Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (CSNW) is located on 90 acres of farm and forested land in the Cascade mountains, 90 miles east of Seattle. CSNW is one of only a handful of sanctuaries in the country that cares for chimpanzees.
CSNW was founded in 2003 to provide sanctuary for chimpanzees discarded from the entertainment and biomedical testing industries. On June 13, 2008, seven chimpanzees arrived from a private biomedical facility in Pennsylvania. Some of the chimpanzees were kept as pets and used in entertainment when they were young. Some of them were captured in Africa as infants. All of them were used by the biomedical research industry to test hepatitis vaccines. Most of the females were also used as breeders during their years in labs and their babies were taken from them shortly after birth.
In 2019, three more chimpanzees were added to the sanctuary from Wildlife Waystation, a wildlife organization outside of Los Angeles that closed its doors after more than 40 years. These three new additions also began their lives in the biomedical research industry.
CSNW is working to build more space so that we can, as quickly as possible, provide a home for more of the Wildlife Waystation chimpanzees still in need. The sanctuary also cares for three rescued cows and a steer who provide grazing services in exchange for our affection and occasional treats.
All of the chimpanzees at CSNW enjoy a rich social life in an exciting indoor and outdoor environment where they have choices to make every day. Each day brings new adventures, and we chronicle their transformations and experiences on our blog.
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