Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Grooming Party

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For whatever reason, the chimps in Cy’s group like to congregate in the front rooms to groom in the late afternoon. Sure, the Bray is open to them but why groom outdoors in a 2-acre habitat when you can pack together like sardines in a tiny indoor space?

Ah, but the chimps generally know what they are doing. Maybe there’s something about the forced proximity that contributes to the process. After all, this is one of most important aspects of chimpanzee social life. These are the moments that build trust and solidify relationships. This is Willy B saying sorry for being a jerk and Mave saying she respects the boss. This is Dora saying that she and Honey B can fight and still be friends and Terry saying that he just wants to be one of the boys.

Monitoring a newer group of chimps 24/7 can be exhausting but listening to them teeth clack, lip smack, and blow raspberries as I sit in the foyer writing the blog certainly brings a sense of calm, however fleeting. There will always be fights, but the work they do during these lazy afternoons will help them get through whatever is to come.

Another Day on the Bray

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Despite this being one of the hotter days this year, the chimps in Terry’s group spent a considerable amount of time on the Bray. One of Terry’s favorite spots is on Ryan’s Lookout, where he is often joined by Rayne and Gordo. Cy even made the trek out to the Lookout the other day! Here’s Terry:

Lucky continues to enjoy her time outdoors but she prefers to stay off the grass whenever possible, which somewhat limits how far she will go. Today she found a way to sit near the ground without actually sitting on the ground.

Foraging for nuts is a little more difficult when you can’t touch the ground but she found a way. She then climbed up to crack them open with Terry and Rayne.

Rayne was reluctant to part with her new favorite book so she took it with her as she hiked around the Bray.

Eventually she set it down and took a walk with me to to the top of the hill.

She’s very interested in the Young’s Hill side of the things…I’m sure she will be excited when both groups are outside at the same time. As far as that goes, we’re just giving Dora a little time to see if she wants to explore the outdoors further without the added pressure of six chimps hooting and hollering at her from the other side of the fences.

Gordo likes to tag along when Rayne explores the Bray. He gets a little nervous when they venture to the farther reaches of the enclosure.

When they reached the top of the hill, Rayne spent some time taking in the view. Gordo waited restlessly for her to head back.

This was, for me, the closest I’ve come to joining any of the new group on a patrol. Once the groups are in their outdoor enclosures at the same time, I’m guessing that Rayne, Gordo, and Terry will do this more regularly. And I’m hoping that Cy will put his magazines down long enough the join them—you know, him being the alpha and all…

Or maybe, as it is on the other side of the fences, the girls will just have to take the lead.

The Most Popular Girl on the Bray

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Lucky is one of the less social members of her group. While the others play and groom together, Lucky can often be found quietly perched on a bench overlooking it all or scooting across the floor in what we call her “blanket car.” Just like humans, some chimps tend towards introversion.

But on the 6th day of her group getting access to their new outdoor habitat, called the Bray, Lucky decided that she would make herself at home out there. And that has earned her a lot of attention from some of her group mates.

In fact, grooming Lucky is the hot new trend on the Bray. In typical Lucky fashion, she doesn’t reciprocate all that much, but she does however allow herself to be thoroughly groomed. This afternoon, she was joined by both Rayne and Gordo for a grooming session in the shade of the first platform.

Rayne inspected her arms.

And her feet.

Her back.

And inside the ears.

This amount of attention must be overwhelming for Lucky. Hopefully she can find a quiet place to nest overnight so that she can recharge and prepare for another day in her newly busy social calendar.

The 5th Annual Running of the Cows – and more Bray photos!

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If cows had a national holiday, this would be it.

A little further down the mountain, Cy’s group continues to explore the Bray. Here are a some photos from the past few days – you’ll notice that there are a lot of Rayne, and that’s because she spends more time out there than anyone else. We were so happy when she decided to take her lunch out for a picnic this afternoon. While some of the chimps are still a little nervous—and Mave and Honey still have yet to go out—the group is doing really well overall with this new aspect of sanctuary life.

Willy B and Gordo:

Terry:

Gordo and Terry:

Rayne:

Cy:

Welcome to the Bray

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(or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Step on Grass)

It finally happened. Cy’s group stepped out of the chute and entered the Bray.

It was a very different experience than watching the Cle Elum Seven enter Young’s Hill for the first (or even second) time. It may be because the Californians are a newer group than the Seven were at the time, or perhaps it’s because the Waystation chimps had spent more time outside of cages when they were young (and, as noted in a previous comment section, as adults in some unauthorized cases). In any case, while there was less hugging and screaming as they entered the habitat, watching them explore was every bit as emotional.

Willy B’s transformation from fearful and agoraphobic to Conqueror of the Bray is a testament to the power of friendship. Every minute we spent worrying while integrating his group with Cy’s was worth it to see him follow his friends out into the grass.

You’ll notice that Honey B, Mave, and Dora did not join their friends outside yesterday. That’s OK. I believe they will soon, as they will also benefit from Rayne’s confidence and the boys’ leadership. But if it takes longer, that’s OK too. They will get there in their own time.

Our most heartfelt thanks to all of you who made this day possible, especially to our friend James, in whose memory the Bray is named.

A Morning Stroll

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Very few things appeal to Negra more than sweet spring grass. There’s an abundant supply just outside the greenhouse door, so she doesn’t have to travel far for her favorite seasonal treat.

This morning, however, she was also inspired to take a leisurely stroll around the hill. As you might guess from her rather pale complexion, Negra is a lover of the great indoors. She likes to wear her bed like a turtle’s shell, poking her head out only when she hears the food grunts that accompany the presentation of meals. But once in a blue moon she gets a bee in her bonnet and sets out to explore some of Young’s Hill, just for the sake of exploring.

It’s funny to watch her inspect her surroundings as she ventures into relatively uncharted territory. Huh, how long has this tree been here? (Uh, ten years, Negra).

As I stood at the very top of the hill watching the others play beneath the pines, Negra sat somewhere near the halfway point, appearing to calculate the cost-benefit ratio of venturing further afield:

(#of pine branches to snack on) x (lovely view of the river) / (energy expended) x (time not spent in bed) = ?

After a few minutes of pondering, Negra appeared to have decided that the only logical course of action was to return home, wrap herself in blankets, and save her energy for the next morning, at which point she could reconsider her options with the benefit of a good night’s sleep.

Negra’s friends also took advantage of this beautiful spring morning.

Foxie:

Burrito, Foxie, and Annie:

Burrito:

Saying Goodbye

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Note: The video above may be difficult to watch, especially for those of you who have known and loved Jody either in person or through this blog, as it shows her family reacting to her death. But I hope you can find a time when you feel able to share in our experience of saying goodbye to Jody.

As Diana mentioned, we recently discovered Jody lying on the floor, largely unable to move below the neck. After doing initial diagnostics, we set up an appointment for an MRI to assess her long-term prognosis, with a surgeon at the ready to avoid having to bring her back at a later date if something could be done. Her condition suddenly began to deteriorate on Sunday and we moved up the appointment, but she quickly passed. Yesterday, Dr. Erin and I took Jody’s body for a postmortem MRI at the Veterinary Specialty Center of Seattle and a necropsy at the University of Washington. Preliminary results suggest a degeneration of the ligaments around the C1-2 vertebrae and compression of the spinal cord.

The sudden onset of Jody’s condition surprised us, as there was no fight that morning and no loud noise overnight (we monitor the chimps via remote cameras outside of regular work hours). She was discovered in one of the smaller “front rooms” behind a dividing wall, out of direct view of the cameras, so unfortunately we simply don’t know what caused her paralysis. Given her location and the nature of the injury, one possibility is that she fell a short distance. Why she would have fallen off a step or bench is another question. In hindsight, we may have witnessed her exhibiting a few episodes of “transient quadraparesis,” or momentary paralysis below the neck, in the past, but it is difficult to tell if a chimpanzee is unable or simply unwilling to get up when they can’t tell you what they are experiencing. While we can’t say definitively what led to the deterioration of the structure supporting and protecting her spinal cord—whether it was progressive or from some prior acute trauma—it may have have been compromised to the point where a less severe injury could have more profound consequences. In addition to causing paralysis, her condition involved other parts of her body, affecting vital organs, and she ultimately had no chance of recovery.

In the days before she passed, Jody was understandably frightened at times but became comfortable with us entering the room and caring for her. It’s a strange experience for us to be directly caring for an awake chimpanzee and I’m sure it was strange for Jody, too. She was courageous and accepting, but she also felt comfortable telling us to go to hell when she’d had enough. If we could have spared her those days, knowing what we know now, we would have. That said, we did our best to keep her comfortable while we tried to learn more and, from a selfish perspective, we were fortunate to get to spend time with her. CSNW’s founder, Keith, even made it in time to see her, as did many of her local volunteer caregivers. In typical Jody fashion, she greeted them each warmly.

One challenge that is particular if not unique to the sanctuary world is the way we have to transition from medical team to grieving family in the blink of an eye. Our staff and volunteers did an incredible job keeping the other chimps’ needs in mind and we worked to give Jody’s body back to them as soon as we could so that they could also process her death.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that chimps react to the death of a loved one in different ways. Some are scared or anxious, while others are accepting. Some are even empathetic enough to comfort the humans around them, as you’ll see. It is a unique privilege to witness—and even participate in—what is essentially a chimpanzee wake. The Cle Elum Seven had been a family for 17 years, and some of their relationships go back even longer. Jody’s death is a profound loss for them.

The rituals look familiar. They kiss, hold, groom, and caress. These are the mechanisms of bonding and the expressions of affection that held them together in life. Perhaps in death they are just a continued expression of love. Or perhaps they are an attempt to hold on for one more moment to something they know is slipping away. If you had watched the humans spend time with Jody upon her death, you would have seen the same kinds of things.

I have to admit that there’s a part of me that wonders if this should have been kept a private experience between the chimps and their caregivers, and I’m sure some others feel similarly. But when we met Jody and her family in that laboratory basement, we were determined that she would become known to the world, or at least some small part of it. So many chimps like her suffered and died anonymously. After 32 years in the lab, Jody finally had a life worth living and people got to know her as the individual she was. So many of you fell in love with her over the last 15 years, as we hoped you would. For all of you who have loved her and supported her, it is your time to grieve with them, too.

We’ll have a lot more to say about Jody and our love for her in the coming days and weeks. For my part, I will just say for now that I was forever changed when we first met her in that awful laboratory basement, and even more so once I got to know her. She was a truly beautiful person.

After Jody’s family said their goodbyes, they returned to normal routines. Today was spent patrolling, eating fresh spring grass, and gathering up the bountiful lunch forage. It was notably quieter without Jody’s dinosaur food grunts, but the gang honored her memory by stuffing their hands, feet, and mouths with as many peppers as they could hold. Life will go on, differently. Like us, the chimps will always carry a part of her with them.