Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

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  1. Linda says

    I´m envious! I¨m on the tail end of a 12-hour day-I want to nap, too! Hope everyone that way is snuggly warm!

  4. Kathleen says

    Sweet dreams, you princess of Cle Elum, you boss of Sanctuary. I love that Jamie has different boots for the two different nests too. And thanks calling out her adorable bedhead. I always giggle over the chimps bedhead coiffures.

  5. Debi says

    I bet there’s been a time or two when I’ve fallen fast asleep before getting BOTH my boots off, too…It looks like Jamie is still “wearing” her right boot while the left one was casually taken off & tossed aside right next to her…LOL
    I can’t help but repeat myself by saying how much pure, heartfelt JOY these seven magnificent Chimpanzees give me on a daily basis…They certainly bring “something” extra special to my daily life, & they’ve even deepened my empathy for all living creatures…

    • Linda says

      I think that part of what contributes to this joy we feel every day when we get to “check in” on them is that they’re a small group, only 7, and the staff does an amazing job not just in caring for them and educating the public, but also letting their personalities shine through in these videos and posts. If there were, say, 30, I don’t know that we’d be able to get to know all of their quirks, tics, likes, dislikes……….just another way that the staff excels at this place!

      • Kathleen says

        Oh Linda, from all of your loving postings here on the blog I am willing to bet you would find that the more chimps, the merrier it will be discovering and experiencing them all. CSNW are Social Media Gurus and I’m willing to bet they could bring 30 chimps to life right before our very eyes! You are so right that the CSNW staff excels at everything, especially educating us and bringing the Cle Elum to life making us feel as if we are all right there in the moment with them. It blows me away. It’s like magic the way they do this!

        I also check in on a few other chimp sanctuaries of varying sizes such as Fauna Foundation, Chimp Haven, and Project Chimps to name a few, these sanctuaries are in USA…. there are many in Africa too (like Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue) full of beautiful chimp personalities. (Click on the NAPSA logo at the bottom of this page and get ready to fall in love with more primates than you ever thought you could handle!) : ).

        Confession. The Mighty Seven are my all time favorites! Hands down. But, I find each organization does a wonderful job sharing the individual personalities and recoveries through video and shared experiences from their caregivers — even when there are hundreds of chimps in their care. I don’t know how they do it but they allow us to really see into each chimps undeniable ‘uniqueness’ too. You can’t help feeling something special for each chimpanzee no matter how many you ‘meet’ on social media. While I know it’s the humans who do the awesome job of telling/showing the chimps stories, something tells me all this ‘magic’ has a lot to do with the chimps themselves!

        I believe the real wonder, the real bittersweet beauty is that there are so many chimpanzees in sanctuaries and their new lives need to be witnessed. And the real disappointment for me is that there are many chimps still awaiting for their chance at a life in a sanctuary and their voices need to be heard. These chimps are living in unfavorable conditions, sometimes horrendously horrible conditions. In the end, all chimpanzees deserve autonomy. Once we give them the respect they deserve and we look them in the eye, they take root in our hearts. Unfortunately many people are unaware of chimpanzee sanctuaries and/or why there is a desperate need to expand our existing sanctuaries to take in more chimps. Not to mention the costs involved to do this. When these people see chimpanzees in sanctuary environments created to reflect a more natural environment for the chimps — having access to outside, living in communities, building lifetime bonds and friendships, simply choosing to do what they want to do — seeing sanctuary life will (hopefully!) make people more empathetic to the needs of chimpanzees and others. I truly believe that the power of social media combined with amazing caregivers telling the stories of the hundreds upon hundreds of chimpanzee and primate lives will one day turn the tide for all primates.

        For now, I am grateful for knowing Missy, Annie, Jamie, Burrito, Jody, Foxie and Negra. I am truly grateful to the entire staff and every volunteer and everyone who follows this blog and champions the lives of the Cle Elum Seven (and the New Jersey Four too!) And I apologize for this long post but like all of you, I simply love this place. ; )