Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

northwest

The Doll Days of Summer

by

We start each day with a walk around the perimeter of Young’s Hill. This is done as a precaution to ensure that the fence wasn’t somehow compromised overnight, but it is also a great time to check on the cows. While they are constantly on the move, on summer mornings they can often be found just above the chimp enclosure where they like to sleep. As I walked by this morning, the girls were in the middle of a grooming session.

Honey grooms Betsy.
Betsy grooms Meredith.
Meredith grooms Honey.

Nutmeg didn’t get any of the love this time, but don’t worry – his mom always takes care of him. I did got photo of him the other day as he drank from the spring-fed stream that bisects that sanctuary property.

Willy B was feeling pretty adventurous again today. He’s getting pretty comfortable sitting on the grass if he is close to the structure.

If he ventures any further, he brings a chair with him for a sense of security, or perhaps so that he can get his feet off of the ground at a moment’s notice.

At one point, I saw him rolling the big white barrel away from the boardwalk. What on earth is he doing? Diana even called me on the radio to inquire as she watched from the mezzanine inside.

After pushing the barrel out into the courtyard, he pulled up a chair and sat down to enjoy the view.

After lunch, Diana was weeding the garden by the Greenhouse and gave out some of the prickly lettuce that she had pulled. This is one of the chimps’ favorite weeds. They can pick as much as they want from Young’s Hill but I think it tastes better when someone else does all the work.

Missy wasn’t in the mood for prickly lettuce, though – she wanted goat’s beard – so she took off to Young’s Hill to find some.

I know we’ve mentioned this before, but the salt and pepper hair on Foxie’s arms is really starting to lose its pepper.

Thankfully, age has not slowed her down yet.

While Foxie’s love of dolls is unmatched, others in the group can be seen carrying dolls from time to time, particularly in the summer. Just like the waistbands, it’s a seasonal thing. You know who really likes Dora the Explorer lately? This guy.

4,392 Days of Summer

by

I used to live my life for the summers.

Growing up in a maritime New England town, summer was always the “best” season. The warm weather and sandy coastline brought tourists from all over, and my teenage friends and I spent those months playing baseball, mowing lawns, and bringing Dunkin iced coffees to our favorite beaches. Even though I moved to a big city and academics took over, I still wanted to live my life in a permanent state of summer vacation and I developed this dream of expatriating to the tropics and staying there. As a naive young biologist, my plan was to track wild primates through jungles all morning and end each day with a bottle of rum in a hammock overlooking some turquoise lagoon. (Don’t ask me how I planned to fund that kind of lifestyle.)

In an unexpected turn of events, I now reside in an arid place far from the ocean where the summers are short, windy and dry. I’ve grown to respect the other seasons and, for some reason, I can now see the beauty in even the most frigid, gloomy, foggy, damp, and dusty landscapes. The Pacific Northwest is a natural marvel; it’s truly a wonder that the snow-capped Cascades can exist so close to the mossy forests of the Olympic coast, the dusty shrub-steppe of the Columbia plateau, and the wind-blown grasslands of the Palouse. Out here, there’s no such thing as perfect weather; there is just weather, and you better have the right gear for it.

Now, the central region of Washington state is transitioning from a cool and wet spring into a dry and hazy summer. Yesterday was the official solstice, but we have had golden sunlight well into the evenings for the whole month of June. The cattle are grazing heartily on the prairie grasses and make daily pilgrimages back to their watering hole before finding some afternoon shade below the pines. Jamie and the gang have been taking advantage of the extra daylight to go on more group patrols out in their grassy enclosure, and Willy B and his friends have been napping in the Courtyard and sunbathing in the outdoor chute.

I sometimes wonder if, in some abstract way, the summer months have a similar effect on the chimpanzees as they had on adolescent me. As I watch them chase each other around the Hill, harvest wild greens, sunbathe in the Greenhouse and slurp down chunks of avocado and watermelon, it’s easy to forget just how much the chimps also enjoy crunching on icicles, taking in the crisp fall breeze and napping on rainy days. Like true residents of the Pacific Northwest, they can make the most of any season and aren’t deterred by a little precipitation. Although they may not have the same sentimental attachment to summer that I once had, I hope that their entire sanctuary experience gives them a similar sense of freedom, with their only objective being to do whatever they feel like doing within the confines of their sheltered home. Since they’ve just celebrated the twelfth anniversary of their retirement to sanctuary, they have now had 4,392 consecutive days of vacation. That’s a whole lot o’ summer.

Of course, there are those who generally prefer the comforts of the indoors and the word “vacation” just means that they don’t need to get out of bed. To these individuals, the seasonal changes really don’t seem to matter too much and just seem to flow around them. The chief of these stoic couch-potatoes is Negra. “The Queen” will occasionally venture out to participate in an outdoor forage, but she generally has the same low-key itinerary each day, rain or shine. Today, she napped in the Greenhouse under a pile of fleece blankets while the other chimps engaged in summer fun out on the Hill. Happy four-thousand, three-hundred and ninety-second day of summer break, Neggie.

The King of the Courtyard and His Growing Kingdom

by

Willy B has been exploring more of his modest kingdom.

In his quest for scattered grapes, he has taken his first tentative steps on grass and dirt and away from the safety and security of familiar objects and structures. At times he is bold.

Other times he is more cautious.

This morning he inspected the grass from the safety of a plastic tub, as though he was in a dinghy setting out from a larger vessel.

While he is still hesitant to step on grass, he no longer has any fear of being outdoors. In the nine years since we opened Young’s Hill, I can’t remember a single time that any of the Cle Elum Seven took a nap outside. They run and climb and swing, they forage and they hunt, they patrol and survey. They even relax at times. But they never nap outdoors.

According to Willy B, they don’t know what they’re missing.

One of the things I’ve been meaning to do for a while is to explain what our plans are for the sanctuary over the next couple of years, particularly as they relate to Willy B, Honey B, and Mave. I know it can be confusing. We had hoped to integrate our three new residents with the Cle Elum Seven, knowing that we could house them separately if it didn’t work out. As you know, it didn’t work out, so we are now following Plan B. As far as backup plans go, things are pretty good – but we have a lot of work ahead of us, and I hope to clarify how we intend to meet the needs of these three as well as those still to come.

Phase 1 – The First Step in our Expansion

The Californians, as many of our supporters call them, live in our new wing, which was the first part of a three-phase expansion plan. There are smaller indoor rooms on the first floor (Front Rooms), a larger room upstairs (The Mezzanine), and an arched tunnel that connects Front Room 5 to the outdoor area (The Chute).

The Front Rooms
The Mezzanine
The Chute

The Courtyard

When we reverted to Plan B, our first thought was to alternate access to the 2-acre outdoor area, Young’s Hill, between the Seven and the Californians until we could create a separate outdoor area. But we realized that having a smaller yard to themselves would be safer and less intimidating for the new guys as they adjusted to the outdoors, so we carved out a section of Young’s Hill just for Willy B, Honey B, and Mave. The Courtyard, as we call it, is a separate space but at this time it is only separated by a single fence so we don’t allow the two groups out at the same time.

Next Steps: Phases 2 and 3

Phases 2 and 3 of our expansion plans were developed in conjunction with Phase 1, but building enclosures for chimps requires a lot of money so we knew we would have to break the project up into manageable pieces. Phase 2 consists of a large indoor playroom, divided into two sections, with 20-foot ceilings, catwalks all around, and large tree-like climbing structures from floor to ceiling in the middle of each room. Phase 3 consists of a divided greenhouse enclosure, connected to the playrooms, with a mulch floor and removable polycarbonate panels on the roof and three sides to provide warmth and shelter during the winter months (just like our existing greenhouse for the Seven). Originally these additions were designed for one group, but we decided to enlarge and divide each area to give us more options. Now, when both phases are complete, we will not only have a larger home for Honey B, Willy B, and Mave, but we will also be able to take in another group of chimpanzees from the now defunct Wildlife Waystation. The groups could be integrated but the space will allow two groups to remain separate if needed.

The south elevation of Phase 1
South elevation showing the addition of Phases 2 and 3

 

The view from above, showing the original building (on the left, oriented east/west) and the Phase 1 addition (on the right). The additions will extend into the empty area where the tractor is parked.

 

The future floor plan, showing Phases 2 and 3.

 

Funds for Phase 2 were raised before the pandemic struck, so we are excited to be breaking ground this year, as soon as permits are issued, with the hope of seeing Honey B, Willy B, and Mave enjoy their added space by winter. To save on construction costs, we will also be completing the foundation, steel framing, and hallway of the Phase 3 greenhouses at the same time, with the caging and polycarbonate panels to be installed later once additional funds are raised – hopefully by next spring or summer.

Additional Outdoor Enclosures

One thing we have learned over the years, much to our frustration, is that plans change. Five years ago, we made the decision to work towards expanding the sanctuary so we could take in more chimps. But there have been so many twists and turns along the way that making plans has been like shooting at a moving target. Ultimately, we focused most of our attention on the initial stages and left a lot to be determined as events unfold. Like the outdoor areas, for example.

Now that the future of the sanctuary is coming into focus, we realize that our three new residents, and those still to come, need their own outdoor spaces. To accomplish this, we have decided to rebuild the fences to create an additional 2-acre fenced enclosure, tentatively named The Bray in memory of our dear friend and former board member, James Douglas. James’ wife, Jennifer, is a long-time friend, supporter, and volunteer. She is sponsoring a good part of this project and chose the name, which we love. “Brae” is the Celtic word for hillside and James hailed from Bray, Ireland.

Enlarging the total footprint of the enclosures was only made possible because we now own all of the surrounding parcels and we don’t have to worry about maintaining a large buffer by the property lines like we did when we built Young’s Hill. Still, we can’t infringe on the power line easement to the south of the building and the topography limits how far up the hill we can build fences so we are limited to these two large enclosures at this time.

But because we may end up with three separate groups in the end, we do plan to build a third outdoor area just west of the new addition, opposite the building from the fenced enclosures. This one, however, will be a more traditional closed-top design. Why? As I mentioned, space is certainly a factor, but we also find that some chimps, even after several years, are more comfortable in closed-top enclosures and make more use of them. Ultimately it’s about choices and flexibility. We want Honey B and Mave to join Willy B outside and we want to give them all the time in the world to make that decision for themselves. But it never hurts to have other options. Other chimps will benefit from the option as well, as groups can be rotated throughout the facility to experience different enclosures.

The sudden closure of the Wildlife Waystation has focused our efforts as well as our resolve to expand. Like other sanctuaries, we will always struggle to find the right balance between providing what is best for our residents and responding promptly to crises like this. At times it feels like we are too cautious, but we know that our primary responsibility is to those already in our care. With the future of the remaining Waystation chimps uncertain, we are working as hard as we can to complete this expansion project so that we can welcome more chimpanzees to Willy B’s kingdom.

The After-Party

by

Chad and I were just watching Honey B sitting on a pile of enrichment as a dragon would perch upon piles of stolen treasure. Chad remarked “Honey B is the kind of person who would leave their Halloween decorations up for months afterwards.” He’s right.

With all of the celebrating we’ve been doing lately, we’re standing beside her decision to preserve her hoard. Heck, we’ll even help her out.

This past week, we celebrated Honey B’s first birthday as a resident of CSNW (her 31st overall). Then, we briefly paused to celebrate Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day with some vegan pizza and a group walk around Young’s Hill with the chimps. Finally, the festivities culminated in yesterday’s massive birthday bash to celebrate Negra’s 47th year on Earth (and her 12th as a fully-retired sanctuary resident).

In addition to reflecting on the twelve years since the chimps arrived, we’ve also been absolutely thrilled with the success of our virtual online event, the Queen’s Brunch, through which we will continue to provide for chimpanzees. If you’re inclined to bid on any remaining items or simply make a donation, the event is still going on! In light of everything that has gone on this year, we are blown away by how amazing our supporters have been. This most recent outpouring of contributions, along with all of the assistance we had received previously, has been incredible. Thank you.

Today’s blog features a video of Honey B looking proudly content amid the piles of craft paper, plastic toys and fleece blankets that are left over from her epic birthday party. As J.B. mentioned on Friday, Honey B was reluctant to leave her spread of enrichment items so the crew decided to put everything back as soon as they were done cleaning the floors. We continued that tradition today, and will probably continue to do so until Honey B is ready for some new experiences. For now, though, we’re enjoying the after-party as much as she is.

Happy birthday, dude.

Happy Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day!

by

Today the sanctuary community is celebrating the fourth annual Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day. Here at CSNW, we celebrated a day early because our staff were all here at the same time for Honey B’s birthday party and you can’t share pizza and ice cream over Zoom. Normally we don’t eat where the chimps can see us but there’s not enough room for us to maintain our distance indoors. Notice someone spying on us?

Not wanting to leave Jamie out of the celebration, the team finished lunch quickly and went on a run around the hill.

Burrito tried his best to keep up.

This is what impresses me most about our staff and volunteers. We set aside a brief moment for everyone to relax and eat and all they can think about is making Jamie happy.

I also appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into their work. Yesterday, Honey B had her first birthday celebration here at CSNW, and the staff, led by Chad, our Enrichment Coordinator, spent weeks brainstorming ideas for her party. It’s easy to throw a party, but this had to be a Honey B party. And it was a hit – so much so that Honey B will not let the party end. Seriously, she won’t let us go in to clean up.  I guess we can keep the party going another day? (Update: At dinner she reluctantly let us close off the mezzanine. I made a deal with her that we’d move all the stuff, clean, and then put it all back again. She is pleased to once again be buried in her birthday mess.)

The most difficult thing about being a caregiver is not the physical work, though it can be exhausting. It’s the caring. It’s the relentless searching, day after day, for new ways to make others happy, even though you know it’s never going to be good enough. It is hard and it wears you out. I’m glad we have a day to formally acknowledge the importance of sanctuary caregivers. We are so grateful to our staff and volunteers, and to everyone else in our sanctuary community, for never letting up.

I’m sure this guy is grateful, too.

Tomorrow we celebrate the 12th Anniversary of the arrival of the Cle Elum Seven and Negra’s 47th birthday with our first ever virtual celebration. We hope you will celebrate with us! Join us on at this link for The Queen’s Brunch Facebook Live virtual event at 11:00 am Pacific Time on June 13th (you don’t need to have a Facebook account to watch!).

Training Fun

by

Getting chimpanzees to participate in their own medical care is incredibly important for their physical and psychological health. But some chimps, like Foxie, are reluctant to take part. After three decades in laboratories, who could blame her? But with patience, and lots of positive reinforcement, the chimps do learn to trust us. Sometimes, you just have to bend the rules and have a little fun.

Willy B spent some quality time in the courtyard today. I watched as he walked about eight feet across the grass to retrieve a cherry from the ground. He used a small plastic chair almost like a walker so that he had a grip on something familiar. Once he was safely back on the boardwalk, he pant-hooted and then climbed back up to the platform to relax. He even laid down in the shade out there for a while. He’s getting to the point where he only goes back inside for lunch…what a difference a month makes.

And guess who reached out to grab some cabbage from the boardwalk? This is how Willy B started – we’ll see if Mave follows the same course.