Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
After her long post-clinic recovery day yesterday, it was good to see Jamie immediately go on a patrol. Someone has to make sure things are in order!
It was also good to see the personalized night bag just for Jamie that was part of the HOOT! event. Thank you, Cee Cee :).
Tomorrow, J.B. will be providing an update on Jamie’s clinic trip and Foxie’s too, which happened today.
On Sunday, August 18th, the first episode of a new four-part documentary called Chimp Crazy will debut on HBO and stream on Max. You may have already seen the trailer or seen promotions about the series.
It was produced by Eric Goode, who also produced Tiger King.
I am guessing a lot of you are now saying to yourself that there’s no way you will be watching it.
I completely understand that response, especially after watching the trailer, which includes some difficult clips:
Though it will surely be sensationalized and is meant to bring in viewers who are watching for entertainment, we’ve heard that it also tells the story of why primates should not be pets. It has the potential to make a positive difference, reaching people who don’t already care about this issue. See the page on the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) website about the documentary.
We want to know if you plan to watch, if you’d be interested in joining a discussion group about the series, and if you are aware of a bill in Congress right now, the Captive Primate Safety Act, that would protect primates from these types of exploitative situations.
Fill out this questionnaire to let us know your thoughts.
I know regular readers will want to know that Willy B is doing fine after his little procedure yesterday (does the fact that chimpanzees bite each others digits off provide a reason why they do not make good pets??!!).
I went up to check on him through the window of his private suite last night and we were also watching him on the security cameras. He had a long and deep sleep.
Chad reported that Willy B was raring to go back with his group this morning, against Dr. Erin’s orders. Willy B is notoriously difficult to give medication to, but the determined and creative staff managed to get him to take his meds in sweetened peanut butter today.
Here’s a photo Ellen just took of him in his recovery room, looking at his reflection in her phone (and, full disclosure, licking his stitched up toe, not pictured):
As J.B. covered in a previous blog, Meredith started slowing down this past summer which we discovered was due to osteoarthritis. She had a procedure at WSU to correct this in her right front foot, and she has been recovering and healing from this procedure. We were happy to welcome her back home to continue her recovery after her stay at WSU in December and early January, and I wanted to provide you all with an update on her progress since returning home.
Honey checks on her daughter, Meredith
She continues to show promising signs of healing, and seems to be feeling very ready to break out of her recovery stall to rejoin her herd! She has been enjoying extra attention from her caregivers during our cattle time, complete with lots of pets and scratches. Dr. Erin has also been coming for extra check ins on Meredith and helping to care for her and the herd. While I know she is ready to fully rejoin her family, I do think she enjoys having her own personal hay feeder to snack on at her leisure and not having to hurry to finish her grain before grain-obsessed Betsy is done with hers and looking around for more snacks! She will be due for her recheck appointment soon, so we will know more about exactly how her foot is healing. We hope for continued good news!
Enjoy some pictures of the rest of the herd as well. We are all enjoying the sunshine today!
Nutmeg showing off his best side (okay, all sides are his best side) and looking a little sassy
L to R: Nutmeg, Honey, Betsy, and Meredith in the back.
Betsy and Honey, looking ready to drop their next album!
As Anna mentioned yesterday, Mave had to take a trip to the clinic on Wednesday. While she took yesterday to herself to rest, she was ready to get back to her group today! Thankfully, Dr. Erin gave her the all clear and we were able to reunite her.
We started out by giving Mave a breakfast date with Honey B to gauge Mave’s energy level. They were so excited to see each other, although Honey B really just wanted to inspect Mave’s entire body. After the breakfast date, Mave and Honey B were reunited with the rest of the group. The arousal level was high because of how excited they were to see her, so of course, some drama ensued. But the group carried on as normal, as you will see in today’s video!
Mave has done amazing at walking away if her group members are grooming her wound too much. Keep up the good work, Mave! I think she is just so happy to be back with her friends, especially Dora! She’s been busy in the Greenhouses all afternoon absorbing some sunshine (despite the fresh snow) and grooming with others. We’re so happy the 9 are back together.
Burrito ate a late-night snack of baked apple slices and a banana and took some medication in grape juice, then he slept soundly all night.
This morning he woke up a bit brighter-eyed and had enough energy to greet Jamie, Jody, and Foxie who all wanted to inspect and groom his still slightly swollen hand and his face (if you haven’t been following the last few days, here’s why Mr. B is in recovery). When J.B. came in early, Burrito scooted over to play poke/tickle while still lying down.
Things are all trending in the right direction!
My mental energy has been focused on Burrito these last few days and some of my plans for HOOT! outreach have gone by the wayside. If things continue to look good, and after getting some sleep, I plan to work some more on that event which is coming up in just a few days now!
It turns out that rattlesnake antivenin, which we sourced from the nearest human ER, is extremely expensive, so I might be adding a fundraising page to help pay for Burrito’s medical expenses (so far $12,000) on the virtual auction/event site later today.
Thank you to those who have already inquired about making donations towards his care!
Whenever a chimp is in the clinic for a procedure, I can’t wait for it to be over so we can put them back into the recovery room.
But as soon as we get them in the recovery room, I almost wish they were back in the clinic.
That’s because in the clinic, we have tons of information about their vitals and far more control over the administration of analgesics, antibiotics, and other drugs that are essential for well-being and even survival. Once they’re in recovery, we have to hope for a cooperative patient. And chimpanzees are not known to be very cooperative under even the best of circumstances…
If a chimpanzee has a major surgery or shows difficulty recovering from anesthesia, we will stay with them overnight – sometimes for nights on end. We’ll monitor their respiration, give medications, and in some cases just nudge them to get up in order to promote circulation and deeper breathing. Our recent sleepovers with Burrito were actually pretty quiet, though the other chimps occasionally had something to say about the cornucopia of food available only to Burrito.
Some of the behaviors we work on in positive reinforcement training come in handy in times like these. While a no-contact thermometer isn’t very scary to begin with, it helps that Burrito is used to holding his temple to the caging while we get a reading.
Administering meds is the most difficult part by far. Anesthesia and medications can make a chimpanzee lose his appetite – even a professional eater like Burrito. And some medications taste and smell disgusting. So whenever a chimp is on medication after a procedure, you will find the counters filled with all sorts of goodies – pudding, applesauce, juice, yogurt, soda, smoothie, bread, bagels, baked goods, jam, honey, syrup, dried fruit…anything that will mask the pill or liquid. And in many cases it only works once, so next time it’s back to the drawing board. But they have to take their meds, so there’s no giving up.
We’re so grateful that Burrito’s world-famous appetite is beginning to return and his suspicion of being surreptitiously medicated is starting to wane. In the not-too-distant future, he will be back to his old routine. And while I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to go back, I know he’ll miss those midnight bagels…
Negra has always worn her trauma on her sleeve.
The first time we met her, she wouldn’t even show us her face. She hid behind a solid metal panel at the end of a bank of four cages in the windowless laboratory basement that had been her home for years. The only part of her that we really saw that first day was her hand as she reached upwards through the food chute to beg for handfuls of peanuts.
When she arrived at the sanctuary she was inactive and socially withdrawn. She could be anxious around her caregivers and was prone to overreaction when touched. When she finally had the opportunity to go outdoors, she was reluctant and would often become overwhelmed with fear when she ventured too far outside.
I hate to admit it, but we always had low expectations for Negra. Some chimps retain their fighting spirit against all odds. Negra was spiritless. If we could just give her a year in sanctuary, we thought, it will have been worth it. Maybe she wouldn’t take advantage of all the new opportunities available to her, but she deserved to finally have the choice. It was a low bar but we were still afraid she wouldn’t reach it.
But she surprised us. Over the last ten years, she gradually became more social with her chimpanzee and human friends. She grew more accustomed to being touched, even allowing her caregivers to provide basic medical treatment. She has spent more time outdoors and ventured further and further into her habitat.
I don’t want to overstate the extent of her transformation. Negra still spends the majority of her time alone in bed, her head shrouded in a blanket for security. Negra’s progress, like Negra herself, has been slow.
But something unusual is happening right now. The pace of change has increased to the point where it seems like each day brings a new surprise, each one announced with excitement over the two-way radios:
“Negra was the first one outside this morning!”
“Negra is at the top of the hill!”
“Negra climbed to the top of the new structure!”
“Negra is wrestling with Missy!”
“Negra is playing with me!”
“Negra is spooning Jody!”
This morning, Diana called over the radio to say that Negra was playing with her in a way that was more typical of Burrito. See for yourself in the video above. This is the kind of thing we live for. Not because we enjoy playing with Negra (though we do), but because we’re excited to see her become more active, playful, and trusting. We love seeing her become more engaged with the world around her.
Why is this happening ten years after she arrived at the sanctuary?
There are a number of factors that enable chimps (and other animals, including humans) to recover from trauma. Things like agency, autonomy, a sense of safety and security, and a physical and social environment that allows for species-typical behavior are all critical. But one thing we mustn’t overlook is time. It took Negra 35 years to accumulate the traumas she experienced while being torn from her mother and her home, having her children ripped away from her again and again, being housed in tiny, barren cages, and being subjected to invasive experimentation. These memories, and the resulting patterns of behavior, can’t be undone overnight. And Negra will set her own pace.
Will these changes last? We don’t know. Negra has come out of her shell before only to retreat again. But for now we are going to play as much tug-of-war with this silly, seemingly care-free Negra as we can. And more importantly, we are going to enjoy watching her socialize more with her chimpanzee family and spend more time foraging on Young’s Hill.
