Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

rescue

Keeping things interesting

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We’ve always considered Young’s Hill a work in progress. This was partly out of necessity, because it started as an empty horse pasture and it would have taken a lot of time and money to build everything at once. But it was also in part by design, because life in captivity can be boring, and adding even a few plants or a simple climbing structure to the hill each year keeps things interesting for the chimps.

The structure we built last weekend is a big hit.

Annie:

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Foxie:

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Jody has been sampling the new bamboo plants, but it seems they are best enjoyed while relaxing in the greenhouse, so each day she breaks off a new cane and hauls it downhill. Yet another reason why we need to keep planting more…

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Startling Adventures

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If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that Jamie loves her walks around Young’s Hill. She’s definitely not the only one, though.

The other night I was walking around the hill with Jamie (me on the outside of the electric fence, of course) for what was probably the fifth or sixth time after dinner, and I heard something rapidly approaching us from behind. I will admit to being a bit startled. The evenings are usually very quiet and serene around here, and I was sure all of the other chimpanzees had gone to bed.

My temporary flight or fight reaction quickly turned to pure happiness when I whipped around to see who or what was rushing at us from behind. Apparently, from her nest in the loft of the playroom, Missy noticed that Jamie was on another walk, and she must have jumped out of bed and ran at full speed to catch up to us.

 

Missy is behind Jamie in the following two photos:

Missy and Jamie on the hill

Missy behind Jamie on the hill

How fun to be able to jump out of bed to go on an adventure! I could genuinely feel Missy’s joy in surprising us.

Sometimes I forget the stark contrast between the lives the chimpanzees have now compared to where they came from. How many times would Missy have longed to get out of bed to run around when she was living in the few square feet of a laboratory cage?

Freedom is relative, and the chimps’ freedom at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is definitely not absolute, but their existence is worlds apart from what it was the first few decades of their lives. You can read about Missy’s past here.

And we have you – those who support the sanctuary – to thank for that. So, on behalf of Missy and her sense of adventure –  Thank You!

 

What goes up must come down

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If you ever climbed trees as a kid, you might remember that going up is the easy part…

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…getting back down is an entirely different challenge.

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Foxie seemed unprepared for the latter when she climbed to the roof of Carlene’s Tower with her Dora doll to check out the view. It took her a few minutes to formulate a plan and work up the courage to get herself and Dora back down safely.

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I found myself holding my breath as she made a few different attempts to lower herself to the platform below.

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But she is a chimpanzee after all, so both she and Dora returned from their sightseeing excursion without incident.

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Photos of an Amazing Chimpanzee Named Jamie

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Photography, to me, is fascinating both as an art form and as a documentary tool. There’s no doubt that the end result – the photos that are shared – say as much about the photographer as the subject.

All of the caregivers here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest take photos (a LOT of photos) of the chimpanzees, and we each go through the process of choosing those photos that we feel best represents the moment or the individual we were trying to capture.

I was looking through photos of Jamie and discovered several from this year that I had taken that hadn’t been posted to the blog yet. Sometimes I like to save photos for print like in our annual calendar, which I’ll be working on soon, but it’s pretty difficult not to share, so I decided not to save them but to share the ones I rediscovered today with you blog readers.

With Jamie’s procedure yesterday and the two of us working together on positive reinforcement training for the last several months, Jamie’s been on my mind pretty much constantly.

No one who knows her would tell you that Jamie is an “easy chimpanzee.” Being her caregiver is a constant challenge. She’s demanding and moody and strong-willed. Despite these characteristics, or probably because of them, I can’t think of a single person on this earth that I admire and respect more than Jamie.

I hope this admiration, respect, and love comes through in these photos I took of her over the last year. And I hope these images provide a glimpse into the amazing, strong, curious and wonderful person that Jamie is:

Jamie straightforward

Jamie with brush

Jamie in a nest of boots

Jamie mischievious

Jamie foraging

Jamie beautiful

Jamie contemplative

Jamie serious

I would love it if you chose one of these photos (or all, by linking to this blog post) to share Jamie and her story with those you know. You can find out more about her past on her short bio page and the more in-depth history of her life before sanctuary on her Eyes on Apes profile page.

It makes me so happy to know that she has admirers our there!

Jamie’s exam

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A while back, Jamie developed an abscess on her swelling that would not resolve. Thanks to our positive reinforcement training program, Jamie was letting Diana flush the wound twice a day with an antibiotic solution, but unfortunately it still wasn’t healing. So today, with the help of our wonderful vet, Dr. Erin Zamzow, and the long-distance support of board member Dr. Mensching, we decided to anesthetize Jamie to get a better look.

To say that Jamie was cooperative would be an understatement – it’s more like she’s a part of the veterinary team. We always have to isolate chimpanzees prior to anesthesia so that we can make sure they have an empty stomach and most chimpanzees quickly figure out what’s in store for them. As you can imagine, that can be quite stressful and scary. But Jamie spent the entire morning playing with her caregivers, seemingly without a care in the world. When the time came to induce anesthesia, she willingly presented her arm to Diana for injection.

Along with Dr. Zamzow, we were so grateful to have help today from Dr. Fuller of Ellensburg Animal Hospital, who brought a digital x-ray machine so that we could determine the extent of the wound and ensure there wasn’t a foreign body inside.

All in all it was good news: the injury wasn’t as extensive as we feared, and the x-rays all looked good. Dr. Zamzow was able to sterilize the wound and Diana will continue with the cooperative treatments until Jamie is fully healed. Right now, Jamie is enjoying some quiet time by herself in a room filled with blankets, with waiters on hand to give her sips of Gatorade whenever she desires.

When we are done with procedures, we position the chimps in a way that protects their airway as they recover, and to facilitate this we lay them on a couple of scarves with the ends passed through the caging so that we can gently roll them back into position if they slump over the wrong way. As soon as Jamie was up and about, she put a scarf right back to use as a fashion accessory. You can tell she’s feeling better already.

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The view from the top

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It’s not uncommon to find Missy on one of the towers at the top of Young’s Hill, just taking in the view.

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Jody tagged along with Missy on one of her little adventures this afternoon.

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On the way back down, Jody made sure to grab a snack to bring back to the greenhouse.

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When we got to the bottom of the hill, I got what I’m pretty sure is the world’s only photo of a chimpanzee watching an elk watching the UPS man (you may have to look closely to find Ellie in the middle).

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