Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sanctuary

Trending Upward

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I must admit that I got quite sentimental in my latest blog post. I even tried to be insightful.

Today’s entry will contain nothing of the sort.

Instead, here is a dry update on everyone’s progress accompanied by images from my phone camera.

Burrito continues to heal and appears more active by the day, but he is still nursing some ugly wounds. We continue to monitor him for potential complications (including but not limited to bacterial infection). Getting him to take meds is a full-time job, so caregiver Katelyn had the tedious task of preparing various foods and trying to sell him on each. As J.B. recently explained, this has been the most challenging aspect of Burrito’s treatment plan. He did get a few bursts of energy today and spent quite a bit of time interacting with the female chimps through the mesh windows separating him from the Playroom. He even climbed up onto his favorite bench, although his movement was a bit shaky and he appears to only have a fraction of his normal strength. Still, it was good to see Bubba being Bubba.

Burrito licks his wounds while reclining in his nest.
Burrito ventures down to the farthest bench so he can see into the Greenhouse.
Burrito enjoys some medication-laced yogurt, even licking it off of the caging.
Our medication board is quite full at the moment.
Burrito presents his injured hand to the females.
Burrito relaxes atop the highest bench in the front rooms.

The girls (Annie, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra) have been back to business as usual. They seem to appreciate a return to routine, although they spend a lot of time monitoring Burrito and watching the windows and doors for signs of their chimpanzee neighbors on the other side. Whenever Willy B makes an appearance, they shower him with submissive pant-grunts and excited gestures. The weather was chilly and windy today, minimizing the appeal of Young’s Hill, but Jamie recruited volunteer Chad to walk the boundary with her anyway. When not patrolling and policing, Jamie has been enviously watching us give all sorts of foods to Burrito and has been asking for similar treatment. Jody has been obsessively helping Burrito to groom his wounds and he seems glad to have such an attentive nurse.

Jody grooms Burrito’s hand.
Jamie chills out on a firehose “vine” after breakfast.

Honey B has been an absolute star when asked to present her wounds for inspection and treatment. Her toe and backside are healing well and she is behaving like her normal self. She’s been more interested in grooming my freckles than she has been in her own injuries, so our concern for her recovery is minimal even though we continue to treat her lacerations with topical and oral medication. Honey B is an ideal patient because she is comfortable with our presence close to the steel caging and she is generally accepting of any flavor of yogurt, even if it tastes like antibiotics or Ibuprofen. As long as she gets to hold the spoon and hang out with caregivers, she’s happy.

Honey B inspects the camera lens on my phone. She really doesn’t seem to mind having humans operating within her personal space.

Willy B and Mave have been dealing with the unfortunate loss of their new social partners now that the groups have been split up and integration efforts have been halted. Instead, they’ve been focusing on reinforcing their bonds with each other (and with Honey B, to a lesser extent). We’ve also been showering them with enrichment and allowing them to sunbathe in the outdoor chute during the afternoons.

Willy B (left) and Mave (right) engage in some rough play before dinner.
Willy B used my phone camera to inspect his teeth…
…and groom his nails…
…and fix his hair.

Overall, everyone is trending upward. However, we continue to place an emphasis on helping Burrito to recover while keeping the other chimps busy and comfortable as the fall weather gradually fades into winter.

The river meanders its way past the sanctuary this afternoon.

Today is for Linda Goodrich

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by me, Diana, in memory of my aunt Linda Goodrich. Linda was a long-time supporter of the sanctuary, first making a donation as a wedding gift for me and J.B.

Linda lived her life with a sense of adventure and independence and followed the Golden Rule by treating people with kindness.

Though she lived a few states away in Colorado and wasn’t able to visit the sanctuary as she would have liked, Linda considered the chimpanzees part of her extended family and had a soft spot for her buddy Burrito. She always appreciated the calendars of the chimpanzees I would send each year as Christmas gifts.

It has been several years since I have seen Linda. I am so sorry I wasn’t more present during these last few years while she went through cancer treatment.

I made arrangements to go to her service which was last Friday in Colorado, but cancelled those plans at the last minute because of the emergency procedure for Burrito. I know Linda would have understood and would have been sending good wishes and prayers for Burrito.

My sister-in-law posted some photos of Linda’s service and the displays at the service included several photos of the chimpanzees that Linda had received in the mail over the years. It warms my heart knowing that the chimpanzees were a part of her celebration of life.

 

 

Midnight bagels

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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.

Drs. Zamzow and Khachatryan perform surgery on Burrito

But as soon as we get them in the recovery room, I almost wish they were back in the clinic.

Diana repositions Burrito, still under anesthesia, for x-rays in the recovery enclosure

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.

During critical recovery periods, caregivers sleep just outside the recovery enclosure to provide 24-hour care.

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.

A no-contact thermometer is an effective way to record trends in body temperature
In addition to charts for medications and procedures, caregivers maintain a log of vital signs such as temperature and respiratory rate

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.

Burrito enjoys a midnight snack (spiked with pain relievers).

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…

Sunny spirits

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As Burrito continues to improve after his surgery, we have all slowly been able to take deep breaths of relief. Please enjoy these photos of the girls taking in some fresh air on Young’s Hill this morning.

Foxie and Jody

Annie

Here’s Jody with her “relaxed face and droopy lip” expression. This pretty much summarizes how I feel right now.

Full (Chimp) House

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I have never seen so much commotion in the Chimp House. All day, every day, the facility feels busier than it ever has before. In so many ways, the sanctuary feels full.

There are now chimps occupying every space again. Volunteers rushed back and forth all day to get the daily tasks done, and the interns feel more present in the Chimp House as their training progresses and they learn to work more confidently and independently. The full team of staff was on site today, coordinating duties and organizing the management of the chimps. The refrigerator is stocked with produce (especially thanks to a recent donation of gift cards) and the foyer is full of new enrichment items and devices. It seems like every square inch of every whiteboard is covered in scribbled notes about healing wounds and treatment plans, and the kitchen counters are covered in a cornucopia of soft foods as we try to get Burrito to take his cocktail of medications. Most importantly, for the first time in a few days, the building is full of good humor and positive hope as we set our sights on recovering and rebuilding.

The events of this past Friday were challenging, to say the least. We all feel sympathy for Burrito and have to deal with the sobering awareness that our own chimpanzee friends used such unrelenting physical violence against him. It’s easy to think that such a horrifying incident would derail us. We are professionals, though, and were prepared for this unlikely outcome even though we tried to give the chimpanzees the best opportunities to develop a tolerance for one another and forge new relationships. As anyone in the field of primate care can attest, introducing unfamiliar individuals is always risky and rarely goes smoothly, even when the result is a resounding success. Of all the chimpanzees, Burrito certainly doesn’t have the best social skills, so we knew that he might have some difficulty coping with the uncertainty and chaos of social integrations. The chimpanzees had a string of victories punctuated by a couple of heartbreaking incidents, and we are already drawing insight from those experiences so that we can continue to give the chimpanzees informed and specialized care in the future. Although we are diverting our efforts away from integrating the two current groups with one another, we know that we will eventually have to do some restructuring if we plan to take in more chimpanzees in the coming years. Recuperating and reflecting after the recent setback are both important, but we continue to move forward towards our ultimate goals.

Today, when I unlocked the Chimp House, the chimpanzees greeted me with a chorus of anticipatory pant hoots. Burrito was sitting up and appeared bright and alert as Annie groomed him through the mesh window that still separates him from the other chimps. Honey B was excitedly grooming with Mave and Willy B, and you’d have no idea that she was recently injured if she didn’t make a habit of enthusiastically showing everyone her missing toe. The six original females (who are still the Girl Gang, I suppose) were back to their usual pre-breakfast drama in the Playroom. The day went smoothly, with Burrito’s appetite and humor improving (see photos below) and all of the chimps falling back into some semblance of a routine. Yesterday felt better than the day before, and today felt noticeably better than yesterday. Tomorrow will be even better.

Through it all, I cannot emphasize enough how supportive our community has been. We continue to receive messages of encouragement and compassion from all of Burrito’s fans and are blown away by how invested you all are in his well-being. Our network of followers and donors is strong and vast but our on-site support has been just as dedicated, caring, and helpful. We’ve had volunteers completing unusual tasks, such as grocery shopping and preparing special meals for Burrito, so that our staff can focus on administering medications and managing the complex social groupings. Our regular Monday interns brought in care packages for the staff (mostly snacks) and today’s crew showed up with coffee and hot chocolate for everyone. On campus, students are staying late after J.B.’s primate welfare lectures to ask about the chimps and demonstrate their support. Today, former caregiver Elizabeth stopped by to hang out with Burrito even though her next shift as a volunteer isn’t until the weekend. These are just some examples, but the acts of appreciation and encouragement have truly been numerous and remarkable.

Last week was difficult, for sure, but it’s easy for us caregivers to keep showing up and working hard to build a better life for chimpanzees when all of you do the same. It is because of you that we can fill this space with supplies, fill it with more chimpanzees, fill it with committed and valuable personnel, and fill it with hope for the future. Once again, thank you all.

Burrito didn’t immediately want this banana; he insisted that Diana tickle his forehead with it, first.
Burrito later fell asleep in a beam of sunlight as Diana used a plastic tool to gently groom his shoulders.

 

 

When Friends Come to Visit

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Burrito is doing well and the ladies are making sure he is taken care of! Each one of the girls came up to Burrito throughout the day to groom or spend time with him at the mesh. Honey B, Mave, and Willy B got access to the chute for the first time since Burrito’s injury. Which, did cause a little bit of commotion, but the girls made sure to check on Burrito during the whole process.

Annie seeking reassurance from Burrito:

Foxie also checked in with Burrito:

Jamie pulled up a barrel to watch over Bubba and also to see what snacks he was getting:

Jody, like the den mother she is, was constantly making sure Burrito was okay:

And Neggie stopped by to groom him too:

A light through the woods

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A corner was turned. Burrito has made significant improvements today, much more alert, eating and drinking well, spending time allowing the girls to groom him throughout the day, pant-hooting with the girls occasionally (or at least getting up to watch them), and we even got a small, soft, laugh. He has a long way to go, but cautious optimism embraced, all our hearts are buoyed.

A short post for a busy day, but we know when you’re worried about someone you care about it always helps just to be able to see them. So here are a couple snapshots of the patients.

Burrito: It’s hard when you’re feeling so very groggy and a little bit loopy and find you have sweet potato stuck to the bottom of your foot that you’d really like to eat, but aren’t quite sure how to reach it…

Honey B has been basking in the care of Mave, who has been diligently following her all day, tending to her wounds non-stop. Honey B has spent much of the day sitting atop her little wheely-cart and zipping around during meals and looking out windows. She still has some healing to do, but she seems back to her clever, quirky self and we couldn’t be happier: