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Archives for April 2020

Growing Old(er) Together

April 30, 2020 by Diana

Today I turn 47. On June 13th we will celebrate Queen Negra’s 47th birthday.

I hope you will consider honoring us both today, as well as supporter Monica Best, who had her own birthday last week, by donating to our GiveBIG page. 

In truth, we don’t know exactly how old Negra is or what day she was actually born. No one celebrated her birthday before she came to the sanctuary. This year, however we are inviting all of you to join her birthday celebration.

We chose June 13th to celebrate her because it was the day she and her six friends arrived at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in 2008. It marked a new birth for her and for all seven of the chimpanzees.

When Negra and her friends arrived, I was the Director of Outreach for the sanctuary and J.B. was the Director of Operations. We had met the chimpanzees at the Buckshire Corporation months previously and wrote about those early meetings when this blog was in its own infancy.

I absolutely do not have a favorite chimpanzee. I truly love them all. There’s something unique about each of them that makes me admire and appreciate them. That said, it didn’t take me very many visits to confess my love for Negra.

Back in 2008 when so many people were working incredibly hard to get the chimpanzees to CSNW, I never would have guessed that I would still be here twelve years later. And I definitely would not have guessed that Negra would still be here.

Supporter Kathleen Corby, in wishing me a happy birthday today, reminded me of this blog post I wrote about Negra a couple of years ago.

There’s probably a common theme to many of the posts I’ve written about Negra, who was the oldest of the group. The theme, whether written explicitly or just implied, is the limited amount of time Negra might have to experience her sanctuary life and therefore, indeed, every single moment was invaluable.

Witnessing Negra do even the simplest things brings me immense joy, like when she was eating scraps in the greenhouse last week:

or swinging from the fire hose Super Negra style the other day:

Not bad for a 47 year old, if I do say so myself.

Two days ago, Kelsi and Chad were attempting to close up the chimp house after dinner. J.B. and I live in the residence on the property, a stone’s throw from the chimps’ home. I had gone outside to take some trash out, and I noticed Kelsi and Jamie on a walk. Jamie noticed me too and insisted I join them.

One walk turned into a few walks. After a bit, Chad went home and Kelsi went back inside to finish up some tasks.

It was the most beautiful evening I have ever experienced at the sanctuary. The weather was perfectly comfortable, with very little wind, which is unusual in the spring. The grass had taken on that almost unbelievably green luminescence, there were flowers, birds, and squirrels in every direction, and the fruit trees were attracting thousands of pollinating insects. Life was literally everywhere.

The cows were grazing on one side of me while Jamie slowly sauntered on the other side. She was picking dandelions, eating their stems, and discarding the flowers.

Nutmeg Steer grazing

There was a magazine article that came out several years ago that described the sanctuary property as bucolic. At the time, it made me laugh. Only a writer who lived in a big city would use that word to describe the grounds. But the other night as I looked around, listening to the cows happily grazing, watching the swallows flitting by, and walking ever so slowly on the other side of a fence from a chimpanzee, the word came back to me. If ever there was a bucolic scene, even with the unusual addition of a chimpanzee, it was this.

Jamie’s walking ritual has always presented opportunities for me to reflect. It’s ironic, in a way. Jamie can be a very intense individual. No one would describe her as laid back. But her need to walk and her desire to have a human join her has helped me on multiple occasions tamp down my own moments of intensity, allowing me to relax and be in the moment.

And so it was the other night as we walked or just stood and took in the bucolic scenery around us.

When she was finally satisfied with walking, we settled in the greenhouse so she could groom the boots on my feet, as that is perhaps the most important part of her ritual.

I took this photo of her hand holding the stick that she poked through the mesh to groom my boot:

I’ve been noticing those hairs on Jamie’s hands for about a year. Like humans, as chimpanzees age, sometimes their hair loses pigment and fades to gray.

Foxie too has been collecting gray hair these last few years. Here’s a photo I took of her the day after her exam as she lie perfectly content with her purple haired doll. In addition to the gray hair, we know from Foxie’s radiographs from earlier this week that she has arthritis in one of her hips. Other than those normal signs of aging, she seems to be in tip-top shape.

We’ve long described the chimpanzees as aging in reverse. They really did gain years on their lives when they arrived at the sanctuary. There is no denying now that they are aging in a forward direction.

Just like me.

Just like all of us.

Every moment is precious because there are a finite number of moments, and we don’t know what that number is. It’s both the tragedy and also the incredible beauty of our own lives and of caring for other living beings.

Who would have guessed that we would be so lucky to have had so many moments – coming up on twelve years worth of them – with these special seven chimpanzees, and now with three more special chimpanzees and four very cool cattle.

What a privilege to be getting older with all of them. And what a privilege that you are here too, a part of all of our lives.

Filed Under: Cattle, Featured Post, Foxie, Friendship, Grooming, Jamie, Negra, Sanctuary Tagged With: aging, chimp, chimpanzee, chimpsnw, gray, photo, primate, rescue, Sanctuary, shelter

In honor of Diana

April 30, 2020 by Katelyn

This special day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees was sponsored by Candy Crannell in honor of Diana Goodrich (yep, our Diana! 🙂 ):

“Jane Goodall said, “Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.” This is Diana and her devotion to the CSNW 10. You are very much loved and appreciated for what you do. Thank you.”

Candy, thank you so much for honoring Diana today and for contributing to the lives’ of the chimpanzees and the cattle who are so dear to her heart and for whom she works so tirelessly to help ensure that all their days forward are filled with hope, love, home and sanctuary.

Today is Diana’s birthday! She isn’t one who likes a fuss made about her, but in a form true to her heart, she set up a GiveBIG Washington fundraising page inviting you to celebrate along with her (and another amazing supporter, Monica Best!) by honoring the beloved ten chimpanzees and four bovines who call Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest home, and if you’re able, help however you can to raise funds for their life-long care.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Diana! From our hearts, thank you for your unwavering, inspiring, heartfelt dedication to the absolute well-being of Annie, Missy, Jamie, Foxie, Jody, Negra, Burrito, Mave, Honey B, Willy B, Betsy, Nutmeg, Honey and Meredith! I don’t think a day goes by that we don’t feel grateful to our bones for you and J.B. and all you do to ensure these chimp and bovine people we love so very much have the best lives possible.

Now may we all take a moment to celebrate someone whose resiliency and mere being inspires Diana’s heart, Queen Neggie:

Filed Under: Fundraising, Negra, Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day Tagged With: chimpanzee, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, csnw, Food, Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day

Wednesdays

April 29, 2020 by Kelsi

Wednesdays are kind of crazy days. Between cleaning, serving meals, walking with Jamie, feeding cattle, making sure the daily tasks are done, and it being a day we usually have our staff meeting. It’s a pretty packed day! However, for the chimps their Wednesdays are pretty relaxed. Especially today! For lunch the 7 enjoyed a forage on Young’s Hill. In the afternoon, Jamie and I were on a leisurely stroll and it seemed like everyone was out peacefully enjoying the Hill. As for the 3 they did have a chance to go onto the Hill, but no takers yet, one day! Honey B, Mave, and Willy B did enjoy their day grooming, playing chase with friends, and enjoying the warm spring air in the chute. This is my long apology for the blog being posted so late 🙂 Please enjoy these photos of the chimps!

In the morning everyone rushed out on to Young’s Hill, Negra included! The grass is so green it almost looks photo-shopped.

Negra:

Foxie carrying her Strawberry Shortcake:

Missy:

For the lunch forage, we scattered whole peppers, tomatoes, and beets all over the Hill.

Missy made sure to snag all the tomatoes (she also loves green bell peppers):

Negra was scoping out who she might be able to steal some forage from:

I love this photo of Jamie:

After the forage everyone went into the Green House to unwind.

Jody lounging with her spruce tree branches:

Foxie:

Well, almost everyone wanted to unwind.

The mischievous Burrito:

Also Willy B:

And if you stay late enough you can get a photo of Honey B in her nest:

Goodnight everyone!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Burrito, Foxie, Honey B, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Willy B, Young's Hill Tagged With: Burrito, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Foxie, Honey B, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Willy B

What Friends Are For

April 28, 2020 by Chad de Bree

As some of you have read yesterday, Foxie went through a medical exam. Going under anesthesia can take a lot out of a chimpanzee, but Foxie is fierce and strong despite her small stature. By the time dinner was ready yesterday, Foxie was up, alert, eating, and ready to go back to her family. We decided to keep her by herself overnight just in case. When we arrived to the sanctuary in the morning, it was clear she was more than ready to go back with the group.

The first person to greet her was Jody of course! And since then, they have almost virtually been inseparable.

Jody made sure that for most of the day, Foxie was within eyesight or earshot of Foxie. It’s hard to see, but if you look closely between the ladder and the pillar at the top of the platform, you can see a little fuzz of a shoulder. That’s Foxie! With Jody resting right below her of course!

Jody was available nearby in case Foxie needed her. It’s hard to tell in this photo, but Jody (front) is keeping an eye on Foxie (back).

Foxie and Jody have such as strong bond with one another. It’s one relatively not talked about much as say Missy and Annie. They continuously motivate each other, lookout for each other, and just genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

May you find yourself the Foxie to your Jody or the Jody to your Foxie in life.

Bonus photos of Annie performing her famous “bird calls” and Negra peering out onto Young’s Hill after hearing the cattle call for Anthony for their daily care.

Filed Under: Annie, Foxie, Friendship, Jody, Negra, Sanctuary Tagged With: chimpanzee, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, Sanctuary

An exam for Foxie

April 27, 2020 by J.B.

As I type this, Foxie is recovering uneventfully from anesthesia after a full workup.

Diana mentioned a while back that Foxie hadn’t been feeling well, and while she did get her appetite and energy back it took longer than we would have liked and thus warranted further investigation. As many of you know, we’ve long referred to Foxie as “Tiny” due to her diminutive stature. She simply can’t afford to get too much tinier.

As always, we are grateful to Dr. Erin as well as the medical and veterinary professionals that volunteered their time and expertise to help ensure that Foxie stays well.

Anesthetist Dalila Fairchild intubates Foxie in preparation for gas anethesia
Anthony assists Dr. Erin with the dental exam and cleaning while veterinary radiologist Dr. Middleton performs abdominal and cardiac ultrasound
Foxie’s hand is taped to the x-ray detector so that the staff can stand safely out of the way during imaging.

We’ll know more once we run labs and consult with other specialists on the imaging, but so far we haven’t seen anything alarming. And her recovery from the procedure has been great – before she had even regained enough balance to walk, she managed to find and hold onto a Dora the Explorer doll. For the rest of the afternoon she’ll sip Sprite and rest up, and then hopefully get a good night’s sleep so that she can rejoin her family in the morning. Jody, in particular, did not want to leave her side this morning and will be relieved to be with her again.

Filed Under: Foxie, Veterinary Care Tagged With: chimpanzee, exam, Foxie, northwest, rescue, Sanctuary, ultrasound, veterinary care, x-ray

The Honey B Chonk

April 26, 2020 by Anthony

Chimpanzees are intelligent, emotional, and complex. They deserve the utmost respect.

This is their home and their retirement, and it’s their right to be however they want to be. This fact makes me appreciate how chimpanzees can be not only relaxed but also downright goofy. When they group is in a playful mood, even the most stoic of chimps can be a total dork. For us caregivers, stopping to appreciate these weird moments helps to keeps things lighthearted and reminds us what this sanctuary thing is all about. It’s perfectly okay to laugh along with them.

In the past, we’ve highlighted some of the comical new behaviors that the chimpanzees invent in their spare time (e.g., Annie’s and Honey B’s waistbands, Willy B’s slinky moves, Missy’s choice of grooming tools, Mave’s toe socks and Jamie’s flamboyant scarves). Of course, none of these creations are purely spontaneous and random. Even the most innovative aspects of their behavior are influenced by both their current surroundings and past experiences.

Honey B’s behavior seems to be especially shaped by her previous and ongoing interactions with humans. As one of the more inquisitive and interactive chimpanzees at the sanctuary, she likes to be involved in whatever her caregivers are doing and seems to enjoy making us happy. It’s in her nature to be helpful. We try not to bother the chimps with unnecessary requests, but we do have to ask them for certain favors that help us caregivers to do our jobs. On a daily basis, for example, we ask the chimpanzees to shift from one enclosure to another so that we can safely go inside and clean up. They usually do this without any coaxing because there is something more interesting to do elsewhere. Sometimes, however, there are objects or materials blocking the hydraulic doors that prevent us from remotely operating them and therefore delay shifting. In those moments, we can usually ask a passing chimpanzee to kindly remove the obstruction. Honey B, however, exceeds the expectations.

A few weeks ago, the three chimps who live in the new wing were shifting out of the upstairs Mezzanine and into the new front rooms and chute on the ground floor. There was a tangled slinky that was preventing Kelsi from remotely shutting the door behind them. We asked Honey B to remove the toy, which by then resembled a bird’s nest, and she eagerly scrambled to disentangle the entire thing before tossing it through the open doorway. Then, for safe measure, Honey B collected nearby slinkies (which weren’t tangled and weren’t blocking the door) and chucked them downstairs as well.

In the following weeks, she has surprised us all by continuing to throw available enrichment items through doorways before they we close them. Every morning she flips the previous night’s blankets and night bags through the lower-level doors before heading up to the Mezzanine for breakfast, and she has even started to hurl larger toys down the incline of the chute and out into her group’s alcove of Young’s Hill (now known as “The Courtyard”). With the input of a few enthusiastic and amused volunteers, I have unofficially named this behavior The Chonk. I’m not sure how well this name fits the behavior since the term chonk is usually applied to overweight cats on the internet, but the sound of the word makes me chuckle. (Thanks, Elizabeth C!)

I would love to know exactly what Honey B is thinking as she yeets enrichment out onto the Hill, but I can only speculate. I sincerely hope that, whatever her motivation may be, that she’s having as much fun as I am.

Keep on chonkin’, Honey B.

Filed Under: Chimpanzee Behavior, Enrichment, Honey B, Intelligence, Latest Videos, Play, Sanctuary Tagged With: animal rescue, animal rights, Animal Welfare, chimp enrichment, chimp rescue, chimp sanctuary, chimpanzee, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, chimps, csnw, Enrichment, Honey B, Sanctuary

Emergence

April 25, 2020 by Diana

Today was the day. It happens each year around this time.

I would have placed a bet on it happening last week, but Negra, the Queen of the sanctuary, operates on her own timeline.

Jamie was grooming my boots in the greenhouse (me safely on the human side of the fencing, of course).

As Jamie was brushing and poking at the boots on my feet, I saw Negra go from the greenhouse through the raceway to Young’s Hill. There were no other chimpanzees out there and we hadn’t set out a forage, so something else was motivating Negra.

I politely excused myself from my grooming session with Jamie and went around the corner.

I found Negra, with her back to me, sitting just feet from the end of the raceway. She sat there for what seemed like five minutes, looking around silently. It was like she had just discovered it was spring. And maybe she had. Queen Negra is not one to savor the outdoors unless the conditions are just right. She prefers to lounge in her blanket nests and pass the time in leisure. But there was something about today that drew Negra outside.

Foxie was curious about Negra’s solo journey outside and watched from the greenhouse.

I realized at one point that I was holding my breath in anticipation, wondering if this was going to be the true day of emergence.

As she continued to just sit and look around, I thought to myself, “well, I guess this isn’t the day after all.”

And then it happened. She picked some grass, smelled it, and then began eating.

Then she walked further away from the greenhouse and sampled more:

Next she headed to the “cabin” we built just for her, where she tried some grass growing inside the structure:

Satisfied but still exploring, she wandered some more:

She found a little patch of dandelions and partook in a few.

That was apparently enough for day one, as she then headed back into the playroom to rest up until her next foray.

Happy Queen’s Emergence Day, everyone!

Actually, that is a good segue into a day for the queen that is in the works. June 13th is a very special day. It marks the 12-year anniversary of the arrival of the original seven chimpanzees to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and the day that we will be celebrating Negra’s 47th birthday. We were going to have our annual gala event in Seattle on that day, but the pandemic caused us to shift our plans.

We are still hoping to have the in-person event on September 18th (fingers crossed), but we didn’t want the significant June 13th party to pass by, so we will be doing our first ever virtual event!

We have a lot of fun things in store for you all. Below is a teaser.

queen's brunch virtual event

Filed Under: Negra, Sanctuary Tagged With: animal rescue, animal sanctuary, Animal Welfare, chimp, chimpanzee, grass, outdoor habitat, primate, queen negra, spring, young's hill

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