Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jenna

Burrito and The New Big Blue Ball

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Recently, we were donated another giant bowl and big ball! Thank you to all of our donors!

These larger items are used as furniture in the chimp enclosures so they get a ton of usage! Burrito was especially jazzed to see the new items, which you will see in today’s video!

Photos of the day

Terry

Annie

Dora

Lucky

Rayne

Rayne yawning

 

Disclaimer: We’re not sure at what point in Rayne’s life she lost her two front teeth! This is how we’ve always known her.

 

Hey, speaking of wish lists and generous donors…if you’d like to help supply the sanctuary with food, enrichment, medicines, supplies, and other necessities, please check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!

Gordo’s 36th Birthday!

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Today is Gordo’s 36th Birthday!

We celebrated by having a lunch forage of his favorite foods, including a fan favorite that we save for special events, mangoes! Along with the forage, we included small, individual smoothie cups because they’re one of Gordo’s favorite things. Caregiver Ellen also made an oatmeal based “cupcake” for the chimps (you’ll see them in the video) consisting of oatmeal, banana, peanut butter, chow dust, sugar-free vanilla pudding as frosting, with a raspberry on top! The chimps absolutely loved them.

Gordo is a special guy and we hope he had the best day! If you’re new to our blog, I wrote a blog back in February about Gordo’s personality and all of his unique quirks. I will link it here!

Gordo probably thought it was Christmas today with his party and all the boxes we gave him! Since July is a month full of celebrations, we are inviting you to celebrate by emptying our wish lists for Christmas in July!
We are excited to introduce two new wish lists to choose from. First, we have partnered with Jerrol’s, a family-owned shop that has been in nearby Ellensburg since 1947. Rolf and Jessical at Jerrol’s have helped us create a custom wish list that we will be adding more items to as we discover what we can source from them instead of Amazon, and they will deliver gifts right to our door at the sanctuary – how great is that?!
We were also just approved to have a Chewy wish list! We will be able to get some supplements and toys for the chimpanzees and cows directly from Chewy now.
We aren’t getting rid of our Amazon wish list entirely just yet, and we’ve added more items to that list too. Thank you to alert blog readers who have already purchased fun items from Amazon for Christmas in July. You all are the best!
Our hope is to empty all of those wish lists by the end of this month so we can stock up on some staples and treat the chimpanzees to new and fun food puzzles and toys. Thank you for being santas and helping us celebrate Christmas in July!

A Day in The Windy City

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Some may know Chicago as the “Windy City”, but if you’ve ever visited or lived in central Washington, you know Cle Elum or Ellensburg could also be in the running for that title too! Central Washington is the windiest place I’ve ever been. In many of today’s clips, you can hear the wind ripping behind us and even see Annie’s hair blowing. Despite it being so windy, it was an absolutely beautiful day with the high being in the 70’s. It is supposed to get in the 90’s next week so we’re enjoying the cool wind while we can! Don’t forget to watch today’s video (above), there’s a play session of Jamie and Foxie in there that’ll make your heart burst.

Some photos of the day!

Annie’s proper form for her “bird noises” (so you can practice at home if you want):

Dora eating apples at breakfast:

Foxie received a new Strawberry Shortcake doll this morning and this was her during the lunch forage:

A new doll vs. a well-loved one:

Foxie and Missy at breakfast:

Negra in her Greenhouse nest:

Amiable Annie

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Annie is the second oldest chimpanzee at the sanctuary. She will turn 50 years old in September! She is low-ranking in her group, as she is very timid. She doesn’t want to upset Jamie, the alpha, by stepping out of line.

Annie’s best friend is Missy, but she also is often near Burrito. Although, Burrito is her shadow when she is swelling so that’s not necessarily her choice to be near him 24/7. Annie is a calm, quiet female chimpanzee but very sensitive. She hates drama and conflicts with her group members, although conflicts are perfectly normal in chimpanzee society.

Annie loves all foods and eats just about anything. She is one of the least-picky eaters we have around here!

One of my favorite things about Annie is how she bipedally walks through the grass. She bends her long-arms so the grass doesn’t touch her and then uses her arms to help move her along. It makes me laugh just about every time.

Annie makes bird-sounds with her mouth and hand when she is resting peacefully.

Annie isn’t super human-oriented, but she is very sweet to her caregivers and will offer them a kiss from time-to-time or a gentle hand touch.

Annie:

Kelsi and Cy:

Raspberries are growing! Jamie’s favorite time of year.

Terry:

Terry and Willy B:

Chimpanzee Stereotypes

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There are many stereotypes out there about chimpanzees. Anytime I tell someone that I work with chimps, it is almost a guarantee they bring up something about bananas or poop-throwing in their response. Today, I am weighing in on these stereotypes!

Bananas

Do chimpanzees love bananas? Yes. Do chimpanzees love bananas more than every other food? No. Do chimpanzees only eat bananas? No.

Chimpanzees love bananas, but they love fruits in general! We serve the chimps at CSNW a variety of fruits and veggies and they all individually have their favorite foods. While bananas are a well-liked fruit, apples, pears, melon, or oranges, are equally as liked. I’m not entirely sure why we as a society have latched on to the pairing of primates and bananas, but it shows up in movies, greeting cards, toys, etc. Weigh in below on where you think this stereotype originated!

Foxie eats banana:

Honey B eats banana:

Poop-throwing

I have worked at two ape sanctuaries and out of about 90 apes (orangutans and chimpanzees), only three chimpanzees threw feces. As you may or may not know, Jamie is our only poop-thrower at CSNW. And one is plenttttttttty. Chimpanzees don’t normally throw feces in the wild, but it is seen in captive settings. There are other primates, such as howler monkeys, that are known for throwing feces.

Jamie throws feces at new staff members or volunteers, when they are doing something that she doesn’t want them be doing (whether that be playing with Burrito, scrubbing toys, or simply existing). She doesn’t throw feces as much at her long-time human friends, such as J.B., Diana, or Kelsi, so her newer friends get the brunt of it.

I don’t want you to think less of Jamie because she throws feces. Instead, think about it from the perspective of her trying to control an environment that is run by humans.

Jamie:

What other stereotypes are out there about chimpanzees? Let me know!

 

Trifecta Jubilee Part 2!

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Yesterday was a huge day at CSNW! Not only was it the 16th anniversary of the Cle Elum 7 (first group of chimps) arriving at sanctuary, but it was also Terry’s 35th and Negra’s 51st birthday! If you haven’t already watched yesterday’s blog video of the festivities, check it out here. There was so much unused footage from yesterday, that today I am sharing another video made up of yesterday’s celebrations. Enjoy!

Don’t forget – our fully online Sweet 16 auction concludes this weekend (the 16th at 5pm PT)! We are only 1/3 of the way to our goal of $30,000 so we really could use your help! There are so many art pieces and other items that are worth bidding on. Check it out here!

One of my favorite items is the ceramic trolls! The purple one would be perfect as a planter (it’s the size of a real troll doll) and the blue one is teeeny tiny (not Terry) and would be the perfect addition to any bookshelf or table. Every time you look at your ceramic Troll doll, you can be reminded of our dear friend, Foxie. If Foxie could bid on things, you know it would be for these guys!

Honey B’s 35th Birthday!

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Today is Honey B’s 35th birthday! We celebrated by having a “contraband” themed birthday party (all things that they normally wouldn’t get) because one of Honey B’s greatest pleasures in life is when the humans mess up and leave something in the enclosures, such as a scrub brush. If you’re new to the blog, Honey B is the queen of obtaining contraband (check this hose heist video for a reminder). Therefore for her birthday, we intentionally left cleaning items inside (nothing dangerous, obviously) for her to “find”. The chimps also enjoyed a popcorn forage and a delicious lunch forage which included pasta, two of Honey B’s favorite foods.

Honey B is a spunky, intelligent, often unpredictable chimpanzee and while that keeps us caregivers on our toes, it makes things that much more fun around here as well.

Happy Birthday, Honey B!

Krissy and Honey B:

Bonus photo of Honey B’s half sister, Rayne:

Don’t forget! Our online auction started this week! There are so amazing items to bid on. One of my favorites is a painting of Rayne by caregiver Ellen. I will be bidding on it myself because it’s just that amazing. She did such a wonderful job. Check it out and bid on the painting here!