Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
From the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams: “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
Here’s a troll doll who is in the process of becoming real, thanks to the love of one Foxie Chimpanzee:
We are so fortunate to have two sponsors for this day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees! Laura Gargano is starting the day off in celebration of her mother, Dorothy Gargano, for her birthday! Laura shared this special message about today:
“My mother has always had a love for gorillas and chimps and this helps highlight the plight of so many chimps who still live in labs around the world.”
Laura, this is such an inspired and compassionate way to honor your mother. Thank you so much for making a difference in the chimpanzees’ lives while bringing awareness to all those who are still awaiting their own day of sanctuary.
Dorothy, thank you for sharing your own special day, as well as your passion for great apes, with all of us. We hope you have the most beautiful of birthdays!
A Jody-style celebration involves comfort, joy, and occasionally kicking up your heels:
It takes a lot of trust for two chimpanzees to play together. Many play behaviors are variations on fighting behaviors – chasing, wrestling, stealing, slapping, hitting, etc. – and as play gets more aggressive, it’s easy to misunderstand your partner’s intentions. When the chimps first arrived at the sanctuary, Foxie and Annie would occasionally attempt to play, and it almost always ended up as a fight. They just didn’t have enough trust in one another.
Things sure have changed.
I wouldn’t say that Foxie and Annie are best friends now, but they certainly have come to understand each other more and they even engage in rough and tumble play from time to time without it erupting into a conflict. This morning, Foxie even allowed Annie to playfully steal (and dismember!) one of her Dora dolls. That’s when you know you are a member of Foxie’s inner circle.
In ten days, all invasive research on chimpanzees in the United States will cease. Let that sink in for a minute.
In response to a petition by a coalition of animal welfare groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is elevating the status of all chimpanzees to endangered, thereby granting them a greater level of protection. Beginning on September 14th, any activity that causes harm to chimpanzees will require a permit, and permits will only be issued for research that benefits wild chimpanzees or conservation efforts. According to the Humane Society of the United States, the effective deadline for obtaining a permit was today, due to public notice requirements. And as of today, no permits have been issued.
It’s hard to overstate how important this is. For nearly a hundred years, chimpanzees have suffered and died in our pursuit of scientific and medical advancements. Later this month, all invasive research on chimpanzees will, at least for a moment, come to an end. Whether any permits will be requested in the future is uncertain, but this much is clear: the era of widespread chimpanzee research in the United States is over. And that’s worth celebrating.
Now we need to get these chimpanzees into sanctuaries. We told you at the beginning of this year about our plans for the future of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, and we’re excited to report that, thanks to your generosity, we are ahead of schedule. We’re looking forward to sharing our vision for expanding the sanctuary as it develops and working with you to see it to fruition.
At CSNW, these seven chimpanzees have found a home where they are loved and respected and supported by people around the world. But inside every laboratory, there is a Missy longing to run free, an Annie aching for companionship, a Jody yearning for comfort, a Foxie wishing for someone to play with, a Burrito dreaming of a good meal, a Jamie desperate for a sense of control, and a Negra who wants nothing more than to bask in the sun. They all deserve a life in sanctuary. We, as a community, will make that happen.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Summer Biddin’ online-only auction! Those who donated items, made cash donations for Summer Lovin‘, and bid, bid, and then bid some more (even if you didn’t win), came together to raise $27,000 for the chimpanzees – and that was with an initial goal of raising $14,000!!
You all inspire me so much! It makes me happy to know that there are people out there who put their hearts into helping the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and are so good at having fun while doing it!
After a hot, dry, and smoky summer, there’s a chance we will finally get some rain this week. Though we didn’t get any today, the clouds were a nice change of pace and the chimps took advantage of the cooler weather to spend more time outside climbing and foraging.
Annie:
Jamie:
Missy in the foreground, Foxie in the background:
Burrito, Jamie, and Foxie:
Burrito:
Foxie keeping an eye on the cows:
Jody harvesting bamboo:
Jody with a wadge:
Negra and Jody foraging during lunch:
Jody:
Foxie and Dora’s friend:
If you haven’t done it yet, go check out our online auction, which began today at noon. Things are going fast, but there’s still plenty of bidding left!
When I started to write this, J.B. was leading a Summer Visit tour:
I’d be willing to bet that one of the things he explained is what we put in the termite mound / treat rock on Young’s Hill. Generally, what we say is that the termite mound mimics ant hills or termite mounds that chimpanzees encounter in the wild, and we provide the chimpanzees with tools to access the goodies inside. It’s great enrichment because it involves tool use and problem solving, and it taps into natural chimpanzee behavior.
The difference, we explain, is that chimpanzees in captivity do not appreciate termites and ants! They react to “bugs” the same way most industrialized human cultures do – as a nuisance, but definitely not as a source for food. And that is why, instead of insects, we put things like mashed up bananas and/or peanut butter in the mound for the chimpanzees to fish out.
The chimpanzees, however, have a way of proving what we say to be wrong. I still don’t think that any of the chimpanzees would appreciate it if we put insects in the pvc tubes that screw into the termite mound, but Jamie and Missy have recently discovered a surprising delicacy – wasp larvae.
This is doubly surprising, given that the chimps certainly do not like wasps, and Jamie has been stung before. Apparently, that risk is worth harvesting this new treat. I wonder how they even discovered that the nests contained something they would like!
Here are a few photos I managed to get of Jamie with a nest that she brought in from Young’s Hill:
Watching her, it wasn’t entirely clear to me how much of the larvae she was eating, because she seemed to be selectively eating some parts and not others, but she was clearly enjoying the experience:
I haven’t been able to capture any photos of Missy with wasp nests, so you’ll have to take my word that she is very excited when she has a nest, perhaps even more so than Jamie.
Speaking of Missy, it’s her 40th birthday tomorrow!!!
Above is a photo of Missy from today as she took a rest before running the perimeter of Young’s Hill.
I defy anyone to call Missy old – she has one of the youngest spirits I’ve known in a chimpanzee. Whether she is searching for wasp nests, running like mad, wrestling with her BFF Annie, or demanding garden tomatoes, she demonstrates, daily, a sense of freedom that she’s found in her second chance at life (read this blog post from 2014 about Missy’s quite literal second chance).
We will be having a big celebration for Missy 40th tomorrow, so be sure to check here on the blog for photos of the party and wish her a happy birthday!
