Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for January 2025

Mirror, Mirror with Dora

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Dora is a very silly, quirky gal. Whether it’s spinning in two circles before she walks somewhere or shaking her head back and forth to tell her caregivers that she doesn’t want something, Dora is truly one-of-a-kind. Today, I showed Dora a mirror as she loves to look at her reflection. Little did I know, I’d end with a 8+ minute video of jam-packed Dora footage.

You may be wondering… does Dora know she is looking at herself? Yes! There have been several studies on self-recognition concluding that chimpanzees can in-fact recognize themselves. As you will see in today’s video, Dora wanted to watch herself do everythingggggg while looking in the mirror, even poke an empty raisin board, just for fun.

Happy Birthday, Meg!

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Many thanks to long-time friend of the sanctuary, Meg Lunnum, for celebrating her birthday with a day of sanctuary for our beloved residents!

“It’s my birthday, again! So glad to have all the chimpanzees, cows and humans be part of my celebration!”

Happy Birthday to you, Meg!! It means so much that you choose to celebrate with us each year – you’ve helped make such a difference in the chimpanzees’ and bovines’ lives. We hope your day is a chimpanzee-level festive one! 🙂

Mave:

Foxie:

Dora:

Jamie:

Happy 35th Birthday, Rayne!

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Today we celebrated a special milestone – Rayne’s 35th birthday! Taking advantage of the perfect weather (cloudless skies and mild temperatures), we turned lunch into an forage out on the Bray. The birthday girl and her friends enjoyed warm soup made by caregiver Ellen and some extra-special smoothies while basking in the winter sunshine.

Anyone who knows Rayne knows that she’s the glue that holds our sanctuary family together. Her presence at CSNW is nothing short of a gift – she’s the kind of friend everyone wishes they had. When Cy needs a loyal companion, Rayne’s right there. When Willy B has one of his tough days and cant resist acting out, she responds with remarkable patience and understanding. And then there’s her food-trading ritual with Lucky, where they’ve worked out their own little system of swapping food items they don’t want during meals.
The sanctuary wouldn’t be the same without her steadfast, calm and confident presence. Here’s to you, Rayne – thirty-five years young and still making our days brighter!
I would also like to extend a special thank you to Paulette Wrisley for sponsoring the day for Rayne!
Lucky & Rayne on the hunt for snacks:
Rayne was a big fan of the soup that was specially made for her:
Rayne, enjoying her snacks:

In honor of the chimps at CSNW!

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I couldn’t love this day of sanctuary from our dear friend, Kathleen Corby, more. It’s beautiful and grounding and relevant in all the best ways. Thank you so much, Kathleen, this is a gift to read.

“January 29, 2025 marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake. As we kick off the Lunar New Year, I couldn’t help but think of the chimps!

To be more specific, this is the Year of the Wood Snake. Per Chinese cosmology, each year an animal is paired with one of the five basic elements: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, which create a 60-year cycle. The elements compliment and conflict with each other, but it is this ongoing interaction that is believed to promote harmony, balance, and order in the natural world. The Wood Snake is said to be charming, intelligent, and creative but also secretive, cunning, and sometimes ruthless.

To the chimpanzees who reside at CSNW, snakes are just a nuisance, intruders slithering into their home, uninvited and unwanted. Not to mention, snakes for many, are simply downright scary and very dangerous! Just ask Annie and Burrito.

But, I see a similarity between these slithery serpents and the sanctuary chimpanzees. Snakes shed their skins to accommodate growth as their bodies expand, to remove parasites that may be attached to their old skin, and to repair to the outer layer, essentially allowing them to “refresh” their skin as they grow throughout their lives. After a snake sheds its skin, it is left behind.

Isn’t this a similar process to what each individual living in the sanctuary has had to do? Coming from backgrounds where they were used as unwilling test subjects in biomedical laboratories, each has had to shed the skin of their past. Each chimpanzee, in their own way, has had to go through a process of “repair” in the hopes that they will “refresh” their lives as they grow. And in constantly doing so they, hopefully, leave their pasts behind.

So here’s to the Year of the Wood Snake! May it bring harmony and peaceful order to our beautiful natural world.”

Birthday beauty, Rayne (she turns 35 today!!):

Willy B:

Annie:

Honey B:

Burrito:

Negra:

Willy B and Rayne:

Chimp-Specific Vocalizations

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Chimpanzees have a variety of vocalizations: some to warn their group members of potential danger, some when they’re excited, some when they’re anxious or scared, some when they’re happy, playing, or greeting someone… In the captive world, the chimpanzees also use vocalizations to express their specific needs/wants to their caregivers. As CSNW caregivers, we have been conditioned to know what certain vocalizations are, based on who they come from and what the context is.

For today’s blog, I have compiled 6 of the top sounds you would hear from our chimp residents and I explain their special meaning.

Enjoy!

In memory of Saundra Boren

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A heartfelt thank you to long-time friend of the chimpanzees, Paulette Wrisley, for sponsoring this special day of sanctuary in memory of her beloved niece, Saundra Boren.

My precious niece Saundra passed away a couple of weeks ago. I share this with you because she also loved our beloved chimps. And because we share things with your friends, right? And you are my dear friends. Saundra didn’t comment on the blog, but followed the chimps on Facebook. Every week or so she sent me a chimp photo and challenged me to identify them. It was a fun game that I will miss so much. We laughed together so often about the chimps’ shenanigans. She would just love me sponsoring a day of hope, love, home, to honor her.

Saundra lived a selfless, modest life with immense empathy for others – a strong, earnest, brilliant, and loving soul that left an enduring impression on Earth. All would attest to her boundless generosity and compassion for all.

She was so loving. And loved. Our sweet Sunny girl.”

Paulette, we are so very sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved niece. Thank you for sharing Saundra with us. I would imagine we would all hope to be remembered so lovingly. We’re sending you hugs from afar.

Foxie:

Foxie and Jody:

Burrito:

For Saundra and Paulette, how about a round of guessing? Many of you may pick up on some key identifiers, perhaps easy, perhaps not. I’ll come back at the end of the day and confirm. 🙂

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