Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
It was glorious this morning. Glittery, frost covered fields under cerulean skies, hawk cries sailing through the air and beautiful chimpanzees with sunlit hearts.
Foxie, Dora and Annie. Guh! My heart!….
Burrito mid foot stomp, Foxie and Annie:
Beautiful Jody soaking in the sun as she watches over her family:
Burrito back to sit near Jody:
From the lovely heart of Jaclyn Sinclair:
“In honor of all the Schipperkes which my husband and I have rescued over the years. For my birthday this year, I am sponsoring a day of sanctuary in the hopes that the Cle Elum 7 will live as long and as joyful a life as I have had, and that the expansion will soon benefit more chimps still confined to laboratories.”
Thank you so much for sharing your heart and special day with the chimpanzees, Jaclyn! All of us here wish you the most beautiful of days! Happy Birthday!
Beautiful, beloved, Annie:
Friends of Foxie and family, Donna and Doreen Hughes, sponsored today for the chimpanzees in celebration of their birthday! Donna and Doreen have been wonderful, long-time friends of all the primates here and we look forward to celebrating with them each year.
“We can’t think of a better way to celebrate our birthday than by Sponsoring a Day! We count ourselves lucky to have visited the Cle Elum 7..and of course, the ENTIRE staff who work so hard to care for these Apes! We hope to visit Foxie and Friends again in 2019, and super cool – get to meet the new cattle residents! With love from NYC, Donna & Doreen”
Don and Dor, we’re so lucky to have you as part of our chimp family! The world’s a better place because of wonderful hearts like yours and while you are celebrating in the big city, we’ll be thinking of you at a tiny sanctuary in the country, wishing you the best birthday yet! Happiest of days to your hearts from all of our hearts!
Foxie is probably the most joyous person I know. She, like each member of her chimpanzee family, has every reason not to be given their history. And yet, like the rise and fall of nature’s breath, she persists. And we’re all the better for it. As beloved poet, Mary Oliver, wrote:
“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel
Give in to it.
There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be.We are not wise, and not very often kind.
And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left.
Perhaps this is its way of fighting back,
that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world.
It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins.
Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty.
Joy is not made to be a crumb.”
Yesterday we had freezing fog rolling through the sanctuary all day and overnight the sanctuary turned into an icy wonderland. With a wind chill of 20 degrees it’s remained enchanting, if not frigid, but that hasn’t stopped several of the chimpanzees from a quick run around Young’s Hill. But most of the chimps have been enjoying their day indoors, playing constant games of chase and making huge blanket nests.
And boss lady, Jamie, has no problem finding indoor activities to keep her busy in between her frosty runs. She began by taking an after breakfast nap complete with yawns and choosing to wear a hot pink sock with flying pigs in capes on it. Naturally.
We put out a forage of purple cabbage and dried oranges, but Jamie was most interested in what might have been hidden in her kitchenette. And we just love that giant caterpillar:
She later discovered a surprise pair of new boots:
And then she finally settled back into her nest for some reading about her cousins, the Bonobos. Jamie is utterly fascinated by the books she has been given about bonobos, even more so than her chimpanzee books. She spends ages looking at them over and over:
Today was sponsored for the chimpanzees by Manuela Santacreu in celebration of her birthday! Manuela shared this sweet message:
“Foxie et ses amis heureux et en paix sont mon plus beau cadeau d’anniversaire ! embrassez les (de loin !) de ma part ,et une trés bonne année à toute votre fabuleuse équipe ! (Foxie and her friends happy and at peace are my best birthday present! Kiss them (from afar!) from me, and a very happy New Year to all your fabulous team!)”
Happiest of birthdays to you, Manuela! Thank you so much for sharing your special day with Foxie and her family!
Springtime Foxie throwback:
Annie and Foxie:
Personally, I think resolutions are made to be broken. And I’m more a follower of seasons, than the calendar. That said, I think New Year’s Eve is another wonderful opportunity we’re given to stand still and breathe for a moment, take stock and revel in the celebration and gratitude of what brought us to this point and the hope and inspiration of what’s to come.
Today was an incredibly beautiful day. This single gorgeous kestrel spent the whole day flying around the sanctuary:
There was some epic breakfast excitement involving whole apples (apples are a hot ticket item because boss lady, Jamie, LOVES them so we usually quarter these for easier serving to everyone). But when Jamie caught sight of a bowl of whole apples headed her way she literally stood up and screamed at the top of her lungs. I’m not talking about the usual hooting or food grunting, but screaming! You would never think something so every day, so simple as an apple would elicit such pure joy in someone. It made our hearts want to leap right out of our chests. And hers as well it seemed.
The morning may have started in the low twenties, but the chimps anxiously tumbled out into the brilliant sunshine together without hesitation. I couldn’t help but admire their loyalty to one another because even as those less tolerant of the cold stopped to shudder and seemingly rethink their decision, when the others encouraged them to continue, they did. They stuck together. They’re family.
Burrito, Annie, Missy, Jody, Jamie and Foxie:
Missy (R) encouraging her reluctant best friend, Annie, up the hill in the cold morning:
Annie’s such a loyal friend:
Even Burrito was sticking with the group:
Foxie had just lapped up the frost on the structure:
Missy is also a loyal friend and though she was cold, she stuck with Jamie, doing her best to hold back the horses that usually send her galloping across the hill:
Jody diligently followed her family onto the hill making sure everyone was safe, as she does, but she tends to be a little more sensitive to the cold (case in point, the sneer face) and decided to head back inside:
But Jody’s not happy until she knows her family is safe and sound so it wasn’t long before she came out again and decided to busy herself looking for ice snacks until everyone returned:
Jody could see Jamie coming down the hill, back toward the greenhouse where Jody was headed, and decided it would be good chimp politics to make sure Jamie was okay with her keeping that amazing chunk of ice:
Luckily for Jody, Jamie isn’t big on ice chunks:
Annie heading inside:
Later in the afternoon, Jamie and I were headed out on a walk when she spotted staff caregiver, Kelsi, and volunteer caregiver, Caroline, coming back from taking care of the cattle. And that’s not all she spotted. Kelsi had a new pair of muck boots with cows on them! Jamie was so pilo with excitement it looked like she grew three sizes as she made Kelsi race her around the hill, Missy hot on their heels:
You may be wondering about Negra by now. She spent much of the day in happy baby pose in the sunshine streaming through her window and grooming with the others. But she declined having any photographic evidence of anything she did all the live long day. I don’t blame her.
The chimps enjoyed a New Year’s Eve forage for dinner complete with sparkling cider and were all happily ensconced in their evening enrichment as we left.
And here we stand on New Year’s Eve, in the middle of the solstice season, looking back, looking forward. I’m convinced there’s magic here, in the just so tilting toward our star, in the darkening and the lightening of our days. I see it in Annie who used to sit in the raceway too frightened to venture onto Young’s Hill with Missy, rocking with anxiety until she returned, who now bravely follows her into the cold. Annie, who is often the one outside on her own these days. I see it in Missy who flies across the hill, her legs barely able to keep up with her now free heart. I see it in Jamie who wants to explode with joy over the sight of whole apples just for her and caregivers with new boots to race around the hill to her heart’s content. I see it in Jody who braves her dislike of cold temperatures to make sure she can keep a watchful eye over her family until everyone returns safely to the chimp house. I see it in each of the chimpanzees every single day. And I see it in all of you.
YOU make all these moments possible for them. You have helped provide the home, the time, the care and the love for them to heal and grow more than we ever thought possible. Because of you and your overwhelming support of our Bring Them Home campaign we now stand here looking to the year ahead and the expansion of home and family that your absolutely incredible generosity, compassion and love is making a reality. So yes, I see magic in that.
From our hearts to yours, thank you. You. Are. Amazing!! Thank you for being part of this chimp family. And thank you for being committed to the caring and connecting that extends far beyond the bounds of this small sanctuary home. We are all wishing you a New Year’s Eve and year ahead as magical, hopeful, and inspiring as you make possible for these seven amazing individuals, the four beautiful bovines we’re so happy to have welcomed to their new home with us, and all the humans here who have the privilege and honor to care for them, as well as the future family members we can’t wait to welcome.
Happy New Year, everyone! And apologies for the late post! We had persnickety internet today! 😉
