Chimp Rescued From Research Laboratory Finds Comfort With Troll Dolls

Nestled away in Washington’s Cascade Mountains in the town of Cle Elum is a sanctuary that his home to seven chimpanzees, who are recovering from a lifetime of invasive research in biomedical laboratories. One of the chimps at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is Foxie, a chimp with an affection for troll dolls.

Prior to her life at the sanctuary, Foxie was used in hepatitis vaccine research and as a breeder for the biomedical research industry. She gave birth to four babies (including a set of twins) during her time in the research facility, but every time her babies were taken away from her when they were just days old. It must have been heartbreaking for her, as chimps in the wild raise their young anywhere between five and eight years.

Foxie. Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest / Facebook

Maybe that’s why Foxie loves her troll dolls. “When she arrived at the sanctuary she was aloof for a time around humans and cautious about her surroundings,” Diane Goodrich, Director of Outreach at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest writes on their website. “She would not play with or even touch any of the toys and other items we gave the chimps. And then, she adopted a troll doll.”

Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

The sanctuary says that within a month of her arrival at their home, Foxie adopted a troll doll with bright pink hair.

Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Since then, she’s adopted many more carries the dolls around in her mouth, on her back and in her hands. She’s simply fascinated by them.

Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Chimpanzees in the wild carry their babies on their backs, and that’s what Foxie seems to be doing with her troll dolls.

Goodrich first met Foxie at the laboratory where she was being kept. “When I first met Foxie at the laboratory, she hid in a corner, mostly out-of-sight. She watched my every move, though, and by the end of the visit she presented her belly for me to tickle with a rolled up newspaper. Her caretaker at the laboratory warned us that she couldn’t be trusted and would try to grab her caregivers if given the opportunity,” Diane writes.

Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Towards the end of her time there, Foxie was no longer being used to breed or for research. Instead, she sat in a cage in the basement with no windows, no fresh air and no activity to keep her mind occupied. She spent years like that until Diane met her and arranged for her to be brought to the sanctuary.

Since arriving at the sanctuary in 2008, Foxie has come a long way and is transforming into a “happy, playful and confident chimpanzee who is full of acrobatic surprises.”

Foxie carries her troll dolls everywhere and she now has hundreds of dolls thanks to her supporters.

Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

People have asked the sanctuary if Foxie have a favorite troll doll and they answered on their Facebook page, “She usually is most enamored with the newest one in the collection, but even the chewed up ones she carries around (as you’ve probably seen). She does seem to like the “hand-sized” ones that easily pass through the caging best.”

Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Foxie is not the only chimp at the sanctuary who has an affection for the odd dolls. Jaime and Negra have been spotted cradling the dolls too.

Negra. Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Jaime. Photo credit: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

With several hundred chimpanzees still being used in laboratories in the United States, it’s heartwarming to see Foxie and her friends being so well looked after, given the years of pain they endured.

To find out more about supporting the chimps that this non-profit looks after and the rescue work they do, visit the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest website.

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