Tumalo chimp sanctuary cleans up wind damage

A sanctuary for chimpanzees rescued from pet and entertainment situations was hit hard by Friday’s windstorm. For Chimps Inc., a nonprofit, unexpected weather can be damaging in more ways than one.

“We definitely saw the power of Mother Nature,” Shayla Scott, a senior caregiver, said Saturday, “Natural events like this occur, were obviously unpredictable, (and we were) unprepared.”

Gates, trees, tarps, even animal shelters were no match for Friday’s winds.

“Seeing the roof come off the top of his wooden den was like Wizard of Oz with the house spinning round,” Scott said.

Chimps Inc. is home to seven chimps and two lynx.

“Our first and foremost concern is just walking around, checking out the animals making sure that everybody’s safe,” Scott said.

Both species have available indoor and outdoor space, but the chimps were brought inside during the 50 mph winds.

“They don’t understand what’s going on, so for them it’s very nerve-wracking,” Scott said.

The lynx only have one small shelter to keep them dry — which blew away in the storm.

“Seeing it roll away in the wind, and my co-worker and I trying to nail it down,” Scott said.

Eventually, the two caregivers were able to secure the shelter.

With much calmer winds Saturday, the cleanup continued.

“As animal caregivers, our strengths are with the animals, so we really learn as a nonprofit to try to fix things ourselves,” Scott said.

They also learn of the powerful mind of a chimp.

“Chimps are very savvy with sticks, they are tool-users,” Scott said.

Both Friday and Saturday consisted of cleaning out the sticks from the enclosures — just in case.

“They know how to take a stick and poke it through the wire mesh,” Scott said..” So we have to make sure that those long, dangerous sticks are outside of their environment.”

There is no direct human-chimp interaction among visitors, but Chimps Inc. closely interacts with the community. And they are asking for your help.

“We really rely heavily on people in the community to help us out,” Scott said.

If you’d like to donate or help in other ways, visit http://www.chimps-inc.org/