Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
We will never truly know what it is about Foxie’s treasured dolls that she loves so much.
We will never know what she is thinking when she is gazing at them.
We will never know what tales she weaves when she is interacting with her dolls.
Do they speak to her?
Do they have individual personalities?
What we do know is that Foxie is a unique chimpanzee. We love her exactly as she is.
We are so happy she found something that provides endless entertainment and makes her feel safe and happy:
Providing medical care to chimpanzees is always a challenge, but it can be particularly difficult when they have been subject to decades of invasive medical research procedures against their will.
Years ago, we participated in a study that considered whether chimpanzees might exhibit abnormal behaviors that cluster into syndromes similar to posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in humans (you can read it here). Negra was featured in the paper as a case vignette:
A chimpanzee named Negra was a 36-year-old female at the time of the study. Taken from the wild in Africa as an infant, she has remained in captivity since that time. She was used in invasive research, including hepatitis experiments, and for breeding. Each of her infants was removed from her at an early age. During the period in which she was used in research, she was kept in isolation for several years. Approximately 1 year prior to the study, she was transferred to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Washington state, where she currently lives with six other chimpanzees.
Negra met alternative criteria for depression and PTSD. According to reports, she had persistent depressed hunched posture, and she was socially withdrawn. Negra slept excessively during the daytime, and she lacked interest in play, food, other individuals, and grooming. She also demonstrated poor attention to tasks. She was described as slow and sluggish, and at times, she appeared anxious. In response to an unexpected touch, she would “threat bark,†scream, or run away. Compared with other chimpanzees, she demonstrated less variability in her facial expressions. Caretakers reported that her face was expressionless, “like a ghost,†for at least a month after she arrived at the sanctuary. She seldom, if ever, exhibited a play face. She was tested for a thyroid disorder and assessed for other medical causes of her clinical presentation, but all laboratory tests were within normal limits. Based on later reports provided by her caretakers, some of her symptoms have improved since she has been living in the sanctuary. She has become more interested in other chimpanzees, including grooming, and the variability in her facial expressions has increased.
Negra’s anxious response to being touched was not just a sad reminder of her earlier trauma; it was a serious impediment to her care at the sanctuary. Chimpanzees routinely receive wounds from fights, they develop dental problems, they get heart disease and diabetes and many other illnesses, and these things often require medical intervention.
There’s always a way to force medical care on an uncooperative chimpanzee, and sadly that is what’s required from time to time. But that can be stressful and even dangerous. They deserve a chance to participate willingly. Giving them that choice, however, requires a lot of time and energy on the part of their caregivers.
For years, CSNW caregivers (first Debbie and now Anna) have been working with Negra to habituate her to basic medical evaluations and treatments as part of our positive reinforcement training program. These efforts have paid off many times over, most recently when Negra received a wound to her back during a fight. Negra let Anna spray the injury with antiseptic solution and she allowed Dr. Erin to follow that up with laser therapy. In cases where antibiotics may be needed, Negra will even let her caregivers swab the wound to culture the infection and determine the best course of treatment.
For some chimpanzees, this kind of cooperation is no big deal. But chimpanzees are individuals – they have unique life experiences and they cope with those experiences in different ways. Negra has never given her trust lightly. It had to be earned through years of persistent efforts on the part of her caregivers.
It has certainly been worth it.
The day after the success of Giving Day for Apes was a beautiful fall day at the sanctuary. I joke that the chimpanzees are truly Pacific Northwest chimps because they seem to love cool overcast days the most.
Whenever I go up to the chimp house, I expect that I will go on a walk with Jamie – it’s what she likes to do. On this day, Burrito was even more eager to walk than Jamie! In fact, as the video reveals, the three of us did three rounds around the hill, with some meandering in between for those two.
I know that Burrito had no idea we were promoting his story and people were donating in his honor, but it was fitting that he was in such a great, enthusiastic, full-of-life, mood.
Thank you again for everyone who donated and helped exceed our goal!
Enjoy your walk with Burrito and Jamie!
What a great day to be at the sanctuary! The morning started chilly and we thought the chimps couldn’t possibly want a forage on the Hill. But, to our delight it was the perfect day to be outside and especially to have a forage on the Hill. It is important to spend time outside while we can before the dreaded winter comes. The chimps spent a great deal of their day in the Green House and out on Young’s Hill. We also had some visitors for our lunch forage that Jamie was very curious about. She even had the group walk the perimeter with her.
Negra nestled in the comfy nest soaking up the morning sun:
Jody also relaxing in a soft warm bed soaking up some vitamin D:
Missy sitting on the window ledge in the Green House:
Annie being very photogenic as per usual:
Negra enjoying the forage and observing guests:
Annie foraging:
Jody with a handful of food and trying if there is any more left:
Jamie sitting on the fire hose and eating kale:
Jamie also wanted to show off a bit for the group:
And man does she have balance:
After Jamie made the group go on a walk with her:
Thanks to CSNW board member Elizabeth List, J.B. and I recently had the opportunity to see Jane Goodall give a presentation to a small group of people hosted by the Seattle Foundation.
Here is Elizabeth and Dr. Goodall (you may be able to tell from this photo that Elizabeth was pretty excited to share a stage with Jane):
And here we are, in case you didn’t believe me:
Like many other devoted fans, we’ve met Dr. Goodall several times over the years and have seen her speak in very diverse venues, and she never fails to be truly inspirational. She’s a force for good in this world. Her legacy reaches every corner of the earth, in both big and small ways. She is a groundbreaking animal behavior scientist, a role model for girls and women, and a voice of both compassion and reason in matters concerning the environment and animals.
In my world, her influence is present nearly everyday because she literally wrote the book on chimpanzee behavior. When we describe chimpanzee facial expressions, vocalizations, social interactions, and all other behavior, we are most often using the terminology that developed from the hours upon hours that Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees in their natural habitat. She published papers and books that proceeded it, but the quintessential academic book on chimpanzee behavior, that every primatologist has on their bookshelves, is called The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior.
I could say that this blog post is a nod to Jane Goodall’s work, but really almost all of our blog posts, and, indeed, the sanctuary itself, in the big picture, is thanks to Jane Goodall and her work that allowed us all a glimpse into the world of our closest living relatives.
As I’ve written before on this blog – my favorite chimpanzee facial expression is, as Jane Goodall named it, “relaxed face with drooped lip.”
Among all of the chimpanzees who I have worked directly for over the years, there is no one that illustrates that face better than Jody. Here are two photos that J.B. took of Jody demonstrating the perfect relaxed face with drooped lip:
Nearly ten years ago, we met these chimpanzees in the windowless basement of a laboratory where they had lived for decades, often alone. Each walk around Young’s Hill still feels like a small miracle.
We are sending birthday wishes to a very special person today.
Happy Birthday to Vicki Fagerlee, one of our favorite visitors, from all the chimps (and your loving family)!
Thanks to Vicki’s (human) family, Jim, Kim, and family for sponsoring the day in her honor!
May you take some time to rest, like Annie:
play, like Burrito:
spend some time with a loved one, like Foxie and Jamie:
enjoy a treat (or three), like Jody:
have an adventure, like Missy:
and end your day as comfortably as you began it, like Negra:
