Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Ellen Brady-McGaughey

Warm Weather Wishes

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As Sabrina mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the weather has warmed up here, the sun is out, and we are thrilled about it! This warm weather has me dreaming of the day the panels come off of the greenhouses, and reminiscing on sweet moments shared with the chimpanzees last spring and summer. It is not quite warm enough to take down the panels yet, as they have an important job of retaining heat when we need to heat the greenhouses and the temperatures are not consistently warm enough yet to put away our winter heaters. In today’s blog video, I’m sharing videos I didn’t get a chance to share with you all last spring and summer of what we have to look forward to!

 

 

Portraits of Play

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Today I want to share with you some photos of chimps at play!

First up, Rayne and Dora enjoying the fun that comes with a room full of paper.

Those play faces are the best!

Time to wrestle!

Dora is on the left and Rayne is on the right rocking a waistband.

Next up is Burrito and Foxie!

May we all have those friends in our lives that let us be completely ourselves, and never fail to make us laugh!

Valentine’s Day with Burrito and Friends

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Today we celebrated our forever valentines (the chimpanzees of CSNW) with a lovely party planned and prepared by caregiver Jenna! Jenna threw an amazing party, complete with chocolate pudding covered strawberries, fruit-filled ice treats, acai smoothie bowls with berries and homemade granola, chow cookies, and edible flowers in pools of gatorade. She also made mail boxes for Jamie and Cy (the resident book worms) where staff and volunteers could write notes for the chimps (or in Cy’s case, cut out pictures of people from magazines, his favorites!), and banners with photos of the chimps. Check out the video to see Burrito, Missy, Foxie, Negra, Annie, and Jamie enjoy all of their special goodies, and come back tomorrow to see Cy and friends enjoy their party!

Hammock Adventures

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J.B. and Ryan, our part time grounds and maintenance employee, recently hung up a hammock for the chimpanzees of Cy’s group to try out! We wanted to gauge the interest of the chimpanzees in hammocks before purchasing more, as well as be sure the fabric hammocks were sturdy enough for our sometimes destructive friends in the group of 9. Thankfully, so far the hammock has withstood the chimpanzee test. Check out the video to see the new hammock in action!

PRT A Day Keeps the Doctor at Bay

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Watch today’s blog video to see what the chimpanzees and our Positive Reinforcement Training team have been up to!

Here is a hint…

This is a EKG reading from Terry, using the KardiaMobile!

Honey B has been resting a lot today after her procedure yesterday. She spent her morning watching chimp videos from her cozy nest, and was reunited with Gordo this afternoon. Gordo seemed very glad to have his friend back!

Enrichment Wins

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We are always trying to think up new ways to enrich the chimpanzees’ daily lives. Sometimes this is in the form of new toys, or a large number of one beloved item (like the Jolly Balls Krissy got for Burrito for his birthday!), or something as simple as new presentations of existing enrichment (like adding raffia to ice eggs to allow us to hang them and encourage the chimpanzees to explore and utilize their space).

Burrito reaches for watermelon placed on a tree branch.

Oftentimes, we have an idea of who might enjoy new enrichment items the most. Burrito is always a good guess, as he loves to have fun! Last year, we purchased some heavy duty rubber bouncy balls for the chimpanzees. I immediately thought Burrito would enjoy them most. However, someone else surprised me, and has taken the most interest in these new toys. Watch the video to see who it is!

As a bonus, enjoy this photo of Rayne in one of the Wildlife Toy Box sturdy boxes gifted to us by a generous donor last year. This was exactly how I had hoped the box would be used, so I was thrilled to see Rayne relaxing in it!