re still adding new items to the Amazon wish list (see link at right) – the latest items received include a Little Tykes wrench and a mirror so we can see the chimpanzees when they are on the second level in the playroom. A huge THANK YOU to all who have donated their time, talent, gifts and money in order for us to care for this very unique group of seven.

Missy & Jamie looking at horses

Five chimpanzees on catwalk resting in front of the windows after a terrific party.

Five chimp lumps on catwalk

Foxie’s party photos

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Happy Birthday sign from Robbi

Happy Birthday Foxie sign hung on stairs in playroom

Birthday banner from Margaret and Karen

Banner made by Margaret and Karen for Foxie’s birthday

Sarah sharing a special bithday card for Foxie from Syd – Jody looking on, Foxie with raisin board

Sarah sharing special card - Foxie with raisin board, Jody looking

Foxie with stuffed colobus monkey – birthday gift from a friend.

Foxie with stuffed colubus monkey

Foxie clinging to window cage – there were horses in the field the day of the party and Foxie was looking out at them. The way she is holding Trixie makes it look like she’s showing Trixie the horses 🙂

Foxie clinging, showing Trixie horses outside

Raisin logs

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Volunteer Pam made these raisin logs for the chimps – she drilled holes in the logs and stuffed them with golden raisins. With Jamie’s love of fruit, I’m sure you can guess who got most of the raisins, but the other chimpanzees managed to get some too.

Burrito with raisin log and Jamie pant-hooting in excitement:

Jamie with her collection and Annie looking on:

Here’s a photo of Foxie in front of one of the windows with a raisin log. She managed to get one right away and sequestered herself ‘upstairs’ as Jamie searched for more logs on the floor below (even though you don’t see Trixie in this photo, she’s there – right at Foxie’s feet. Foxie is still carrying her wherever she goes. If you don’t know who Trixie is, you are very behind in the activities of the Cle Elum Seven and you should read some previous posts 🙂

Foxie in window with raisin log

Being a caregiver

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I started to write the post below a few months ago. I didn’t finish it because I thought it might be too much of a downer, but I think it speaks to the question of whether we would allow babies to be born at the sanctuary. To be clear – there is no way we would intentionally bring another chimpanzee into a life of captivity. I have no doubt that some of the chimpanzees at CSNW would love to have a baby to nuture, and it could bring new energy and focus to the group, but the cost is too high. Chimpanzees belong living free in the wild.

It is not possible for the Cle Elum Seven to have the life of free-living chimpanzees for a variety of reasons, the main one being that they would not know how to survive – they were not brought up by other chimpanzees and taught the necessary skills to be a ‘free’ individual. What we can do, with the help of all of you, is do the best we can to provide for them for the rest of their lives in a sanctuary. Thanks to all of you who are doing this and for asking great questions!

Here’s the post I began in April before moving back to Washington to work at CSNW:

It won’t be long before I am in Cle Elum and I will be returning to caring for chimpanzees on a daily basis. After being away from that work for a few years, and spending some time with the Buckshire Seven, I’ve been reflecting about all of the good and bad that comes with caring for chimpanzees in captivity. Sometimes it is really difficult – not just the heartbreak when a chimpanzee dies, or the worry that comes when watching chimpanzees fight with one another, or the concern that arises when a chimpanzee behavior changes – it’s the daily knowledge that neither you nor the chimpanzees should be in that position. When I was at Fauna there were definitely days when I felt much more like a prison guard than a caregiver. And it wasn’t just because there were chimpanzees throwing things at me (a favorite past time of Binky) and spitting to get my attention (or just to get me wet), it was the understanding that chimpanzees simply don’t belong in captivity, but we have no choice but to keep them behind bars, penned by electric fencing, or surrounded by moats for the rest of their lives.