Caring for chimpanzees is harder than you will ever know. All we want to do is work – we live to sweep, scrub, and spray down enclosures – but these chimpanzees keep coming along and distracting us. Here, Anna does her best to satisfy Jamie’s demands for some playtime so that she can return to her true passion, squeegeeing.
northwest
Chimps and Dolls
Chimpanzees are powerful, intelligent, adaptable, and sometimes aggressive wild animals. They do not belong in people’s homes as pets. They do not belong on training compounds used for television shows, music videos, movies and advertisements.
They belong in equatorial Africa where they live in large social groups, foraging and hunting their own food.
When that’s not possible, when where they belong has been taken away, and when they have been born into and grown up in captivity, a sanctuary is the best option for them. And sanctuary means taking the individual chimpanzees on their own terms and letting them find things they enjoy – things that may be very far from the image of the wild animals who they are.
For Foxie, that means dolls. It’s not that she is like a human child, or even that she’s using the dolls as substitute children (though maybe that’s part of it, given her history). Foxie has found something she likes, something that entertains and comforts her.
Foxie is still very much a powerful, intelligent, adaptable, and sometimes aggressive chimpanzee.
And Jamie too. I can’t imagine too many things more silly than a troll scarf, but Jamie manages to wear a troll scarf while at the same time projecting the strong chimpanzee that she is.
Neighboring Nests
If you’re having a bad day, this should make you feel better:
Amazingly, this is only the second best video of chimps holding hands that you will see this week. If you haven’t yet, check out this story about Terry and Jeannie from our friends at Save the Chimps.
Guest Photographers
Today is GORGEOUS at the sanctuary! I went up to take a few photos from on top of the visitor observation deck while the chimpanzees were traveling to the top of the hill, and I remembered that I had not yet shared photos taken by last year’s Photograph the Chimps winners from the HOOT! gala!
Before I share some of those photos, I have two questions for all potential HOOT!-goers this year:
1st – do you have your tickets yet?!
2nd – would you like a chance to bid on a photograph the chimps experience again this year? We’ve had it for two years in a row, and I’d hate for things to get old, so let me know! Maybe there’s another kind of experience at the sanctuary that you would like to bid on instead?
Professional photographers / photojournalists Karen Ducey of Animal News Northwest and Dean Rutz of the Seattle Times generously donate their expertise and equipment for these experiences.
The first winners last year were Jim Keller and CeeCee McCray:
It was difficult to choose among the many great photos that they took, but here are a few. The three below were taken by CeeCee.
Annie:
Foxie:
Missy (this is probably my favorite, because it’s just so Missy):
And the three below were taken by Jim.
Annie:
Jamie:
Jody (just checking to see if there was any food up there – you never know!):
Big, big thanks to Karen & Dean, Jim & CeeCee for giving generously and being all around great people! Kathy & Alice Rose were the two other winners of this experience, and I will share some of their photos soon too.
The elk that stole my job
Many of you know that Jamie likes to be accompanied by a caregiver when she patrols Young’s Hill, her 2-acre enclosure. It’s the best part of the job, in my opinion – fresh air, exercise, and some quality bonding time between chimps and the humans that care for them. And if I’m being honest, it’s just nice to feel needed once and a while.
But it looks like us humans won’t be needed much longer.
This morning, Jamie and Burrito took a walk around the hill with our neighborhood elk, Ellie. This wasn’t the type of patrol we typically see in response to an intruder – Jamie wasn’t aggressive or even particularly vigilant. In fact, it looked to me like the same leisurely stroll that we take with Jamie every day…I mean, used to take every day. Before Ellie took over.
At least Jamie still needs us to clean her enclosures. For now.
To Be Known
This blog is a true labor of love.
It is satisfying, on a frivolous and somewhat shallow human-level, to have people like our posts and make comments. But in the world of the chimpanzees in our care, it’s a big part of their second chance in sanctuary.
To be known and respected and loved is what they deserve; what they’ve always deserved.
Sharing posts and hitting that “like” (or now maybe the “love” emoji) on Facebook may seem like a small act, but this is what allows more people to grow to understand and appreciate not just the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, but chimpanzees as a species. It’s what allows hearts to grow and minds to change.
Sharing this post, these photos of Jamie, and taking the time to learn about the amazing and interesting person that she is, gives Jamie power.
Even though there’s no way to explain it to her, we know she would appreciate that there are people out there who have never met her who truly admire who she is, as she is. She would expect no less.
A little nudge
Caring for former research chimps can be a balancing act at times. We don’t want to rush them into anything they’re not ready for, and considering what they’ve been through, it’s no surprise that some would have a hard time adjusting to certain aspects of life in sanctuary. For example, some former lab chimps fail to make nests like their wild counterparts and even go as far as clearing blankets and other bedding out of the way so that they can lay down on the hard concrete floor. Others refuse to set foot on grass, clinging instead to metal caging and bars wherever possible. The lab environment they came from was harsh but it was familiar. For the Cle Elum Seven, it was all they knew for as much as 35 years.
Negra is a good example of this kind of institutionalization. For decades she had no choice but to follow the same routine: Sleep, eat, repeat. What else is there to do when you live indoors in a cage all by yourself? Here at CSNW, Negra still finds comfort in that routine, only now she sleeps on a mountain of soft blankets and eats a huge variety of fresh foods as well as her beloved night bags. Still, if she had her way, nearly every day would be the same: eat, sleep, repeat.
But life in sanctuary offers so much more and it would be a shame if Negra didn’t get to take advantage of it. The trick is to find a way to nudge chimps like Negra toward healthier and more interesting choices without causing them undue stress. Sunlight and exercise are good for Negra, even though she might think otherwise. So each day, we try to get her to expand her horizons and push the boundaries of her comfort zone, even if it’s just by a little bit. Today, for example, we put some of her favorite foods out on the hill as a forage. And guess who was first out the door? More specifically, guess who elbowed her way to the front of the line so she could be first out the door?
Negra has come so far since her rescue in 2008. All she needed was freedom of choice, a lot of patience, and a little nudge now and again.
