Today was sponsored by Brian and Amy Freyermuth who are honoring their niece, Celia Holden, on her 14th birthday! Brian and Amy shared this wonderful message about Celia:
HOOT! Success and Negra’s Aging Backwards
Last week at this time the chimpanzees were partied out, Katelyn was watching over the sanctuary, and the rest of the staff and a ton of volunteers and supporters were having the annual fundraising party in Seattle. HOOT! 2018 brought in more funds than any previous event. The night-of fundraising was over-the-top and many people who were unable to attend sent in donations from across the country. It was the eighth such event that we’ve had, starting in 2009 and skipping 2012. Each year the love seems to grow stronger!
Andy of Inland Networks TV created the highlights video below. One of the biggest moments was during the Give a HOOT! part of the evening where supporters raise their paddles to make donations. Overall, the event raised over $200,000, and a full half of that was just from Give a HOOT! It was nothing short of amazing! Big thanks to EVERYONE who donated with a special nod to Karen Emmerman Mazner, James & Jennifer Douglas and Ross & Karen Barde. Also thanks to challenge pledges from Kathy Cochran and Leah Roberts who were not attending but helped inspire others to donate.
Part of my talk at the event was about not knowing how long the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees would be with us when they arrived a the sanctuary on June 13, 2008. Negra was 35 years old at the time, which is considered elderly. But she’s still going strong and demonstrates the “aging in reverse” phenomenon that seems to have happened for all seven of the chimpanzees.
Here is the photo of Negra that we put on the home page of the website on the first day that the chimpanzees arrived:
Today, Negra climbed to the top of the new (still unnamed!) structure on the hill – the top! I didn’t get a good photo, but I took some others of her exploring.
We celebrate Negra’s birthday on the anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival because she is the epitome of what the sanctuary is all about and it was certainly a new beginning for her. Thank you for being a part of it, whether you have been following for ten years or ten minutes.
Keeping up with Jamie
Join grad student interns Carly and Grace as they take a break from cleaning and preparing meals to walk and run around Young’s Hill with Jamie.
I was very excited to get to use our new gimbal (a fancy handle that steadies your videos – especially when running) that a wonderful supporter purchased from our Amazon wish list. We’re looking forward to using it to film some Facebook Live videos soon!
The Boss’s Day Off
Particular palates
The chimpanzees each have their own unique food preferences. We’ve talked a lot about how Jody will eat a huge assortment of vegetation she finds on Young’s Hill. Foxie on the other hand, has more of a sweet tooth, so she will opt out of many types of greens, in favor of things like sweet potatoes and fruit. A lot of the chimps will eat produce that we humans would think of being really intensely flavorful, in much greater quantities than most humans would ever dream of eating.
I personally could not imagine eating a whole raw onion, but the chimps eat them without thinking twice.
Missy:
And pine tree is not on most humans’ dinner menus.
Jody:
We’ve tasted the wild prickly lettuce that Negra loves so much, and it is tongue twistingly bitter.
The one funny thing we have noticed is that the chimps don’t seem to like a lot of spices in their meals. We don’t cook things for them all that often (instead they usually eat a lot of raw produce), but when we do get a little adventurous with a cooked meal, the chimps are often skeptical, picking through their meals for anything suspect. They have no use for things like basil, oregano and cinnamon, so we generally leave things pretty simple.
That special shade of green
Nice Day
The chimps had a very nice day! Most of the day was spent out on the Hill or in the Green House. Everyone went straight out to Young’s Hill once it was opened, even Neggie ran out right away. Negra also lead the group out for the lunch forage today! However, it must be snake season because before anyone went outside some surveillance had to be done. Annie, who is terrified of snakes, looked out towards the Hill from in the race way, making sure her toes never touched the ground. Foxie, brave little Foxie, lead everyone out giving everyone the okay, but all the chimps made sure to keep their eye out.
Foxie:
Annie:
Negra wadging pineapple:
Miss eating chow:
Jody with a loose lip giving level 3 caregiver Jake some reassurance:
Annie bipedally walking and inspecting for snakes:
Missy, the good friend that she is, giving Annie some back up:
Foxie, Annie, & Missy going out to venture on the secure Hill:
Jody watching over everyone:
And enjoying the tall green grass:
Negra:
Missy (top), Annie (middle), Foxie (below) hanging out on the new structure:
Jamie doing her perimeter check:
Jamie and I also saw Jody and Negra along the way. They were foraging on some of the natural plants that grow on the Hill.
Jody:
Negra:
Foxie enjoying the sunshine:
Later, while cleaning was going on, we caught Jamie using a toothbrush to brush this dolls hair (It was a very sweet moment):
Days like today make my heart feel so full of joy, these chimps are simply amazing. Nothing makes you feel better than seeing happy chimps grooming and playing together all day.