Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Just a reminder that if you haven’t submitted comments to the NIH, the deadline is coming up (Saturday March 23, 2013 at 11:59pm ET). Check this blog post for more details. Another great resource is available through Project R&R here.
And just for kicks, here is Jamie receiving her second helping of pasta for dinner tonight.
I learned about chimps at a very early age. Sometimes when a child sends a letter or donation or favorite toy to the chimps, I think “that could have been me!” Of course when I was little there was no internet and there were no chimp sanctuaries, so it probably couldn’t have been me. But I’m continually impressed by this wiser and more connected generation of kids who are doing something. I want to send a huge thank you to these wonderful kids:
I know there are many others who have done sweet things for the chimps too. This is just a small and recent sampling!
(UPDATE: Thank you Jody! We’ve got our case on the way! If you want to still support the fun iPad project—we could use some iTunes giftcards for cool apps! You can send an e-card to [email protected])
A few weeks ago, Orangutan Outreach reached out to us after seeing my blog post about wanting an iPad for Jamie (and the other chimps, too!) They have this great program called “Apps for Apes” (featured on NBC news) which has mostly been used in zoos and with orangutans. The Center for Great Apes is involved in the program and they are a sanctuary for both chimps and orangutans, but we’re the first sanctuary to be involved with only chimps. I’m really excited to see what apps they want to interact with the most! Orangutan Outreach raises awareness about orangutan conservation while also providing great enrichment for captive orangutans. Their project falls perfectly in line with what we have going on with Eyes on Apes, our advocacy group.
Here’s me (so excited!) with the iPad. I set a photo from today’s earlier blog post of Jody as the background:
And here volunteer Deb and myself show Jamie and Foxie the iPad.
I can’t WAIT to be able to let the chimps touch the iPad themselves. First we need to have a durable case so we can safely have it against the fencing and the chimps won’t break it 🙂
J.B. has done a bit of research and this is what we’ve decided will be the best option: Life Jacket Waterproof Case. We’d like the case as well as the extra mounting bracket which is an additional cost. If someone would be willing to donate the case, the mounting bracket, (or both!) I would be forever thankful (and so would the chimps!)
Though we don’t know for sure exactly what will happen when they’re able to interact with it themselves, I imagine based on how enriching it is just to look at, that they’ll be very interested to touch it!
I really love these pictures from the other day. Jody just looks so content with all the green grass on Young’s Hill.
Top o’ the afternoon to ya’, laddy! Happy St. Patty’s Day! We set up a big party forage in the Playroom this morning. Last week, volunteer Stephanie brought us some non-toxic window paint, and since she couldn’t be here today, I thought I would try to get creative and decorate the windows instead (that would normally be a Stephanie-type job). Okay- so I’m no artist like Stephanie, but at least I gave it a try!!
And so what if there is something terribly wrong with my troll doll’s belly, head, hands, eyes, nose and feet! His hair looks good and the rest just adds character!
But, thankfully, to make up for my pitiful excuse for art, volunteer Patti brought lots of decorations, making it a true party. She made these cute little boxes with clovers on them and we stuffed them with chow and grapes. The chimps loved them!
Foxie was particularly happy with them!
Annie:
Jamie:
Burrito:
We also made “salad plates” consisting of cabbage that Patti brought and a variety of lettuce that volunteer Jennifer brought over yesterday from Seattle’s Metropolitan Market, topped with a few raspberries.
Jamie:
I love the look of adoration on Burrito’s face in this one:
Jody:
Negra with some cabbage:
Burrito:
Missy with a mouthful:
…and another mouthful…
…and another mouthful…
Patti also brought some St. Patrick’s Day theme cups that we filled with Gatorade and coconut water.
Missy:
You regular blog readers may have noticed an odd theme here – lots of photos of Missy!? That’s rare for a party, since Missy usually goes upstairs and is out of sight for much of the party. But today, she stayed right in the middle of it and enjoyed tons of goodies. I was able to get some good photos, but I have to be honest about this next one: Missy wasn’t actually smiling, she was actually just using her tongue to pick some cabbage out of her teeth and this is how I caught her, but it’s so funny, I had to share! It was a happy day!
Thanks so much to Patti, Stephanie, and Jennifer and the Metropolitan Market for their generous donations! It was an awesome party!
Negra was enjoying this morning’s breakfast forage on the hill:
But she soon found herself caught in a spring rain shower, so she headed for the greenhouse and grabbed as much food as she could along the way:
Jody and Annie took their sweet time, since they were already hanging out in the cabin:
Even though the rain didn’t last very long, most of the chimps spent the day in the greenhouse, where they knew they would remain warm and dry. Burrito was kind enough to let me take some close up photos:
Jamie can’t sit still all day so she ventured out and made Diana walk a few laps around the perimeter of Young’s Hill with her. Every time Diana got back down to the building and thought she was done, there was Jamie waiting for her to go again. How could you say no to Jamie?
If you saw the blog the a couple weeks ago, we got pretty excited because Negra finally went into her cabin! Yesterday Jackie captured a short video of Negra sitting in her cabin. After hanging out in there for a while, she walked around it, stopped to look at Jody through the clear lexan panel, and then sat down next to it with a really sweet and content face.
