• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

  • Our Family
    • The Chimpanzees
    • The Cattle
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • Visiting the Sanctuary
    • Philosophy
      • FAQs
      • Mission, Vision & Goals
      • Privacy Policy
    • The Humans
      • Staff
      • Board of Directors
      • Founder
    • Annual Reports
    • The Future of CSNW
    • CSNW In The News
  • You can help
    • Donate
      • Become a Chimpanzee Pal
      • Sponsor A Day
      • Transfer Stock
      • Be A Produce Patron
      • Be a Bovine Buddy
      • Give from your IRA
      • Personalized Stones
      • Bring Them Home Campaign
    • Leave A Legacy
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Volunteer
    • See Our Wish List
    • Events
  • Resources
    • About Chimpanzees
    • Enrichment Database
    • Advocacy
      • Apes in Entertainment
        • Trainers
        • Role of the AHA
        • Greeting Cards
      • Chimpanzees as Pets
      • Roadside Zoos
      • Chimpanzees in Biomedical Research
      • Conservation
        • African Apes
        • Orangutans
  • Shop
    • Merchandise Store
  • Contact
  • Donate

Archives for July 14, 2020

Happy World Chimpanzee Day!

July 14, 2020 by Chad de Bree

Together we can ensure that captive chimpanzees have a better life. Together we can save wild chimpanzees in their forest homes.

– Jane Goodall

Today marks the 60th anniversary Jane Goodall first stepped foot on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania. Jane Goodall and researchers who have followed her footsteps have studied the members of the Kasakela Community for 60 years at what is now called Gombe National Park. The research station now holds a Guinness World Record for the longest-running study of any wild mammal.

What set Jane Goodall apart from her colleagues at the time was she held no formal higher education degree. She was a woman. And she committed a scientific crime at the time: she named the Kasakela chimpanzees instead of assigning them numbers. Researchers were adamant about not giving chimpanzees names because it would indicate chimpanzees had things such as feelings, choice, and personalities. Flash forward to present day, there are few who would argue a chimpanzee does not posses these qualities.

I think about my entrance into the Pan troglodytes world and where I have been to where I am now. I was originally studying political science during my undergraduate studies. Long story short, I took an anthropology course, found out primatology is a sub-branch of the field, found out even further there is a lot of crossover between political theory and what we now know of primate social behavior, including chimpanzees of course. After I bit the bullet and took on another degree in anthropology, I applied to be in the Gombe Chimpanzee Lab at Arizona State University. My job was to receive photos coming in from the field and use a new state of the art process to gather measurements of the individuals of the community. The process (known as photogrammetry) is a way researchers can now track the growth of particular individuals without using a darting method. Even at my inception into chimpanzee studies, I have never known a chimpanzee by a number. They have always had names, and asking those who have studied them longer and in the field, each one was unique in their own personality and decision making process.

Though I had a grasp of this thought early on into my studies and career, it wouldn’t really hit me until 2017 when I was an intern here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. It’s one thing to hear and sort of know each chimpanzee is uniquely different from the next, but to see it firsthand is another story. Personally, I don’t think anyone can mentally prepare themselves to truly comprehend just how individualistic each chimpanzee is until they spend some time with them. It is that individual factor that makes being a chimpanzee caregiver at a sanctuary such an incredible joy, yet at the same time a challenging task. Trying to balance and cater to 10 individual personalities is a very tricky feat, so we try extremely hard every day to find that balance. Some days are a great success, other days we may fall completely flat.

Knowing them as individuals affects how we care for them on a day-to-day basis. We, as staff, spend everyday with the 10 unique individuals who reside here. Since we know them, we want to make sure we clean their enclosures not just quickly, but thoroughly as well to give each of them access to as much clean area as quickly as possible. We do put a lot of thought into what we prepare for their meals and try to think of what each individual likes and doesn’t like to find a balance among all 10 so everybody is happy. And we brainstorm to think of enrichment puzzles that are not too hard for some, but also not too easy for others to help them not become bored. We do this because we want to do better for them.

So to every caregiver who has had the honor of knowing a chimpanzee, to every researcher who has had the privilege of studying chimpanzees, to every person who has ever supported a sanctuary chimpanzee, to Jane Goodall, but especially, to every chimpanzee past and present, Happy World Chimpanzee Day!

Beautiful Mave.
Willy B and his slinky.
Honey B and her skateboard.
Jody foraging on Young’s Hill for grapefruit and jack fruit.
Foxie in one of the Front Rooms.
Burrito wanting to play in one of the Front Rooms.
Jamie napping in the Greenhouse with one of her boots.
Missy drinking a frozen treat in the Greenhouse.
Annie eating her dinner in the Greenhouse.
Negra returning from a forage on Young’s Hill with a cattail.

Filed Under: Advocacy, Annie, Burrito, Caregivers, Chimp histories, Foxie, Honey B, Jamie, Jody, Mave, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Willy B Tagged With: animal rescue, Animal Welfare, chimpanzee, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, Sanctuary

In honor of World Chimpanzee Day!

July 14, 2020 by Katelyn

Today is World Chimpanzee Day! And this amazing day was sponsored by Erin Yuhas and her incredible colleagues at Hartford Healthcare Medical Group Norwich! Erin shared this wonderful message about their generous gifts for the chimpanzees:

“Our medical office wears “Jeans for a Cause” every Friday and my cause for the month of June was your sanctuary and these special chimps. Together we raised over $300 and, in addition to sponsoring a day, we also sent the chimps many items from their wish list–including tons of blankets for nests! With all of us having worked in the medical field for many years, we can appreciate all these chimps went through in the name of science. I was happy to be able to share my knowledge of chimps and of your sanctuary with my coworkers helping to create awareness. I’m not sure my coworkers really liked my fact sheets and quiz, though! (This made us smile, Erin! 🙂 ). Thank you for all you do for these beautiful chimps and for the ones still to come!”

To everyone at Hartford Healthcare Medical Group Norwich, thank you so much for your generous hearts, your willingness to share your knowledge of, and learn more about, chimpanzees! You couldn’t have chosen a more perfect day to sponsor. Always, but especially during these uncertain times we all face, your support means the world to us, and most importantly, to the chimpanzees. From our hearts to yours, thank you!

You can learn more about this special day and hear a message from Dr. Jane Goodall here: “July 14, 1960, is the day Dr. Jane Goodall first stepped foot in what is now Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, to study wild chimpanzees. In honor of humankind’s closest living relative, World Chimpanzee Day is a celebration of chimpanzees and an opportunity to raise awareness about the vital need for worldwide participation in their care, protection, and conservation in the wild and in captivity.”

Jamie:

Jody:

Mave:

Annie, Missy, Foxie and Jody:

Honey B:

Burrito and Negra:

Willy B:

Filed Under: Advocacy, Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day Tagged With: animal protection, Animal Welfare, chimpanzee, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, primate protection, Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe To Blog and Get Notified of New Posts First!

Archives

Calendar of Blog Posts

July 2020
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Jun   Aug »

Categories

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Footer

PO Box 952
Cle Elum, WA 98922
[email protected]
509-699-0728
501c3 registered charity
EIN: 68-0552915

Official DDAF Grantee

Menu

  • The Chimpanzees
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • You can help
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Donate

Proud Member of

Connect With Us

Search

Copyright © 2023 Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. All Rights Reserved. Site by Vegan Web Design