Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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A Life Taken Away, then Restored

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Negra is one of only two or three chimpanzees at the sanctuary captured in the wild and brought to the United States for biomedical research.

Thankfully, the practice of capturing chimpanzees for use in biomedical testing in the U.S. ended in 1976 when they were listed as threatened per the 1973 Endangered Species Act of the United States.

As explained on the website Animal Welfare Law

Cited problems included human destruction of natural habitat, capture and export for research laboratories and zoos, the spread of disease from people to chimpanzees, and ineffectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms. Simultaneously, the Service issued a special regulation providing that the prohibitions that generally cover all threatened species would not apply to live P. troglodytes and P. paniscus held in captivity in the United States on the effective date of the rule, or to the progeny of such animals, or to the progeny of chimpanzees legally imported into the United States after the effective date of the rule. This exemption was intended to facilitate legitimate activities of U.S. research institutions, zoos, and entertainment operations, without affecting wild chimpanzee populations.

This exemption allowed for Negra, who was captured in 1973, to grow up, from infancy to adulthood, without her own family, within a laboratory as a research animal.

The records we have for her are limited, but we do know that she, along with the rest of her group at the sanctuary, was used in hepatitis vaccine testing. Like Annie, Missy, Jody, and Foxie, she was also used to breed more chimpanzees for research. Negra had a total of four babies, according the records we have, and she did not have the opportunity to be with them because they were taken to be used in experiments themselves.

How did Negra’s past impact the Negra we know today? It’s impossible to  know.

What we do know is that today, 14 years and 39 days after her sanctuary life began, Negra sat in the tall green grass of Young’s Hill and ate her corn at peace.

Glorious Greenhouses

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I have to really hand it to J.B. for his greenhouse design and Gary from Sage Mechanical for putting it all together plus adding some special touches.

These new greenhouses are truly a chimp’s dream.

Gordo
Gordo

 

Yesterday was the first day that I was cleaning in one of the new playrooms with the new group of six chimpanzees on the other side of the windows in a greenhouse. I snapped some quick photos on my phone through the window to give you a sense of the chimpanzees’ perspective.

That view! 

All of the new six like to take advantage of the vertical space and can often be found up high on the benches at the edges of the greenhouse. There are some great spots to observe the neighbors.

Lucky watching the neighbors from a high bench in a greenhouse.

Cy even took a minute away from his magazines to watch Willy B in the Courtyard today:

At Wildlife Waystation, the indoor space for the chimpanzees was much smaller than at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, and they spent most of their time in their concrete-floored, chain-link fenced space. We were all pleasantly surprised that they walked on the grass in their new greenhouse habitats right away. The grass is an experiment for us in these new spaces, one that so far is working well.

Terry

Though there are many differences, the greenhouses are probably most similar to what they are used to at Wildlife Waystation. During the day, there is usually at least one chimpanzee out there, and sometimes all six of them are in one greenhouse or another. During their first week they were in the greenhouses well after we had closed up for the night.

Last night around 7:30, I was outside wandering around. The sanctuary property was full of activity. There was a doe grazing in the pasture near Young’s Hill. The bovine family had gotten up from their daytime shady spot and they too were spending the cooler evening hours grazing. Ground squirrels and the occasional marmot were scurrying about, always in a hurry. The cliff swallows that have taken over the eaves of the new addition to the chimp house were soaring and dropping and diving, undoubtedly getting their dinner of insects.

As I approached the chimp building, however, there wasn’t even the hint of anyone stirring. I walked around the outside of the fence behind the new greenhouses and did not see a soul.

It made me feel disappointed for a fleeting moment, because it’s nice to see the chimps among the bamboo and logs and grass, with the sky as the backdrop, but then I smiled. Sometimes I even have to remind myself that it’s not about what I want or what I think they should be doing; it’s about giving them choices and letting them figure out what they want.

I pictured all six of them–Cy, Lucky, Gordo, Terry, Rayne, and Dora–sleeping soundly in their nests made of blankets and paper, in the special spot they chose for themselves, indoors in the new playrooms, perhaps with a newfound sense of safety and security.

 

Photographs of the Day

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Saturday is the end of the week for some of the staff, while others return from their weekend on Sunday. I’m in the latter group.

As the person responsible for the blog on Sundays (the beginning of my work week), I often gravitate towards whatever topics have been touched on in the previous day’s blog. It isn’t always intentional, but I do notice that it naturally happens more often than not. Hopefully, all of you blog followers don’t mind getting two related posts in just as many days.

Yesterday, Diana shared “Video Clips of the Day“, a fantastic blog entry that consisted of a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Therefore, of course, I’m giving you all “Photographs of the Day”, which is essentially the same concept but with still images instead of filmed content.

Just like the clips in yesterday’s video, the pictures aren’t all from today. However, you may be assured to know that some of these photos are from this dreary winter day, while the rest are quite recent. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this evening’s post and have a great week!

 

The view of the Yakima River and train tracks near the sanctuary:

 

Icicles hanging from the Chimp House roof:

 

Willy B looking down at the snow, then looking at me as if I have the magical power to make it instantly go away:

 

Honey B supervising the construction of her new playrooms:

 

Mave using the same windows to groom her toes:

 

Jamie strolling on the Hill (sorry about the bad focus!):

 

The view from the sanctuary driveway:

 

3/4 of the Moo Crew:

 

Nutmeg:

 

Meredith:

 

Betsy:

 

Honey (apparently also known as “Honey Buns”):

 

Lunch in the cattle barn:

 

Burrito:

 

A closeup of Burrito’s toes:

 

Burrito’s plush monkey friend (featured in yesterday’s video) being incrementally dragged into the chimp enclosure through a food chute and then leisurely disemboweled by seven VERY enriched chimpanzees:

 

Barn Kitty’s tracks in the snow (black-and-white version):

Two Years Down, Many More to Come!

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Today is a very special day! It marks 2 years since Betsy, Honey, Meredith, and Nutmeg arrived and began to call Washington their new home!

A photo from the first day they arrived at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest!
Photo from today as they watched Jamie and I sprint around Young’s Hill.

From the first day they arrived in Central Washington to today, these four individuals have been such an honor and treat to be able to get to know!

To honor their second year in Washington, we had planned something special for them. However, similar to the events that unfolded on Meredith’s birthday a couple of months ago, we were unable to photograph or film the events as they were more interested in their hay than their celebratory cob treat today.

So instead, here are some photos from their second year at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest!

Betsy in February eating some alfalfa in the Winter pasture.
That one time they were hiding from me in the Creek back in June.
Mobbing the Gator full of hay in April.
Making the march today to the other pasture where they were treated with cob, but decided hay was better. L to R: Nutmeg, Betsy, Meredith, Honey.
Betsy up near the pine trees that line the top of Young’s Hill in October.
Nutmeg in the Spring pasture in August.
Honey in the Spring pasture in September.
Meredith being beautiful in October.
Honey today!
Betsy (with Jamie in the background) in July!
Meredith in the Summer pasture on her birthday back in September!
Nutmeg making his was back to the barn today.

We can’t wait to celebrate more years to come!

Remember! You can help contribute to their care by becoming a Bovine Buddy to one or all of them! This will help us tremendously to make sure they have many more years to come here!

Growing Old(er) Together

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Today I turn 47. On June 13th we will celebrate Queen Negra’s 47th birthday.

I hope you will consider honoring us both today, as well as supporter Monica Best, who had her own birthday last week, by donating to our GiveBIG page. 

In truth, we don’t know exactly how old Negra is or what day she was actually born. No one celebrated her birthday before she came to the sanctuary. This year, however we are inviting all of you to join her birthday celebration.

We chose June 13th to celebrate her because it was the day she and her six friends arrived at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in 2008. It marked a new birth for her and for all seven of the chimpanzees.

When Negra and her friends arrived, I was the Director of Outreach for the sanctuary and J.B. was the Director of Operations. We had met the chimpanzees at the Buckshire Corporation months previously and wrote about those early meetings when this blog was in its own infancy.

I absolutely do not have a favorite chimpanzee. I truly love them all. There’s something unique about each of them that makes me admire and appreciate them. That said, it didn’t take me very many visits to confess my love for Negra.

Back in 2008 when so many people were working incredibly hard to get the chimpanzees to CSNW, I never would have guessed that I would still be here twelve years later. And I definitely would not have guessed that Negra would still be here.

Supporter Kathleen Corby, in wishing me a happy birthday today, reminded me of this blog post I wrote about Negra a couple of years ago.

There’s probably a common theme to many of the posts I’ve written about Negra, who was the oldest of the group. The theme, whether written explicitly or just implied, is the limited amount of time Negra might have to experience her sanctuary life and therefore, indeed, every single moment was invaluable.

Witnessing Negra do even the simplest things brings me immense joy, like when she was eating scraps in the greenhouse last week:

or swinging from the fire hose Super Negra style the other day:

Not bad for a 47 year old, if I do say so myself.

Two days ago, Kelsi and Chad were attempting to close up the chimp house after dinner. J.B. and I live in the residence on the property, a stone’s throw from the chimps’ home. I had gone outside to take some trash out, and I noticed Kelsi and Jamie on a walk. Jamie noticed me too and insisted I join them.

One walk turned into a few walks. After a bit, Chad went home and Kelsi went back inside to finish up some tasks.

It was the most beautiful evening I have ever experienced at the sanctuary. The weather was perfectly comfortable, with very little wind, which is unusual in the spring. The grass had taken on that almost unbelievably green luminescence, there were flowers, birds, and squirrels in every direction, and the fruit trees were attracting thousands of pollinating insects. Life was literally everywhere.

The cows were grazing on one side of me while Jamie slowly sauntered on the other side. She was picking dandelions, eating their stems, and discarding the flowers.

Nutmeg Steer grazing

There was a magazine article that came out several years ago that described the sanctuary property as bucolic. At the time, it made me laugh. Only a writer who lived in a big city would use that word to describe the grounds. But the other night as I looked around, listening to the cows happily grazing, watching the swallows flitting by, and walking ever so slowly on the other side of a fence from a chimpanzee, the word came back to me. If ever there was a bucolic scene, even with the unusual addition of a chimpanzee, it was this.

Jamie’s walking ritual has always presented opportunities for me to reflect. It’s ironic, in a way. Jamie can be a very intense individual. No one would describe her as laid back. But her need to walk and her desire to have a human join her has helped me on multiple occasions tamp down my own moments of intensity, allowing me to relax and be in the moment.

And so it was the other night as we walked or just stood and took in the bucolic scenery around us.

When she was finally satisfied with walking, we settled in the greenhouse so she could groom the boots on my feet, as that is perhaps the most important part of her ritual.

I took this photo of her hand holding the stick that she poked through the mesh to groom my boot:

I’ve been noticing those hairs on Jamie’s hands for about a year. Like humans, as chimpanzees age, sometimes their hair loses pigment and fades to gray.

Foxie too has been collecting gray hair these last few years. Here’s a photo I took of her the day after her exam as she lie perfectly content with her purple haired doll. In addition to the gray hair, we know from Foxie’s radiographs from earlier this week that she has arthritis in one of her hips. Other than those normal signs of aging, she seems to be in tip-top shape.

We’ve long described the chimpanzees as aging in reverse. They really did gain years on their lives when they arrived at the sanctuary. There is no denying now that they are aging in a forward direction.

Just like me.

Just like all of us.

Every moment is precious because there are a finite number of moments, and we don’t know what that number is. It’s both the tragedy and also the incredible beauty of our own lives and of caring for other living beings.

Who would have guessed that we would be so lucky to have had so many moments – coming up on twelve years worth of them – with these special seven chimpanzees, and now with three more special chimpanzees and four very cool cattle.

What a privilege to be getting older with all of them. And what a privilege that you are here too, a part of all of our lives.

An Unlikely Story About Honey B

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This is a story I first told at our gala in June. Though now it has a very exciting ending or maybe more of a beginning of an ending. It’s a lot of words… feel free to skim and skip down to the photos of Honey B I took today.

PREFACE

I don’t myself believe in fate, but I could see how this tale might be interesting for those who do believe in predestination.

CHAPTER ONE

The story begins when I was working at a sanctuary called the Fauna Foundation in Quebec, Canada. The fifteen chimpanzees that I worked with at Fauna had all been used in biomedical testing at a laboratory called LEMSIP in upstate New York. When LEMSIP was closing in the late 1990s, there was a scramble, led by LEMSIP’s head veterinarian, to get the chimpanzees into sanctuaries instead of being shipped to the Coulston Foundation, a laboratory in New Mexico that was ill-regarded even within the laboratory community and had amassed numerous animal welfare violations.

The sanctuary world was very small at that time and there were not many places for chimpanzees. Gloria Grow, founder of the Fauna Foundation, had never cared for chimpanzees before, but she had a sanctuary for wayward farmed animals and she wanted to do something more.

A former LEMSIP employee had given Gloria a list from 1993 of all of the chimpanzees who lived at LEMSIP. We would pour over that list, looking for relatives of the 15 chimpanzees who arrived at Fauna in 1996. She helped to identify where some of the other chimpanzees went, whether to other sanctuaries or to Coulston.

Over the course of the three years I worked at Fauna, I spent hours looking at that list with Gloria’s handwritten notes on it. I wondered about the personalities behind all of those names. I wondered if they were okay.

I don’t know why, but some of the names just stuck with me. Honey B was one of the names on that list.

I had heard that Honey B was the half sister of Jethro, a large adolescent guy at Fauna who loved to play chase. I knew that Jethro, Honey B, and another chimpanzee at Fauna, Binky, had all been together in the “nursery” at LEMSIP after they were taken from their mothers.

 

CHAPTER TWO

In 2005, I found myself outside of New Orleans at a shelter that was taking care of dogs and cats that had been left behind after Hurricane Katrina. This was a few years after J.B. and I left Fauna for other academic and professional adventures. We were living in upstate New York at the time, and there was no way (well, maybe there was a small way) I was planning on bringing home a dog to our peaceful feline household.

But a dog at the shelter adopted me and her owners did not want her back. She was not the dog I would have chosen if I had been deliberately searching for a pup. She chased cats and didn’t want anything to do with other dogs, or other people for that matter. But she decided I was her person, and I accepted this without questioning it for very long. I broke the news to J.B. over the phone and he also didn’t question it.

Now, we needed a name for her. The name that I landed on was Honey B. Not Honey Bee, though I’m sure that’s what most people thought of when I mentioned her name. No, this somewhat surly Chow Chow from Louisiana that was my new best friend was named after a chimpanzee I had never met.

 

CHAPTER THREE

Honey B the dog, J.B., me, and our three cats (Cuba, LouLou, and Peanut) moved from our Victorian house in upstate New York to work at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in 2008, just a month before Annie, Missy, Jody, Jamie, Foxie, Burrito, and Negra arrived from Buckshire, the laboratory holding facility where they had lived for decades. Buckshire leased out the chimpanzees they owned to different laboratories, including LEMSIP before it closed down.

Buckshire provided us with some of the medical records of the seven chimpanzees who now called Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and Cle Elum, Washington their home. I was looking through Missy’s record, and lo and behold, I discovered that she was the mother of the chimpanzee Honey B! I dug up the old LEMSIP list that for some reason I had moved with me from Quebec to Massachusetts to New York to Washington and confirmed this information.

I thought, “what are the odds of that?!”

Honey B the dog didn’t pay much attention to the chimpanzees, but after the chimps’ two-acre outdoor area, Young’s Hill, was built, J.B. and I would take her on walks around the outside of the perimeter fence. Despite her lack of affection for more than a few (okay, two) people, she was a really easygoing dog in a lot of ways and didn’t need to be on a leash. Every once in a while, she and Missy would run down the hill on opposite sides of the fence together.

 

CHAPTER FOUR

In May of this year, I learned that the chimpanzees at Wildlife Waystation were in need of new homes. I knew that Honey B the chimpanzee, the daughter of Missy and the namesake to my beloved now-deceased Chow Chow, lived there. I had still never met her. Side-note: Missy’s son Josh also lives at Wildlife Waystation.

We were just wrapping up the first phase of the expansion at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, expecting to bring three or four chimpanzees in need to (hopefully) expand the chimpanzee family of seven.

After visiting Wildlife Waystation, we knew we could and needed to immediately help at least some of the chimpanzees there. J.B. and I met all of the 42 chimpanzees. They are all wonderful and deserving. Their groups vary in size, but there were only three groups of an appropriate number for us to consider bringing to CSNW. After talking to the care staff about personalities, it seemed clear that Honey B and her group mates Willy B and Mave, would have the best chance of integrating into our group of seven.

Less than three months later, J.B. and I drove down to California and returned with Honey B the chimpanzee and her two friends.

Four days ago, mother Missy and daughter Honey B touched each other for the first time after 30 years of being apart. It was clear from the records we have that Honey B was taken from Missy when she was less than a day old, and there’s no indication that they recognize they are related, but we hope there’s a chance they will become friends.

Left to right: Honey B, Missy, Annie