As everyone knows by now, Cy’s group is in the midst of a reintroduction to foster a more cohesive social group. Presently, Terry, Gordo, Dora, Mave, and Honey B form a subgroup of five. Join us today as we catch up with Dora and company, excluding Gordo who must have had prior commitments, in today’s video!
Archives for November 2024
Friday Fun at CSNW
Despite the gloomy day with the occasional rain showers, the chimps have been playing, reading, grooming, and relaxing. The perfect day at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.
If you haven’t watched the video yet, can you guess what activity we caught Burrito engaging in today?! It’s an activity that many of our other chimps enjoy, but something Burrito does not participate in unless we add peanut butter to it… any guesses? Check out the video above for the answer!
Gordo and Cy (window). Their group is currently doing a reintro so these two boys aren’t together, yet!
Dora:
Gordo:
We also wanted to thank everyone who participated in our Comfort and Joy auction! Thank you for supporting us, year after year! We couldn’t do this without you! ❤️
Rustle rustle!
As I sit here typing, I can still hear the rustle of paper coming from the front rooms. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life!
Bonus! Negra all wrapped up in a tortilla blanket:
First Snow of the Season
We got our first real snow of the season last night. The chimps were very content eating snow and nesting in a cozy warm nest, or in Honey B’s case a cozy table cloth. We can not tell you why, but she loves this table cloth! Speaking of comfort, there are just a few hours left in our third annual Comfort & Joy Quid Pro Throw Online Auction! We are still working to meet our goal and we need your help. Two exciting items were added this morning to round out the event! First, a personalized CSNW jacket for you that features the Cle Elum Seven’s favorite comfort & joy items. Second, a Fill the Fridge For the Holidays category! With the holiday season fast approaching, we need your help to fill the fridges and make this festive season extra special.
Thank you to everyone who has participated, your support is the backbone of the sanctuary! We couldn’t do what we do without every single one of you. Bidding ends at 6pm PT tonight (11/20/24), but keep an eye out for Bid Wars! Happy Bidding!
Honey B with her table cloth:
Rayne made a cozy nest on the bench:
And Lucky enjoyed one of her favorite things, GUM, though you can not tell in the pictures that she is chewing it:
Jamie enjoyed her snowy day with a cozy nest, a good pair of boots, and a show about wildlife:
Community Comforts
A couple weeks ago, we put out an ask for your help to earn a Top-Rated Nonprofit badge for 2024. We received 16 wonderfully thoughtful reviews, bringing us up to 18 for the year. This has surpassed the number we needed to earn our ranking and we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who took a moment out of their day to share their thoughts about CSNW. This helps CSNW in a multitude of ways- we receive the badge for our website, which helps us stand out in the nonprofit world, and it also increases our visibility to donors and supporters.
I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of your kind words and to say thank you to every person who wrote a review- and also to every person who follows this blog, who shares our stories, and who cares so deeply for CSNW. Connecting with you all in this community, over a shared love and responsibility to our deserving residents, is such a beautiful and special thing. If you are interested in reading the full reviews, you can see our page here.
“They present a realistic portrait of chimps as they really are which I think is sorely needed. CSNW is very transparent in all they do and why they do it.”
Lucky:
“Very impressive in many ways. The whole team, from leadership to caregivers are clearly very well informed and working diligently every moment to do the best for those they care for… CSNW is the “real McCoy”….they seem to attract like-minded supporters and connect them to their mission with success. Their Blog , authored by a different team member daily, connects us to their efforts, their challenges, their observations, and to their animals, human and non human, that they love, appreciate, and care for and about.”
Jamie:
“Saving these chimps and allowing these amazing souls to live out their retirement at an amazing facility, in such a dignified manner is absolutely heart warming… I would suggest that everyone get to know this facility by looking at their page and videos. What you will see is raw and real, and not the cleaned up version of things as to just generate support.”
Terry:
“This sanctuary is exemplary. The thought, care and creativity that goes into caring for the residents is top notch. CSNW is not only beautiful , it’s staffed with a great volunteer program and is a leader in the Chimpanzee Sanctuary community!”
Volunteers building Ryans Lookout on The Bray:
“…Some of these fellow creatures had never seen anything but the inside of a cage, while they were being tested on. Some had never felt grass under their feet. They can now, thanks to the caring staff at CSNW.”
Negra:
“The staff’s attention to each chimp and their individual needs and temperaments is commendable… I truly enjoy reading their blogs and viewing videos, it connects me to their purpose… There is no question where the priorities are in this organization, the staff are devoted to providing an amazing life experience and truly care about each chimp.”
“Out of all the non-profits I volunteered for chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has the most dedicated and professional staff I’ve ever witnessed. They all wear multiple hats for the mission of giving The Chimps their best life. Their donors are incredibly generous and engaged in the organization.”
Dora:
“The chimps are not just cared for here, they are loved.”
“You can feel the love the caretakers have by the blogs and videos they share. They make us feel a part of the sanctuary family.”
“They go above and beyond for the chimps and cattle in their care.”
Burrito:
“During the time I have been aware of CSNW, I have been very impressed with the level of care, respect and compassion the residents there receive. The leadership and caregivers there obviously care deeply about the chimps, and provide them with top-notch daily care, nutrition, enrichment and medical care… They have a daily blog where followers can learn about the daily happenings at the sanctuary and ask questions. All staff members take turns with the blog so you get different perspectives but it’s all interesting, educational, often humourous, sometimes sad, but always reflecting brilliant care. I feel like I know all the chimps and caregivers through these daily posts, pictures and videos. It’s very cool to see for yourself where any donation dollars are going, and to feel good that your donation, however small or large, is truly going to ensuring these magnificent creatures who are so deserving of sanctuary have the best possible life.”
Gordo:
“So much hard work, care, and love makes CSNW a truly special place.”
“They’re quite generous with the details and also intertwine advocacy for the species in general; so CSNW is an all encompassing support for animals and humans alike.”
“The rescued chimps are living their best lives possible there. The Veterinarian crew is top=notch.”
Don’t forget that today is the last full day of our Comfort & Joy Quid Pro Throw Online Auction! Bidding closes tomorrow, Wednesday November 20th, at 6:00pm PT. We still have some to go before we reach our goal and we need your help! If you’ve picked your item for you and an item for the chimps and are looking to support one of our specific funds, consider a donation to our Media and Enrichment Fund! If donations in this category reach $5,000 then the full amount will be MATCHED by our generous supporter Monica! Plus, if you donate $20 or more you will receive a Book Club bookmark. Donate $100 or more and you will receive a Book Club sticker!
After Lunch Activities
Primate chow always tastes best after a long walk.
The chimps in Jamie’s group often take a stroll around Young’s Hill just after lunch. Many will take their chow bags—paper lunch bags filled with primate biscuits that are given out after their fruits, veggies, and nuts—and eat them outside. But Jamie saves hers until she returns to the chimp house. Getting to enjoy your food at the time of your choosing without fear of someone stealing it from you is one of the perks of being the boss.
Social Enrichment
If you are new to the blog, or missed some of our recent posts, we are currently going through the process of reintroducing the group of 9. Here are a few posts to get you caught up (here and here!). As a part of this process, we have been providing the reintroduced group with a social enrichment puzzle each day. We learned about the concept of social enrichment from our colleague Dr. Andrew Halloran, who visited the sanctuary in October, and provided us with some initial ideas for social enrichment puzzles we could create.
What is social enrichment? Social enrichment can be many things. The answer to this question is easier defined by focusing on the goal of social enrichment, which is to create an opportunity for the chimpanzees to positively and regularly re-establish their dominance hierarchy. In the wild, chimpanzees would come upon limited, high-value foods (like a fig tree) as a group, and have to navigate the ins and outs of their social hierarchy in order to access the food. The most dominant individual would be expected to get the best spot with the most figs, while others must navigate the social scene and where they fall in it to know where and when they will be permitted to access the food. The limited nature of the food source may encourage submissive and affiliative behaviors from lower ranking individuals wanting access to the high value foods. In our case, we have created large puzzles where multiple chimps can work on them at once, but the puzzle can be manipulated in such a way that one chimp can prevent another from accessing the desired foods.
As Enrichment Coordinator, I have been working to dream up new designs to add to our social enrichment program in addition to the designs Dr. Halloran provided, and it has been a fun challenge! You really get to be creative, and I’ve had fun re-purposing some supplies we had laying around the sanctuary to make new puzzles. Here are some of the new puzzles I made:
Above is a giant raisin board enrichment puzzle, which was made from a large cutting board and some smaller boards that rotate to allow access to the holes underneath them. The chimps have repeatedly outsmarted my design on this and simply lift the whole board up and suck the raisins out from the opposite side! I am troubleshooting that loophole still, as they do need to be able to lift the board some in order to get the raisins they push out through the back of the board with a chopstick.
Above is a treat board, which has holes drilled into it diagonally (that do not go all the way through the board), which we have filled with pudding. There are two firehose segments that can slide over the board to allow access to holes (and treats) that are currently covered up. The board is then attached to the caging by the eye screws on either end of it, so the chimps cannot take the firehose off of the board entirely.
The best part has been watching the social enrichment in use, and seeing the chimps first learn how to use a new puzzle (they needed a few demonstrations), and then successfully navigate the social dynamics at play to access the puzzle. In general, we have seen what we hoped and expected to see – Cy in control of the puzzles. Willy has at times gotten to the puzzle first because he came into the space first, but Cy has been dominating the puzzles once he arrives and Willy has either been accepting only getting a small amount of the puzzle (and treats from it), or has been moving away to wait for his turn once Cy is done. There have been a couple instances where Willy B seemed to get frustrated about his lack of access to the puzzle and started to display, which Cy has answered with displays of his own. In these instances where Willy B has displayed, the cycle has occurred several times until Cy and Willy eventually display and leave the area, and once Cy is gone, Willy quickly returns to work on the puzzle. Is he a genius, or just taking advantage of how the situation played out? We hope the use of social enrichment will continue to help Willy B find and understand his place within the social hierarchy of his group, both in the current grouping (which is Cy, Willy B, Rayne, and Lucky) and as we add more individuals. I know Honey B is more than ready to get her hands on some new puzzles!
Don’t forget to check out the Comfort and Joy auction! You could help me make more social enrichment for the chimps by bidding on the Giant Holey Lids (trash can lids that will one day become a new and exciting puzzle for the chimpanzees)!
