Annie is beautiful inside and out. She is a sweet, gentle chimpanzee who seems to become more and more comfortable in her own skin with each passing day. It makes my heart happy to see her appear so at peace and relaxed on Young’s Hill.
young's hill
In memory of Lassen Pig
Today was sponsored by Kerrie Wooten, in memory of her friend, Lassen Pig. Kerrie shared a very touching story about Lassen:
“I first met Lassen Pig on July 1, 2004 when I interned at Farm Sanctuary in Orland, CA. He was a young, happy, sometimes cranky, spoiled pig and I grew to love and appreciate his personality. In 2006 I began working at the sanctuary and I was thrilled to be helping to take care of Lassen every day. Last year, on October 4, 2012 (the day after my birthday) we said goodbye to Lassen – he was a little old man, but I still saw the young, spry pig I’d first met years before. My wish is to honor the memory of my dear friend by helping the chimps, who deserve to have a joyous, fulfilling, carefree life the way Lassen did.”
Kerrie, this is such a sweet and generous gift! Thank you so much for helping to give Lassen, and the chimps, wonderful lives.
Foxie and her dolls
Foxie is usually never without a troll doll or Dora the Explorer doll. But there’s been some occasions where she differs from the usual and pick dolls or enrichment that are entirely different, and sometimes—shockingly—she’s been seen walking around Young’s Hill without any doll along for the ride. As endearing as Foxie’s doll love is, I think it’s really good to see her varying a bit in her choices for enrichment.
Sometimes she picks a troll AND a Dora:
Sometimes it’s something totally different (in this case, a “My Little Pony” pink horse head)
Sometimes we can’t be for sure if she’s carrying one or not… but she sure looks good with that beautiful forest background!
And sometimes she’s interested in enjoying the sunshine with her chimpanzee friends and leaves the dolls to wait for her inside:
Foraging
We provide food to the chimps in a variety of ways. Sometimes we serve them individually, either hand to mouth or hand to hand through the caging. This ensures that everyone is getting their fair share and gives us a great opportunity to monitor and evaluate the chimps’ health up close. Other times we put food in puzzles like the termite mound or raisin boards, giving the chimps a chance to use tools and their incredible problem-solving abilities. But my (and Burrito’s) favorite method is the forage. For a forage, we cut the food into small pieces and spread it throughout the enclosure while the chimps are locked out. Then we let them back in and they proceed to search for their meal. Foraging encourages activity and usually discourages stress and aggression because it’s difficult to steal or hoard food when it is spread out over such a large area, though Jamie sometimes tries her best.
The GoPro camera provides an interesting glimpse into a forage on the hill and it also allows us to hear all the groans and food squeaks that we would otherwise miss.
Celebrating 5 years of sanctuary and a very special birthday
Today has been an incredible day. We’re so moved to see all the love for the Cle Elum Seven as the Give Five donations keep rolling in. As of right now, we’ve raised $10,550 toward our summer goal of $35,000! We’re asking for just $5 as a pledge of support for the chimps and the sanctuary (and as a happy birthday wish for Negra!).
It wouldn’t be a CSNW holiday without a party, of course, and the chimpanzees are expert partiers with five years of practice under their belts. Volunteer caregivers Denice, Seana, and Patti came this morning to help the chimps celebrate. Denice dressed up the morning fruit smoothie and put it in festive plastic shot glasses.
Patti brought several pinatas, including this one to honor Negra’s birthday.
Seana setting up the party in the greenhouse:
Denice:
Patti:
Missy was very interested in the pinata, but she had some nuts to eat first, so she held on to it.
Missy drinking smoothie:
Jamie:
Foxie enjoying some raspberries:
Annie with a pinata:
As for the birthday girl, she has had a pretty great day. Here she is with some fruit smoothie:
And with a tiara pinata (she is the Queen, after all):
After the party Negra explored Young’s Hill, venturing so high up the hill that we lost sight of her for awhile.
And after all that activity, she took a well-deserved nap.
We really can’t say what all of your support means to us. You enable us to do what we do. Here’s to another five years!
Negra’s Journey
One week from today, we will celebrate Negra’s 40th birthday and CSNW’s 5 year anniversary. Due to incomplete lab records, we don’t know Negra’s actual date of birth. To honor her status as the Queen of the Cle Elum Seven, we celebrate her birthday on June 13, the anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to the sanctuary.
Negra is the oldest of the seven chimps here, and it’s easy to tell by looking at her. She is rounder than the other chimps and moves a lot slower. While they’re playing energetic games of chase, she can often be found wrapped in a blanket gazing out the window. Negra has the wisdom and dignity that often come with age. It’s for this reason that we call her our Queen.
One of the things I love most about Negra is that she doesn’t settle. She demands what she thinks she deserves and doesn’t give up until she gets it. Usually, what she thinks she deserves is her night bag, a nightly post-dinner treat of nuts and seeds in a small paper bag. She loves night bags so much that often, mid-dinner service, she claps her hands together imperiously as if to say, “I’ll take that night bag NOW, please.”
This photo was taken when Negra and the rest of the Cle Elum Seven were en route to CSNW from the laboratory five years ago. I often wonder what Negra was thinking sitting in her cage on the transport truck, leaving over three decades of research labs behind. Of course, she couldn’t have known during that cross-country drive that those days were in the past.
I’d like to think that she started to understand that her life was changing shortly after arriving at the sanctuary. This photo was taken on June 13, 2008, just hours after the transport truck carrying the chimpanzees pulled into our driveway. Negra and the others took turns in front of this window. In the lab they had lived in a windowless basement, so it’s likely that she was seeing outside for the first time in many years, maybe decades.
The next two photos were taken this morning, almost exactly five years later. Negra spent the morning foraging for fruit and sitting in the grass on Young’s Hill, the chimps’ two-acre outdoor habitat. I don’t know if Negra will ever get used to the feel of the cool grass under her feet or the sight of the blue sky overhead, but I think that she finally knows that her past is history.
Next Thursday, June 13, please join us for Give Five Day. By donating just $5, you’ll pay for one meal for one of the chimpanzees, show your love for Negra and the others, and enable us to keep serving seven incredible survivors.
Happy Birthday, Eric!
Today was sponsored in honor of Eric Jensen whose family shared the following message: “Happy Birthday to an impy chimpy kind of son who we are so proud of. Love, your parents.” What a wonderful way to honor your son on his birthday! Thank you so much for thinking of the chimps. Have a great day, Eric, and lots of pant hoots to you!