Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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patrol

Waiting for the boss

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The chimps spent most of the morning inside due to the rain. When it finally let up, Missy ran straight for the far corner of the hill. Something was up.

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Jody followed after her but seemed nervous about getting too close.

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They both looked around for reassurance.

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Annie was perched safely on the bridge, and showed no interest in putting herself in danger.

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And Neither Foxie nor Burrito showed any willingness to come down from their platform to join the patrol.

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Finally, Missy spotted Jamie at the bottom of the hill and asked for her help with an outstretched arm.

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Jody’s hair was standing on end (also called “pilo erection”), showing her nervousness. She approached Missy for reassurance.

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Neither seemed to have the courage to get any closer.

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At one point, Missy got spooked and decided to bolt, leaving Jody all by herself.

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Lucky for her, help was on the way.

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With Jamie on the case, Missy decided to rejoin the group.

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They headed toward the top corner of Young’s Hill.

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As it turns out, the subject of their apprehension was a hawk that had been roosting on one of the fence posts. The chimps promptly scared it away.

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Jamie is so cool in moments like these. While Missy ran around frantically and Jody looked on helplessly, Jamie calmly strutted her way up the hill, totally confident in her ability to protect her home from invaders. I guess there’s a reason why she’s the boss.

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Adventures with Jamie

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Jamie is never one to shy away from adventure. If you are one of Jamie’s Chimpanzee Pals, you received an email from Katelyn yesterday with an update on some of her summer antics. One notable antic is Jamie’s frequent decision during the summer to stay out on the hill post-dinner, past the time we usually close it up for the night.

All of the staff have been staying late here and there to join Jamie on her post-dinner walks until she decides it’s time to go to bed, which is usually long after the other chimpanzees have bedded (nested?) down for the night.

Because J.B. and I live on the property, we often relieve the other staff at a certain point and take over so they can go home. This is what happened a few days ago. Katelyn had stayed a little over an hour beyond her designated shift, and I came up to the chimp house to watch over things.

Jamie immediately wanted to go on a walk, with me wearing her latest favorite black cowboy boot.

Sometimes Jamie’s walks seem goal-oriented and efficient: patrol the fence line and return to the greenhouse; but her late evening walks tend to be more exploratory, and she meanders off the path of the fence. Such was her mood the other night.

She got to the top of the hill and decided to jump up on one of the log bridges:

Jamie climb log bridge

Jamie mount log bridge

 

And walk to the end of the log:

Jamie stand end of log

 

Then sit on the other end:

Jamie sit top of hill on log

 

And look into the distance:

Jamie look into distance

 

Do a little self-grooming:

Jamie self groom on log

 

And sit some more, contentedly (I love a content Jamie!):

Content Jamie

 

Then, she was ready to continue the patrol around the hill. When we got to the South side of the building, we discovered two of the neighbor’s cattle close by:

cow

 

Jamie went into “defend the property mode”:

Jamie bipedal display cattle

 

Which worked quite well:

cow running away

 

Then it was back to the chimp house, and on to the next adventure, like foraging for lunch today:

Jamie eat sweet potato

It’s still difficult to fathom that this adventuresome, headstrong, curious and extremely intelligent chimpanzee lived for so long the way she did in her previous life as an entertainer and biomedical laboratory research subject, but she certainly knows how to make up for lost time, and we couldn’t be happier to watch her do it.

 

When the going gets tough

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There’s always been a lot of tension between Jamie and Jody. Though Jamie is the alpha of the Cle Elum Seven, she’s never been secure in her leadership. She views everyone as a potential threat to her status as leader, and every action they take as a potential sign of disrespect. Jody, however, is strong willed and independent, and she refuses to submit to Jamie’s incessant demands for obedience.

Most of the mealtime conflicts here at CSNW follow the same script: Jody takes food that is rightfully hers. Jamie is upset that Jody took food. Jamie screams for ten minutes straight while following Jody around and demanding the food.

In their first few years at the sanctuary, Jody would break down and acquiesce. But over time she discovered that Jamie was more bark than bite, so she learned to hang onto the food in contention. And just the other day, when Jamie began her screaming routine over a piece of celery, Jody decided that she’d had enough, and she chased Jamie out onto Young’s Hill. Jamie was forced to take refuge on a climbing structure while Jody returned to the greenhouse to enjoy her celery in peace.

This one interaction doesn’t mean that Jody has taken over the alpha position in the group. She just doesn’t seem to have the drive or the backing to follow through with it. But it’s a good example of why the two might not always enjoy each others company.

Unless, that is, there is trouble afoot.

This morning, Jody was spooked by something out on the hill.

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The others sensed her alarm and began to gather around.

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But Jody wasn’t looking for their help. She knew exactly who she needed on her side in a situation like this.

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She walked down the hill to meet Jamie, who was just coming out to check on the commotion. As soon as they met, Jody offered Jamie a kiss and embraced her in a request for reassurance.

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Together, they joined up with Foxie and Burrito to patrol the area.

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Jody may not always consider Jamie her best friend, but when the going gets tough, who are you going to turn to? The guy who hides behind a tree?

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Or the boss?

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On Patrol

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Some people think that we should judge an animal’s quality of life by whether or not their basic needs are being met. Do they have food, water, heat, medical care, etc.? But if we applied these criteria to ourselves, prison wouldn’t be much of a deterrent – we’d all be knocking on the gate trying to get in. Obviously, we humans are willing to deal with some amount of risk and stress in life in exchange for things like freedom, autonomy, and self-determination. And I think that chimpanzees, if they were given the choice, would do the same.

Wild chimpanzees have jobs to do. They must take care of their young, travel great distances in search of food, and defend their territory from rival communities. Captivity gives chimps everything they need to survive, but robs them of purpose.

Well, not entirely. Every once and a while, we catch a glimpse of it here. When the chimps patrol Young’s Hill, they change – their faces, their postures, everything. It’s possible that I’m just projecting my own feelings here, but they seem so much more alive when they are at work like that.

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Life may be nasty, brutish, and short for some wild chimpanzees, but I’d give anything for these chimps to have had a chance at it.

 

the walking club

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Unless this is your first time visiting the blog (if so, welcome!!), you probably know about Jamie’s obsession with walking around the perimeter of Young’s Hill while one or more of her human caregivers walks around the outside of the perimeter while wearing a cowboy boot.

She has been doing this multiple times a day with all of her caregivers since the spring. While Jamie is quite demanding about taking these walks 4-7 times a days, it’s admittedly not a dreaded task for us humans. It’s hard to describe how great it feels to not only be making Jamie happy, which is pretty much a CSNW caregiver’s definition of a successful day, but it’s also just a very peaceful way to spend 15 or so minutes. It’s particularly great right now because the weather has been amazing this October, and the hill and the surrounding property is beautiful, even awe-inspiring at certain times of the day.

We actually dreamed of doing these perimeter walks before Young’s Hill was a reality. When it was in the design phase, we wondered if the chimps might patrol the perimeter of the hill, similar to the way chimpanzees in the wild go on patrol to check the boundaries of their territory. So when Jamie started doing this, it felt right.

While spending time with the chimpanzees one-on-one, like walking with Jamie while the other chimps do their own thing, is personally fulfilling, what’s 100 times more rewarding is observing the chimpanzees with each other and seeing their bonds strengthen and their friendships expand.

Which is why we’ve been thrilled that other chimpanzees have been joining Jamie on her walks lately. J.B. captured some clips on his phone and put together the video below.

Maybe, just maybe, one day the chimpanzees will go off on their own with each other to walk the perimeter of the hill, leaving us humans behind.

 

Burrito and Jamie on the hill