Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for April 2020

For Linda and Lisa

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Today was sponsored by Lisa Stuverud, good friend to all the chimpanzees and bovines (and humans), in memory of Linda Vizzare. A lovely note from Lisa about today:

“I am sponsoring today in memory of my dear sister-in-law Linda Vizzare. This is our shared birthday so its always a good day to reflect and remember her. She was the first person I shared the then Cle Elum 7 with so long ago and she got it! She fell in love with Burrito and his happy dance! He was always her favorite, maybe because he shared his birthday with her son? Despite the really rough year he has had, she would be really proud of him for finding his strengths and persevering. A favorite Winnie the Pooh quote of hers was, “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think and loved more than you know”…I think that goes for Burrito and everybody right about now!”

And in what may be a surprise, today was also sponsored by Lisa’s husband, Rich, in celebration of Lisa on her birthday! Rich shared this sweet message:

“A little something for the 10 chimps my wife adores to help celebrate her birthday. Love and health to all providers and providees.”

Lisa, Happy Birthday to you and Linda both! We can’t thank you and Rich enough for all you do for our chimpanzee and bovine families and we hope in sharing your special memories of Linda and celebrating your shared birthdays, your heart is lifted and comforted, just as you help lift and comfort the lives here.

And Winnie the Pooh is wise and timely, indeed…

Burrito:

Senior Portrait Day

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This morning, Mave was showing off some luxurious locks and a yearbook photo worthy pose. She is the coolest.

Those are the only photos I managed to get this morning, so I guess today is my day to clear out some photos from the old phone. Here’s Missy chomping on some sweet potato in the Greenhouse.

As you may have seen on yesterday’s blog, Anna has returned from her maternity leave and Chad has agreed to stay on as a permanent staff member. Here we are celebrating – it’s a sign of the times when you need to use panoramic mode to get all five people at a party in the same shot (Katelyn was working remotely).

People often refer to hay as either “cow hay” or “horse hay”. While these names can mean different things to different people, it’s usually the case that cow hay is of a lesser quality. Perhaps it got rained on before being baled or sat around for far too long. Cattle, it seems, are less sensitive than horses to molds and other impurities, but don’t let that make you think they aren’t picky. These four have very refined palates and they will boycott any hay that is not up to their standards. Conversely, when you bring the good stuff they will eat it right out of the Gator with such enthusiasm that you can’t even get it to their feeder.

When we built the foot box we had a hunch it would work but we needed to be sure before relying on it to diagnose an injury. So we threw a troll in the box. For science.

 

In honor of Jane Goodall

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This lovely day of sanctuary was sponsored by Robin Lundy, in honor of Jane Goodall on her birthday. Robin shared this thoughtful, heartfelt and poignant note about her gift:

“I am sponsoring today in honor of Jane Goodall on her birthday. With Biruté Galdikas and the late Dian Fossey, Dr. Goodall has devoted her life and work to advocate for the survival and well-being of our primate cousins. There are few humans whom I admire more than this woman of courage and vision. As the human species is besieged in the corona virus pandemic, it is well worth considering the ways in which we may have engendered the proliferation of this virus through our use – and misuse – of our natural environment and the non-human animals with whom we share our fragile biosphere. May the experience of the pandemic serve to teach us that human animals do not exist apart from the natural world, and as such, we must respect and protect the ecosystem. In honoring Dr. Goodall as a prophetic voice and witness, I like to think that people like Missy, her daughter Honey B (and for that matter, Honey the cow) also admire her for her life’s work of advocacy and activism on behalf of animals.”

Robin, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to celebrate Jane Goodall on her special day and the contributions through courage, hope and inspiration that she, and so many amazing women of all species, have and continue to make to life. And for reminding us that be they primate (including our human selves), bovine, plant, or otherwise, there truly is no separation.

From our sanctuary home in the mountains, we all send intentions of gratitude, joy and well-being across the waters to you, Dr. Goodall! We wish you a beautiful birthday! May the hope, kindness and steadfast resolve you inspire in so many of us stay bright in your heart and may we manifest it in the world around us all.

Missy:

and her daughter, Honey B:

Missy:

Honey B:

Missy:

Honey B:

Honey:

and her daughter, Meredith:

Honey (L) and Meredith (R):

What did I miss?

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This past Tuesday marked my first day back from maternity leave and let me tell you, it’s good to be back! As we all regrettably know, the world looks a lot different right now. A pandemic was definitely not part of my worries as I started to plan my return to work, but now it’s the biggest worry (of course it is for all of us). On the bright side, my chimp friends and my coworkers are still here, right where I left them! The chimpanzees are still their reliable old playful selves and it’s great to see that their lives are relatively unaffected by the outside chaos.

Today Jamie made sure that I know nothing has changed on her watch.

Awkwardly sized boot on my foot…✔️

Perimeter walk around Young’s Hill…✔️

Gather a tumbleweed to use for some grooming time…✔️

In other news, we have some good changes happening around here. Chad, who was filling in for me during my temporary leave of absence, has agreed to stay on as a full-time permanent staff member! We’re feeling pretty fortunate that we get to keep him around!

Oh and this…My husband and I welcomed our daughter Luna Nyca Lockey to the world on January 2nd 2020. The chimps met her from a safe distance just a few weeks later. The highlights: Honey B was obsessed with her and really wanted her to come closer and Foxie was fascinated and shot a few mouthfuls of water her direction. My favorite moment was when Negra (pictured here) blew her a few kisses and head nodded a request to see her do some dancing (aka do a little bit of bouncing, the best a newborn can do).

Love a Moo Moo Day

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Amazing sanctuary friend and supporter, Monica Best, is sponsoring a day of sanctuary in a new celebration honoring our dear bovine family, Honey and her daughter, Meredith, and Betsy and her son, Nutmeg, and well, moo moos everywhere!

Monica is hoping this first annual Love a Moo Moo Day will allow everyone to get to know the lovely hoofed animals that share the sanctuary.

You can learn all about the four cattle by clicking on their individual pages from the cattle page on the website. They have a very interesting past, and we feel so very fortunate that we are able to care for them here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest while they happily keep the grass trimmed. This summer, we’ll be giving them access to even more of the sanctuary property!

Nutmeg is now a big steer, it’s difficult for us to imagine him this size when he was born at Farm Sanctuary’s California shelter:

Baby Nutmeg nursing from Betsy (photo from Farm Sanctuary)
Nutmeg (left), his mom Betsy (right) at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Nutmeg is much bigger than mom Betsy now, but he’s still a mama’s boy in the best way:

For her part, Betsy is a mom at heart and spends a lot of her time grooming her herd mates. The humans will do in a pinch:

Betsy licking J.B.

Honey, on the other hand, would prefer that the humans keep the appropriate social distance from her, unless they have some particularly valuable food, in which case she will lower herself to come closer.

Meredith (left), Honey (right)

Her daughter Meredith likes the occasional scratch, but has an independent streak. When we are watching the bovine family from the office, Meredith is often off doing her own thing.

Meredith

Just like their primate sanctuary counterparts, each of these four hoofed friends have individual personalities and charm!

Thank you to Monica for setting up a day to love them!

 

 

Barrels of Fun!

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Barrels are a great form of enrichment. They are often used to sit on to get a better view of the neighbors, or for drumming on to build up a big display, sometimes they are used for reaching an enrichment puzzle, and commonly the barrels are used for a good nap. Jamie can be found relaxing on a barrel, usually when the humans are cleaning. So, she can still keep her eye on them and request drinks of water from the hose when she is parched. When she has had enough rest, the humans are right there close enough for her to select the boot of her choice and take a lap around the Hill.

Jamie on her barrel enjoying some Alfalfa:

Jamie deep in thought:

Jamie inspecting something holding a wooden hammer in her feet:

Jamie 🙂

Now, when you look at the pictures you might be thinking how is this comfortable. But, chimps often prefer to sit or lay on objects that elevate them off the ground rather than sit or nap on the floor. Though that is not true for all, for example Foxie lays on the floor and wants nothing to do with blankets. However, you see this in the wild and in captivity that chimps prefer to sit higher, even if it is just a barrel or a chair.

Jamie sitting on a chair grooming some XtraTUF boots:

Also, I was going to save these photos for another day, but why not share them now!

This morning when the chimps first got access to Young’s Hill I spotted Missy and Annie rippin’ around the Hill chasing each other with huge play faces:

Missy sprinting:

Negra popped out for a bit of sun:

Burrito marched out with this purple plastic flat-head screwdriver:

And then there was the ever so sweet, cool as can be, and silly Foxie:

I almost didn’t include this one because it is a little out of focus, but I like it and I hope you do too!

Happy Birthday, Krissy!

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Jason Merritt sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in honor of Krissy Brasfield, one of our amazing chimp house volunteers and “neighbors” for her birthday! We couldn’t be happier to celebrate Krissy and deeply appreciate the hard work and love she bestows upon the chimpanzees to make their days better in any way she can. Example: In between winter storms when the sanctuary found itself without an ounce of snow left to meet Burrito’s snow snack needs, Krissy scooped up a huge bowlful from her neighboring, slightly higher in elevation town, and brought it to the sanctuary just for him! To tell you he was thrilled, is an understatement.

Jason, thank you so much for such a kind gift for Krissy and the chimps!

Krissy, we hope this has been your happiest birthday yet and so appreciate your full heart for the chimpanzees!

Burrito: