Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for December 2015

Today is in memory of Bill Clark

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Shelley Winfrey in memory of her dad, Bill Clark, on his birthday. Shelley is a long-time friend of the chimpanzees and does so much to support their lives in their sanctuary home.

Shelley, thank you so much for sponsoring this day in memory of your dad, Bill. We are touched that you include the chimpanzees when holding your family in your heart and we are honored to celebrate your dad with you today. We are so grateful for all you do for the chimpanzees and our thoughts are with you as we wish you a day full of comfort, love and joyful memories.

A quiet moment from your handsome pal, Burrito:

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A Christmas Miracle

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It was almost a year without Christmas.

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OK, that’s not true – but Christmas was nearly delayed by a few days. The Cascade Mountains here in Washington received more snow in the last week than in all of last winter. Interstate 90, the only direct route between the sanctuary and Seattle, was closed for days due to avalanches in the mountain pass, and many of our volunteers were stuck on the other side. Thankfully, the highway was reopened last night and volunteer Patti was able to make it over this morning with the chimps’ Christmas dinner.

I don’t know if that qualifies as a Christmas miracle, but the support we’ve been receiving over the last month has certainly been miraculous. Packages have been arriving for weeks from generous donors, some long time supporters of the Cle Elum Seven and some who just discovered the sanctuary through stories about Foxie and her dolls in the UK, Germany, and Australia. You can guess what our newest supporters sent for Foxie! And our dedicated volunteers have been braving some treacherous conditions on the pass to reach the sanctuary. We are so grateful to everyone that helped make this a special holiday season for the chimps.

This Christmas was filled with great food, lots of boots and dolls, and a few surprises as well. Check out the video to see for yourself!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Thank you, Karen!

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We are so thankful to also have Karen Bugni sponsoring today for the chimpanzees! Karen shared that she wanted to sponsor today as “A gift for the chimps!” It’s immensely moving to witness how much care and compassion these seven special souls inspire and we are thrilled to see them surrounded by so much love.

Karen, thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees and wanting to give them this special Christmas gift! We are so grateful to you and hope you know that you make a difference in their lives. All of us here at CSNW wish you the happiest of holidays!

Foxie with a snow-snack:

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Every year it seems the love for these seven amazing chimpanzees grows more and more and this year is no different. You all have stocked the chimp house shelves for chimps and humans alike with items we needed from our Wishlist, sent donations, and boxes and boxes of gifts for the chimpanzees to have on Christmas day. You are amazing! We are immensely grateful to each and every one of you for your support of these seven special chimpanzees and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving them lives of love, comfort and celebration. From all of the primates here at CSNW, Merry Everything and a Happy Always! And be sure to tune in later today for the chimpanzees’ holiday festivities!

Happy Birthday, Laurel!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Laurel Hecht! Laurel is celebrating her 60th birthday today and generously wanted to share her special day with the chimpanzees! We are always touched when people choose to make a difference in the chimps’ lives and when you add in it being a birthday and Christmas, it’s all the more inspiring.

Laurel, thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees today and sharing your celebration with them! All of us here at the sanctuary wish you the happiest of birthdays and a beautiful holiday season!

I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if visions of food are dancing in Burrito’s head today…

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We have another generous Sponsor-a-Day coming up later this morning and of course, the chimp house is all a flurry in preparation for the chimps’ Christmas celebration today so be sure to check back later!

Where are the chimpanzees?

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By the time we’ve finished the morning cleaning, the chimpanzees have had their lunch, and we’re ready to start thinking about the day’s blog post, the chimps have usually settled down for afternoon naps, making photographing them a challenge. (Chimps like to sleep up high, and therefore out of sight of the camera lens.) This problem is compounded in the winter, when the chimps are feeling sleepier and snugglier than usual. There are some afternoons when we walk around the sanctuary aimlessly for hours trying to find some chimps to photograph for the blog post. Interestingly, they don’t seem concerned at all with our troubles.

Today is one such day, so I thought I’d do something a little different: a brief video tour of part of the sanctuary grounds. (You’ll notice we’ve gotten some snow.) You will spot a chimp or two, but I think you’ll start to understand our struggles. If you didn’t know better, you might not know there are chimps here at all.

Burrito’s guide to communicating with humans that don’t understand!

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Ok so first a little bit of background for my story…

Every morning we usually start the daily cleaning by closing off the part of the chimpanzees’ enclosure we call the greenhouse. To do this we usually have a trained caregiver serve a little snack in the front rooms to make sure everyone is out of the greenhouse. The lead caregiver closes two doors remotely using levers and locks located on the wall of the human area. Once the chimpanzees no longer have access to the greenhouse (we do a series of checks to ensure this to be true), we can safely enter the area for cleaning. After the greenhouse is cleaned and locked up, the lead caregiver gives the chimpanzees access to the area again and the rest of breakfast can be served in the front rooms or greenhouse (if it’s not too cold). We generally ask the chimpanzees to shift out of the playroom at this time so we can clean this next.

Today staff member Elizabeth was the snack and breakfast server and I was the lead caregiver in charge of moving the chimpanzee’s doors (we rotate so all staff is the lead at least once a week). Elizabeth took the snack in (banana slices and peanuts) first thing in the morning and we set about gathering our cleaning supplies after the greenhouse was closed off. Burrito, as you probably know, is all about food, especially in the morning. This morning was no different except he seemed entirely unsatisfied by the snack and set about bronx cheering (a raspberry sound made with his lips) and bouncing up and down for more breakfast. We quickly cleaned the greenhouse and then Elizabeth served the rest of breakfast.

After the playroom was also cleaned, we put out a forage of kale and snow buckets so the chimpanzees would be motivated to shift into the playroom and I could close off the front rooms for the next round of cleaning. Much to my surprise, Burrito would not leave the front rooms. He never misses out on a forage! Instead of going into the playroom to collect the food, he was bouncing up and down with his hair standing on end looking at the shelf behind me. I finally discovered what Burrito was trying to tell us all morning! We had forgotten to serve the bowl of peanuts! Poor Burrito, Elizabeth quickly rectified the situation and all was right with the world again.

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