Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Anna

The best place to be

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We’re currently experiencing another blustery day in Central Washington. Fortunately, the chimps have just the solution for escaping the wind but still enjoying the sunshine…  The greenhouses of course!

Speaking of Central Washington, there are a couple of upcoming exciting chimp related events happening in our county this weekend!

Tomorrow, Central Washington University will be hosting several events honoring the legacy of Washoe Chimpanzee. Check out this link for more details!

For Saturday, CWU’s Primate Awareness Network has also organized the following opportunities (details below)!

It’s National Volunteer Week!

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This week is National Volunteer Week! Volunteering and interning at a chimpanzee sanctuary is rarely glamorous. It requires hard work, dedication, and deep empathy. And yet, time and time again, our volunteers and interns walk trough the front gate with those qualities and more. Each week we send out a quick thank you email to our sanctuary team with a photo of someone in action to celebrate any recent accomplishments (big or small). I thought I would share a few of the behind the scenes photos taken from our “Thank you of the week” emails.

Please join me in thanking our volunteers and interns for all their compassion and commitment to our residents. We are beyond thrilled to be working with you!

   

For more info on how to get involved in our volunteer program, please visit our website.

All about interns!

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This spring we enthusiastically welcomed 6 new interns to the sanctuary as part of our relationship with the Primate Behavior program at Central Washington University. CWU students start as Level 1 interns where they work 3 hours a week in our kitchen and foyer spaces, helping us do laundry, make enrichment, prepare the chimpanzee’s meals, etc.  If they are seeking to earn a Captive Care Certificate, interns move on to do Level 2 training at the sanctuary their next quarter. As Level 2 interns, they spend 6 hours a week learning to clean enclosures alongside staff (in addition to the tasks they learned as a Level 1). There’s also a bit of down time here and there allowing for some special moments of chimp observation. Here are just a few of our interns in action this past year.

Sienna organizing:

Cy staring intensely into Quaid’s eyes:

Katie scattering a forage:

KC mopping the kitchen:

Bonus! Gordo and Negra:

 

Two reasons to celebrate!

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Today just so happens to be two special occasions worthy of acknowledgement around here…

First off, it’s the first Thursday of April which means it’s National Burrito Day! We thank the creators of this day because it gives us just one more reason to celebrate our very own Burrito Chimpanzee!  Burrito spent his own personal holiday wildly bouncing one of his orange plastic balls, watching his favorite YouTube videos and being his usual charming self.

Happy National Burrito Day to all who celebrate. Here are a few more photos of that handsome guy!

 

Our second reason to celebrate is that it’s Dr. Jane Goodall’s 91st birthday today!

From Dr. Goodall’s official Facebook page: “This April 3rd, honor Jane’s 91st birthday by joining #GoodAllDay. Take a positive action—whether big or small—that makes the world a little better for people, other animals, and the planet we all share. Because every act of hope, no matter how small, has the power to change the world.”

What was your positive action to make the world a better place today? Share in the comments!

Bonus Willy B and Lucky photos from today: