Archives for February 2016

Be Still My Heart

February 13, 2016 by Diana

It’s appropriate to get really mushy because it’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow, right?

I am going to share something I love about each of the chimpanzees below, but first I need to get mushy about you – Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest supporters.

First, a confession: fundraising has not been my life’s ambition. I’ve met people who I might call “born fundraisers,” and I can definitively say that they posses qualities that I simply do not.

However, the more I do this fundraising thing, the more I appreciate what a unique and special position I am in. I get to make dreams come true – dreams for the chimpanzees, and dreams for donors who support the chimpanzees. We are all very much in this together, with the same goals for the future, and I feel that connection when I talk to those who support the sanctuary.

Not many people have a job that is so fulfilling, and very few people have a job with so much positive feedback. Katelyn and I were talking about this in the office the other day – we regularly have people call or email to not only make a donation, but also to say that they love the work we are doing and appreciate us sharing stories of the chimpanzees, allowing them to feel connected to the chimps as the individuals who they are.

Thank you for being supportive and for sharing your love with the chimpanzees – and with the humans too!

Speaking of which… as I write this, we are just $1,797 away from reaching our $12,000 goal for the Share the Chimp Love fundraiser, which ends at the end of the day tomorrow. UPDATE: big thanks to Julie L. for donating exactly $1,797 after this post was published!

If you are feeling the love, but haven’t yet made a donation, you can share that love now on this page. You can choose to spread the love even further by donating in honor of someone else for Valentine’s Day, or just make a donation for the love of Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra.

Below are just some of the things that I love about each of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary.

It would be so fun for me if you also shared what you love about Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra in the comments!

I love ANNIE’s serenity:

and her bird noises!

I love when BURRITO’s “chimpanzeeness” really comes through (for the full explanation of the video below, see this blog post from 2013 when it was originally published):

I love FOXIE’S “happy toes” (video from 2010):

I love JAMIE’s brave leadership:

I love JODY’ nesting skills:

I love MISSY’s ability to entertain herself:

I love NEGRA’s playful moments (video from 2011):

Thank you again for being a part of Sharing the Chimp Love!

Alfalfa, the miracle weight loss food

February 12, 2016 by J.B.

If the chimps had their way, they’d eat all day long. Burrito would be unstoppable. Negra would probably forego blankets entirely and just make huge nests out of bread and peanuts so that she would never have to get out of bed again. But overeating is not usually conducive to good health, so for their sake we try to balance these two competing interests as best we can.

Thankfully, there’s a miracle diet food that helps keep chimps happy and healthy: alfalfa. Not just alfalfa, but also bamboo, grape vines, timothy hay, cattails – things that we collectively refer to as “browse”. Chimps love browse, but most browse plants are too fibrous to be digested properly, so they either pass right through or the chimps spit them out after a thorough chewing. Browse makes it possible for chimps to chew to their hearts’ content without eating a lot of calories.

In the summer and fall, many types of browse grow naturally in the chimps’ two-acre enclosure, which allows them to grab a snack anytime they like. Naturally occurring browse is harder to find during the winter, so we make sure to provide Burrito and his family with store-bought treats like alfalfa cubes on a regular basis:

Men at Work

February 11, 2016 by Elizabeth

The men of CSNW took a play break today.

Messages from Annie, Burrito, and Foxie

February 11, 2016 by Diana

Thank you to everyone who has been Sharing the Chimp Love this week! I am so happy to be ordering donor-selected custom photos and sending out other Share the Love gifts to those who have donated at the different levels.

I am especially in love with these bookmarks and card that supporter and graphic designer Kathleen Corby designed just for this year’s Valentine’s Day.

Did you receive the e-newsletter yesterday? Have you shared the What happens when… video yet?

If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you’ve probably seen these messages from Annie, Burrito, and (from this morning) Foxie:

How can you resist those three?!

We are over $7,000 towards our goal of raising $12,000 by the end of the day on Valentine’s Day.

If you haven’t already, please share the love by donating and sharing the above video and Share the Chimp Love images – help us reach the goal for this campaign and get us one step closer to the future of expanding the family!

Same boy, different toy

February 10, 2016 by Katelyn

Today’s blog is kind of a revisit of last Wednesday’s blog. Same boy, different toy.

As most of these games with Burrito go, this is just his warm-up. Eventually, he can stand it no longer and launches down off the bench (as he’s moving to do here) to advance into the tickle and chase portion of the game.

Of course, it’s incredibly fun to have the honor to play with any of the chimpanzees, but it’s hard to find words to express the heartfelt gratitude as we witness them living their lives with such joy after all they’ve been through. That they find within them such a capacity to enjoy each day out from under the shadow of their histories is the best gift of all.

Enriching Jamie Chimpanzee

February 9, 2016 by Anna

Of all the residents at CSNW, Jamie is the most interested in participating in human activities. We’ve seen her shovel snow and use tools, along with many other human oriented projects. Our strict guidelines for enrichment mean we can’t give her absolutely everything she desires (can you imagine Jamie wielding a real power tool?!). But with some creativity, we can still find things that entertain her. The other day we had a bit of success with some new art supplies.

The New Annie

February 8, 2016 by Elizabeth

Just a few years ago, Annie was glued to her best friend Missy’s side. Missy was Annie’s security blanket, and she followed her everywhere. Annie was afraid to be alone.

That’s not the case anymore. These days it’s not uncommon to see images like this one of Annie enjoying some solitude on Young’s Hill this morning: