Archives for April 2024

In Neggie We Trust

April 25, 2024 by Jenna

Negra seems to enjoy interacting with her caregivers, but on her own schedule. She stays pretty busy living her “Neggie-lifestyle” so she isn’t often front and center giving caregivers tons of opportunities to interact with her up-close, outside of mealtimes. A few days ago, I saw Negra was in Burrito’s infamous spot in the Playroom – posted up on the blue barrel looking out the window to watch Cy’s group (the noisy neighbors). I always have great interactions with Burrito at that window, so I thought I’d see if Neggie would interact with me from there too. Spoiler alert: she was so sweet to me and gave lots of kisses through the glass. It made my whole week! Check out the interaction in today’s video!

It’s National Volunteer Week!

April 24, 2024 by Anna

Some of you might know already, but National Volunteer Week is celebrated annually during the third week of April. Of course, just one week isn’t nearly enough time to appreciate the volunteers of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest but it does provide a great excuse to talk about them on the blog! CSNW volunteers hold down a variety of responsibilities at the sanctuary and are all integral parts of the chimp and cattle’s care.

Our Level 1 chimp house volunteers are generally found in the kitchen and foyer spaces of the chimp house. They are hard at work doing laundry, dishes and meal/enrichment prep. There’s always a big sigh of relief from the staff when we know we have a Level 1 volunteer on the schedule because they are so helpful in completing the tasks that keep our days moving along smoothly.

Washing all those blankets day after day is a truly daunting task! Here’s volunteer Carrie moving the laundry along:

In addition to handling all the same tasks as a Level 1 volunteer, our Level 2 volunteers help staff tackle the dirty task of cleaning enclosures. Our level 2 volunteers are very important when it comes to scheduling. They help free up staff so they can work on extra projects and can even cover for us when we need time off!

Last week Level 2 volunteer Sienna did some organizing in the kitchen:

Our Level 3 volunteers are trained in all the Level 1 and 2 skills but have also been trained to provide direct care to the chimpanzees. They dedicate a lot of time, patience, and heart to meet the requirements to be a Level 3. Their commitment to the sanctuary is truly astounding.

Here’s Level 3 Volunteer Lizz and Jamie having a nice grooming session together:

And volunteers Patti and Krissy (now a staff member) going on a walk with Burrito around Young’s Hill.

We also receive help from other volunteers such as the team of medical professionals that Dr. Zamzow organizes to help us during procedures in the clinic.

And the large group of volunteers that help us with fundraisers!

Volunteers have quite literally helped build the sanctuary into what it is today.

Please join me in thanking all our hardworking volunteers. We truly couldn’t do it without you!

Love a Chimpanzee Day 2024

April 23, 2024 by Chad de Bree

Earlier today, Diana posted about the history of Love A Chimpanzee Day and how it came to be. With the day marked on the calendars, it was time to start planning. Luckily enough, Monica already had an idea in mind. With the theme chosen, caregiver Ellen began planning an prepping.

Today’s theme was a flashback to the 80s! With that theme in mind, Ellen thought of the idea to have the party influenced by the ever so popular rollerskating rink! And first task was to think of the menu. Today’s menu was based on foods you can find at a roller rink. There were boxes of popcorn and plates of “nachos.” The nacho chips were made from the crumbs of the chimpanzees’ chow biscuits, topped with “nacho cheese sauce” made from roasted bell peppers and tomatoes, with a side of guacamole!

Be sure to watch the video to see how the chimps thought of the festivities!

Also, today is the first day for to be able to support us during the GiveBIG campaign! Though you can begin donating for our nonprofit in GiveBIG, the main event, so to speak, is May 7-8! There are two pages in which you can support us! The first is the sanctuary’s GiveBIG page, which can be found here! You can also support Monica Best’s and Diana’s campaign page for the sanctuary! Monica and Diana created their own campaign to support Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest for their birthdays. So mark you calendars to donate to our campaign page before May 8th! Or you can donate to Monica and Diana’s page in honor of their birthdays! (Just make sure you leave them a birthday message! Monica’s is today and Diana’s is one week from today’s) Help us reach our goal this year to continue to provide the best care that we can to these amazing residents of ours!

And, as always, here are some bonus photos from today’s festivities!

Gordo

Jamie

Rayne

Terry

Burrito

Today is in honor of Monica and Love a Chimpanzee Day!

April 23, 2024 by Diana

Join us in celebrating Love a Chimpanzee Day by honoring this day with a donation of any size on what also happens to be the first day of early giving for GiveBIG!

Donate specifically in honor of Monica (leave a birthday note for her) on our joint birthday fundraising page or on our general GiveBIG page – all funds, which are very much needed right now, go directly towards all the costs associated with providing the individualized care we give at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

It all started in 2010 when donor Monica declared April 23rd (her birthday) to be Love a Chimpanzee Day and sponsored the day in memory of her cat Ozzie.

Monica sent a care package of toys for the (then) seven chimpanzees, and you can see the video of them enjoying that day here.

It’s difficult to avoid the nostalgia that watching that video, and thinking of other Love a Chimpanzee Days in the past, brings up. One favorite memory for Monica was from the 2011 Love a Chimpanzee Day when Burrito so graciously posed with a photo of Duran Duran, Monica’s favorite band.

So much has changed at the sanctuary in the ensuing years. It wasn’t until the fall of 2011 that Young’s Hill, the outdoor area for Jamie’s group, came to fruition.

Then there was adding additional land to the sanctuary property, bringing the total to over 110 acres, followed by welcoming four bovine friends to our little family to help us keep the pasture grass under control.

The last six years have been the busiest in terms of construction and expansion.

Back in 2010, we couldn’t have envisioned what the sanctuary would look like today. Or the joy, delight, excitement, love, laughter (and, let’s be real here, worry, stress, and sleepless nights) that the group of nine chimpanzees (three plus six) from Wildlife Waystation would introduce into our lives, nor the incredible volunteer and staff caregivers who would join the team and the amazing supporters who would add their valuable insight, encouragement, and donations – making all of this possible.

We couldn’t have predicted that it would be so many years before we were faced with the loss of a sanctuary resident or that it would be beautiful and loyal Jody and gentle giant Nutmeg who we would say goodbye to within a year.

Throughout it all, Monica has been with us, donating towards every conceivable fundraiser and providing support that goes well beyond monetary gifts.

Thank you, Monica! Happy birthday and happy Love a Chimpanzee Day 2024!!

Don’t forget to donate in honor of Monica on our joint birthday fundraising page or on our general GiveBIG page for early giving during Washington State’s days of giving!

Grazing Days

April 22, 2024 by J.B.

What food could possibly be so exciting that a chimpanzee would willingly pass up fresh fruit, peanuts, chow, and smoothie? Why, it’s grass, of course!

Yes, for a few weeks each year the chimpanzees at CSNW become grazers, chomping down on grass at a rate more in line with the cows they share their sanctuary home with. What’s so great about grass? You got me. Wild chimpanzees do naturally consume significant amounts of browse—fibrous foods such as shoots, stems, and leaves—but the chimps at CSNW don’t eat any other browse with the same gusto as they do spring grass. This time of year, the grass is at its sweetest and most tender, as the cows will most certainly attest. But is it really better than smoothie?

Speaking of grazing (and with it being Earth Day and all), I thought I’d mention one of the projects we’ve been working on: Converting our pasture fencing to wildlife-friendly fencing. The original sanctuary property and the four parcels we purchased in recent years were part of a large homestead ranch that was in operation for a least a century. During that time, most of the pastures were fenced using barbed wire or a combination of barbed wire and woven field fence. Unfortunately, we’ve seen firsthand the toll this kind of fencing can take on wildlife. First, there’s the very real risk that wildlife, such as deer or elk, will get injured by or caught up in a fence. And second, there’s the problem of fawns being separated from their mothers as their moms cross over pasture fencing too high for them to jump. After doing a lot of research, we decided to transition to 3-wire high-tensile electric fencing, which can effectively contain our cows while allowing wildlife such as deer, elk, bobcats, and marmots to cross over or under safely. And for pastures no longer in use, the fences can be removed and the areas can be slowly re-wilded. As we work on finalizing our master site plan, we will also do so with an eye toward preserving wildlife migration corridors throughout the 113-acre property. After all, it’s not much of a sanctuary if it’s not also a home for the animals that were here first.