Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (CSNW) was founded in 2003 to provide sanctuary for chimpanzees discarded from the entertainment and biomedical testing industries. On June 13, 2008 the first residents of the sanctuary arrived. This group, now called the Cle Elum Seven, were living in the windowless basement of a biomedical research facility before coming to CSNW. They had been used for decades as biomedical research subjects and to produce more chimpanzee babies for research.

The sanctuary is located on a 26-acre farm in the Cascade mountains, east of Seattle. Our mission is to provide lifetime quality care for formerly abused or exploited chimpanzees, while advocating for great apes through education and collaboration.

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