Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

Congratulations Erin and Kammee!

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Samantha McBirney in celebration of the marriage of Erin Delsol and Kammee Mam! Samantha shared this sweet message:

“Today is the day Erin and Kammee tie the knot! My husband and I are regretfully unable to attend their beautiful wedding in Mexico, but if it weren’t for these two, I never would have discovered this sanctuary. We hope you’re having the most perfect day! We’re all (chimps included) celebrating you back here in the states!” 

Samantha, thank you so much for this compassionate gift honoring Erin and Kammee’s big day and their love for the chimpanzees!

Erin and Kammee, you guys are the best for including the chimps in your special day and we are so happy to be celebrating with you! We are sending you all the good thoughts for a beautiful day and life ahead together.

Here are some oldies but goodies, classic Annie and Missy moments full of love, goofiness and celebration:

annie and missy playing

Annie Missy best friends

Missy Annie running behind

In memory of Bryan Riner

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by The Riner family in memory of Bryan Riner. Bryan had great love and respect for the chimpanzees and his family has graciously continued to share that compassion in his honor. His wife, daughter and son shared this message about today:

“In memory of Bryan Riner, a wonderful, compassionate husband and father who respected all beings (especially the Cle Elum 7), from Judy, Marin, and Dax.” 

Judy, Marin and Dax, thank you so much for your long-time friendship of the chimpanzees and for including them in your memories and celebration of Bryan. Our thoughts are with you all today and we will be thinking of Bryan and all the good his wonderful spirit continues to do in the world.

Missy, in all her glorious “Missy-ness”:

Annie and Missy top of Twister

Into the wild green yonder

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The grass is so tall now the chimps literally step into it and disappear at times. I don’t think I will ever do anything less than treasure those moments as glimpses into the wild that will always live in their hearts:

Hidden Burrito:

Jody:

Jody and Burrito:

Jody foraged a gorgeous wild bouquet to bring back and enjoy in the greenhouse (notice her sneer face because bugs were biting her):

Here she is swatting them away:

Foxie was on an adventure with two tiny twin trolls which fell off her back so she stopped to put them back where they belong:

And a bonus Annie photo, because well, who doesn’t need to see a bonus Annie photo?

Happy Summer Solstice!

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We have a wonderful surprise day of sanctuary today sponsored by Dylan Most, who just wanted to give a little love to the chimps and celebrate the first day of summer!

Dylan, what a lovely gift! Thank you so much for thinking of the chimps and all of us here at the sanctuary. It’s hard to believe it’s summer! But the easeful, peaceful and joyful days are welcome by us all and it’s so wonderful to see the chimps relishing it all. We are grateful to your kind heart for helping to make theirs lives as beautiful as possible.

Be it your summer or winter, all of us are wishing all of you a beautiful solstice! And happy summer to all our northern hemisphere folks!

Jody:

Foxie:

Negra:

Annie:

Jamie:

Missy:

Burrito:

For Zach the awesome nephew!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by long-time friend of the chimps, Stephen Maluk, in honor of his nephew, Zach Plastaras. Stephen shared this message about today:

“Zach, often known simply as The Nephew, recently graduated from 6th grade and is kind to animals.”

Stephen, thank you so much for including the chimpanzees as you celebrate Zach, his accomplishments, and so importantly, his kind heart. We truly appreciate all you and your family do to help us care for these amazing beings.

Zach, congratulations on your graduation! Thank you so much for caring about animals! It’s people like you who the chimpanzees and other fellow animals of the world will depend on in the future to care, protect and honor them and we’re really grateful to you for being their friend. All of us at CSNW hope you have an awesome summer!

Burrito:

We wish we were as cool as Missy

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Missy is beautiful, kind, joyful, goofy, serious, independent, self-assured, and the most loyal of friends you could hope for; she’ll back you up no questions asked. Well, if you’re a chimp friend that is. When the humans have been deemed to have “wronged” one of her family members she is often the first to let us know and she will hurl her tiny self onto the caging in front of you with shocking force while repeatedly kicking it and threat barking in your face with all her might.

One of my favorite memories of Missy is a time when I was trying to serve her something and Jamie decided she didn’t want that to happen and let me know by hitting the caging and threat barking at me. Given that Jamie is the dominant chimp in this society, it’s her right to do so. Even though Missy had her hand out in anticipation, she immediately backed Jamie up and joined in threat barking at me, seemingly incensed that I had tried to do something so egregious. The second Jamie walked away though, Missy immediately asked for the item again (and gestured to be quick about it!) until Jamie caught sight of us and the whole scene played out again. Missy is brilliant at chimpanzee politics.

On nights that Jamie chooses to have the door to Young’s Hill remain open she will often seemingly employ Missy to guard the door while she goes inside to retrieve something she wants. Missy doesn’t usually have any interest in the door remaining open or not and is typically ready for bed, but don’t think you are going to close that door with her standing guard in the boss’s absence.

Honestly, Missy’s a bit of a thug. And we couldn’t love her more.

In other news, one of our volunteers, Jake, discovered the hit of the summer to come! It’s hot today and we were lamenting not having any ice to run through the chimps’ snow cone machine. The chimps have access to water all day, but we occasionally offer ice snacks to help keep them cool and hydrated. So Jake brilliantly decided to experiment with running frozen grapes and a touch of strawberries through the machine and it was an immense hit with chimps and humans alike! They literally melt in your mouth. Go immediately and buy yourselves snow cone machines and grapes to freeze!

Behold:

The Celebration Continues!

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Every once in awhile I feel like everything around me stills for just a few seconds and I find myself standing still in eye of the love storm that surrounds these chimpanzees. It’s a feeling to behold and I can’t help but imagine if all living beings, us humans included, could feel so much love and respect what a different place this world, this life, might be. It’s inspiring and hopeful and makes one’s heart ache with gratitude that these amazing chimpanzees get to experience this as their every day life now.

As we celebrate this special day of the chimps’ 9th year since arriving to their sanctuary home AND Queen Negra’s birthday, our second day of sanctuary sponsorship comes from our dear friend, Kathleen Corby, with this beautiful message:

“Happy 44th Birthday to Negra and Happy 9 Years of Hope, Love, Home, Sanctuary to CSNW! To Negra, I wish you a day filled with warm sunshine to nap in, soft fuzzy blankets to nest with, and Nut Bags galore bursting full of your favorite snacks! Please know I love you dearly and I will never forget the day I had the privilege to meet you — my heart melted with pure joy upon seeing your beautiful face. Happy Birthday to you dear girl! I love you. To everyone at CSNW, I wish you the happiest of celebrations on this important day. I will be celebrating with you in my heart. Thank you for all you have done and all you continue do to provide Negra, Missy, Annie, Jamie, Foxie, Jody and Burrito with the best of everything possible. Much love, Kathleen”

Kathleen, from our hearts, thank you for being part of this chimp family and this amazing day of celebration. You are here in spirit, thought and heart every day and I have no doubt the chimpanzees feel that on some level.

Happy Anniversary, Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra! We love you all so very much!

Annie:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Jody:

Jody with forage haul

Missy:

And Happiest of Happy to you on this birthday, Queen Negra! Negra says, *Clap, Clap!!* “Let’s get this party started!”: