Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for June 2026

Happy Birthday, Christopher Wagner!

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Many thanks to long-time sanctuary friend, Martine Simmons, and Michael Stallard, for sponsoring a day of sanctuary for Christopher Wagner!:

“June 22nd is the birthday of my baby boy Christopher Wagner. His brother Michael Stallard and I are dedicating this day of sanctuary for his birthday. Chris has always been a long time supporter of animal rescue.”

Happy Birthday, from all of us here at the sanctuary, Christopher! We hope it was the best one yet and thank you so much for sharing your celebration with the chimpanzees!

George:

Dora:

Mave:

Terry:

Missy:

Family Time in the Greenhouse

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Today, Negra had a nice, quiet lunch by herself in the greenhouse. Afterwards, her family came to spend the afternoon with her.

It was a hot afternoon, but pleasant under the diffuse light of the greenhouse. While Annie and Missy groomed Negra, Foxie played with one of her dolls, pausing at times to pass it to her caregivers.

Jamie has been a good sport about these afternoons with Negra. We are trying to navigate the risks of Negra falling or being injured in a fight by restricting these whole-group visits to the greenhouse and Young’s Hill and to times between meals. As many of you know, Jamie doesn’t like having any limitations placed upon her. This is a face that says I am approaching the limits of my patience.

I found it difficult to take photos of Missy and Annie grooming because Missy kept leaving Annie and putting her back against the caging for me to groom. There’s something about the upper level in the greenhouse that elicits more socialization between the chimps and their caregivers. Because the wall panels are only off in the warmer months, these daily invitations from Missy to groom are essentially seasonal. I was happy to oblige, as long as Annie was still included.

Missy is the kind of chimp that grooms up the hierarchy. I see her directing her grooming toward Jamie, Negra, and Burrito most often. When she is being groomed by Annie, she sometimes reciprocates, but she also tends to focus more on herself. Here she is using a wood chip as a grooming tool.

The chimps have different levels of tolerance for having their photos taken. Burrito and Foxie will do their best to knock the phone out of my hand, while Missy will let me hold the phone in her face for hours on end without complaint.

She showed the same level of tolerance for me today, but interestingly, that tolerance did not extend to me taking photos near Negra. The chimps certainly know that Negra is in a more fragile state and Missy, being protective, responded with a threat bark the first time I pulled my phone out next to Negra. It’s nice to know Negra has so many friends looking out for her.

Cy: the Quintessential Dad

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Happy Father’s Day! Here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest we don’t have any dads in residence. None of the male chimpanzees here fathered children. Cy, however, possesses some dad qualities, and we sometimes jokingly call him dad. His dadness has been amplified with the addition of young George, who he has taken under his wing.

When there’s drama in his group, I can almost see him sigh before reluctantly getting up to handle the situation. Lucky for everyone here, Cy is a very patient guy who chooses to break up drama without adding to it. His behavior could be interpreted as “just knock it off, okay?”

What he often wants to do is relax by himself, watch a movie or look at his favorite magazine in peace. Today, for father’s day, I wish for Cy to have a relaxing day where the “kids” give him a break.

Happy Summer Solstice!

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Many thanks to Dylan Most for always helping the chimpanzees, cows, (and humans) welcome the return of summer here in the northern hemisphere with a day of sanctuary!

Above, our Queen Negra demonstrates summer mode well, lying down on her porch, positioned to catch any breeze that comes a long while munching on summery snacks, and chatting with any neighborly passersby (or yelling at them as deemed necessary).

Missy enjoying her pineapple:

Mave, Dora, and Honey B:

Foxie and her watermelon bowl:

Honey, Meredith, and Betsy:

Willy B enjoying a drink from his Gatorade pool:

A question we often get is if the chimpanzees would enjoy a pool to get in when it’s hot. Generally speaking, nope, they sure would not! Chimpanzees don’t tend to enjoy getting wet, let alone being submerged in water. And given that they have different bone and muscular structure than humans which renders them unable to swim, this makes sense. While there are a few exceptions you may have seen in regard to individuals sitting and playing in water, you won’t find any of those people here at the sanctuary. Our friends do enjoy the pools of water and Gatorade we put out for drinking, foraging for enrichment we add in for them, and even occasionally spitting water on unsuspecting humans to help them (and us, apparently) cool off though!

Rayne lounging by the pool, chimpanzee style:

George:

Thank you so much, Dylan! A beautiful summer ahead to all of you (and for those of you in the southern hemisphere – eat some snow snacks for Burrito 😉 ).

Favorite Photos

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Sometimes caregivers go through their phones and realize they have so many pictures that they took and never used for our blog that they end up going to our staff folders and being forgotten. So instead I’m leaving some of my favorite photos from the last week here for you all to enjoy!

Annie and Negra having a relaxing day together in the greenhouse:

Foxie, relaxing in the greenhouse with friends:

Dora, enjoying her cherry tomatoes: