Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for May 2015

Happy Birthday, Gillian!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Stephanie Marx in honor of her mother, Gillian Jerden’s, birthday! Stephanie shared the following message about today:

“My mum’s birthday is May 28th. She lives in the UK and I live in Seattle so we rarely see each other on our birthdays. She loves to hear about the sanctuary and what the chimps are up to and has always been very supportive of my passion to help CSNW. I want to thank her for her support and wish her a happy birthday!”

As a member of the amazing team we are fortunate to call our Board of Directors, Stephanie contributes so much to the sanctuary, ensuring that the chimpanzees’ present and future are filled with security and hope. We are so touched that Gillian shares her daughter’s passion for the chimpanzees and we’re lucky to have this human family as part of our chimp family.

Stephanie, thank you so much for thinking of the chimps in honoring your mother and celebrating her life today. Gillian, we wish you a beautiful day full of love and joy! Thank you for all you do for the chimpanzees to make their lives better. Birthday pant-hoots to you from all of us here at CSNW!

Negra:

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New heights to scale

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Construction began this week on the chimpanzees new climbing structures on Young’s Hill and they are amazing! You may recall our Share the Chimp Love fundraiser last February, in which we asked you to help us meet our goal of raising $12,000 to go toward the direct care of the chimpanzees, as well as keeping our savings on track to meet our future goals. Thanks to your incredible generosity in helping us not only reach, but surpass (!), our goal, we were also able to meet our goal of building a new structure for the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill.

The sanctuary’s founder, Keith LaChappelle, has been here all week working with J.B. and he brought reinforcements. Long time friend of the chimps, Nick (who travels from out of state each year just to volunteer his time with projects for the chimps), has also been here, along with Josh, John, Bill, and Marc. These guys have been working tirelessly in the heat to get things ready for the chimpanzees to enjoy as soon as possible.

The structure, situated at the very top of Young’s Hill, is the highest yet and comprised of two climbing towers which are connected by an amazing swinging bridge. From the chimp’s view in the greenhouse, this is the left side of the structure:

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Here’s the right side:

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And the entire structure:

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And thanks to the generosity of Provitro Biosciences, we have been gifted with even more beautiful bamboo to add to the chimpanzees outdoor enclosure. Here’s J.B. bringing some in:

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I’m not sure who is more excited, the chimpanzees, or the humans in anticipation of seeing the chimpanzees check things out. If all goes as planned, everything should be complete tomorrow and ready for chimpanzee inspection after that. Such an amazing way to end the week as we are all looking forward to our annual gala, Hoot!, this weekend.

The kindness, compassion and love you consistently show the chimpanzees often overwhelms us. We are immensely grateful to you to be in the position to continually improve the chimpanzees’ home and lives with each passing season. To be able to ensure their well being not only in the present, but also in the future, is something we could never fully express our gratitude for. And none of this would be possible without you.

The chimpanzees have spent the day relaxing in the hot greenhouse, keeping a close eye on the activity on the hill. Here are a few photos I caught of Foxie and troll, resting up for their new adventures ahead:

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As part of our Share the Love fundraiser, two wonderful and generous families won the naming rights to the chimps’ new structure and they will each be naming the two towers. We will be holding a naming ceremony in the coming weeks and can’t wait to share it with you so stay tuned!

Serious face

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Yesterday, Elizabeth posted this great blog about Jamie—if you missed it, definitely check it out.

Normally, I try not to post about the same chimpanzee two days in a row, just to keep things varied, but I took some photos of the Boss today and couldn’t resist putting them on the blog. Jamie was just chillin’ in the greenhouse this afternoon, demonstrating her serious face.

After I took these photos, she came down to take a look at them. She seemed to approve, so I figured they were good to go!

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Jamie, Reinvented

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Jamie is the undisputed leader of the Cle Elum Seven, but she is not a natural leader.

If Jamie spoke, her catchphrase would be “because I said so.” As a leader, she is not always interested in fairness or leniency. She isn’t interested in hearing your arguments or reasoning or appeals. She knows exactly how she believes things should be, and through sheer determination, she makes it happen.

At the sanctuary, one of our goals is to pinpoint exactly what each chimpanzee needs, and give that to them. Of course, all chimpanzees have basic needs like space to run, fresh air, good food, and other chimps. But beyond those basic needs, each individual has needs of their own. (For Foxie, it’s troll dolls. For Burrito, it’s lots of playtime with caregivers.) What Jamie needs is control and respect.

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Decades of being forced to submit to the will of humans who did not always treat her kindly have done a number on Jamie’s confidence. It is very important to her that everyone believes in her dominance, but she doesn’t always believe in herself. She rules with an iron fist because she is insecure. She overcompensates.

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It’s no surprise that Jamie isn’t the most skilled leader. When she arrived at the sanctuary seven years ago, she must have felt weary, demoralized, and completely defeated. Her life thus far had been devoid of choice, devoid of control. She was powerless. But Jamie decided to change her destiny. In an environment where she is given room to spread her wings, she has done so in the most astounding way. Her path hasn’t always been smooth, but Jamie has reclaimed the respect and dignity she lost to endless years in the labs. Jamie is the boss of ALL of us.

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Seconds, Thirds and Fourths…

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We put out a lunch forage on Young’s Hill this afternoon and everyone but Negra went outside right away to gather their favorite foods. Some of the chimps made their way back to the Greenhouse to enjoy their tasty morsels out of the wind, while others stayed out eating and foraging along the way. After they had their fill, most of the chimps stayed in the Greenhouse and either napped or groomed one another.

I went out a few times to check on them throughout the afternoon and each time one or more of the chimps was back out on the hill, foraging for the pieces they didn’t find earlier. I love lunch forages because they last all afternoon.

If you were given a choice between raw carrots, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts, mixed peppers or mushrooms, which would you choose?

Annie seemed to really like the combination of carrots, sweet potatoes and primate chow (by the mouthful).
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Missy bypassed the veggies and harvested some fresh green plants to eat on her second outing.
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And on what may have been Missy’s fourth trip out onto the hill to look for left overs, she came back to the Greenhouse with a handful of raw mushrooms.

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Negra did eventually brave the wind and spent time eating primate chow and grass before returning to the Greenhouse.
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Chimpanzee Problem Solving

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This is the story of Jody and the sheet. Jody was quite determined to untie this sheet from the fire hose and bring it in with her to make her evening nest.

It appeared to be an easy task at first – she quickly untied one end, but the second end proved more difficult because it was just a bit out of reach. She tried to climb the hose and untie the sheet at the same time, but, even with opposable toes, this did not work out.

She came up with a pretty brilliant solution.

Jody is not known for her athletic skills or her desire to solve puzzles, but when she wants something, she is one determined lady. It goes right along with our most recent e-news article about chimpanzee minds and bodies at work.

I think my favorite photo is #19. What’s yours?

Handsome Mr. B

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I went out to the greenhouse this afternoon to snap a few photos of the chimpanzees—most of whom were lounging in hard-to-see spots, so I was out of luck. However, front and center was Mr. Burrito, looking handsome as ever.

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