Katherine Sather just posted info about our new 50 Pal Pledge on the awesome and informative Seattle community focused Citizen Rain blog

It would be great for folks to comment on the blog and thank her for helping us with the pledge. We’ve already received a new pal since she posted!

We’ve had some other bloggers over the past few months write about CSNW and the Cle Elum Seven. Here are a few links to the blogs:

stuff about artstuff and stuff (a blog post from the artist who designed the CSNW logo)

Laura Bee Designs (the promotion to benefit the sanctuary has past, but her merchandise is still neat!)

Super Vegan (the original post is not there, but Foxie’s photo is, and the blog is lots of fun)

Yesterday there was a question on the blog about Missy’s “one sock” fashion sense. Good timing, because today she’s been wearing two socks! Usually they just put one on.  It seems to be the universal chimpanzee signal for “let’s play!” But check out Miss Missy today.

Grooming Burrito with one white, one pink and black:

And outside chasing Annie and Jamie:

Pretty much everything you see on the blog is donated: enrichment, food, blankets. We are very lucky to say that we don’t pay for any of it! It’s quite touching to think of how many friends the Cle Elum Seven have. Here are the chimps making good use of some recent presents: Annie camped out on a blanket from Patty and Missy in a sock from Candace.

Here’s a picture from this morning: Jamie wearing her favorite tutu. She’s also checking herself out (up close!) with a mirror.

We sometimes get questions on whether it’s “okay” that we post pictures of the chimps wearing clothes. It is (understandably) question-worthy for a few reasons: First, it’s obviously an unnatural behavior. You don’t see chimps roaming around the jungle wearing tutus! Second, it draws a parallel to chimpanzees in entertainment, where they are forced to wear clothes and look “cute” for our viewing pleasure.

Here’s how we respond. First, chimps in captivity are inherently unnatural. No facility, even the finest one, can adequately meet the natural needs of a chimpanzee. They need miles and miles to roam and tall trees to climb.  They just don’t belong here. Period.  But since they are here, we work tirelessly to give them the best possible life we can.  That doesn’t necessarily always mean mimicking what they’d have in the wild, though of course we’d like to give them those options too.  A lot of captive chimpanzees were raised as “pets” in human homes, in which case they probably wore clothes when they were babies. Some like it, and some don’t.  As adults, many chimps choose to put on clothes, especially during play. Since we’ve already taken them from where they “belong,” we have no problem continuing to give them the unnatural things they have come to know and enjoy.

Second, the comparison to chimpanzees on TV wearing tutus, which is decidedly bad for a lot of reasons. (See here for more on why it’s bad). So what’s the difference? Choice! Chimpanzees on TV are duct-taped into their tutus and don’t get a say in whether they wear them or not.  Jamie, on the other hand, is the queen of choice here at CSNW. She chooses whether to put on a blouse or shred it, whether to draw with a crayon or eat it, whether to sleep, eat, play, or work on construction.

These are the reasons we are delighted to share pictures with you of the chimps doing “silly” or “human-like” things. It’s because they’re choosing to let us know (for good or for bad) that they are silly and human-like. We’re just the messengers!