Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

Missy’s 2016 Cle Elum Olympics

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Missy never ceases to amaze us with her feats of daring and Parkour. I think she lives out her own Olympic dreams every day, right here in Cle Elum. She rarely takes the easy way around, preferring to run, leap, climb and walk the tightrope to get where she wants to go. During a breakfast forage on Young’s Hill this morning, Missy started out with everyone else, but it didn’t take long for her decide she was going to take the firehouse from structure to structure, foraging in classic Missy style.

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On August 23rd, we are going to be celebrating Missy’s honorary 41st birthday! Technically, Missy’s in the older chimp ladies age bracket, but Missy makes her own rules and seems to grow younger in heart, mind, body and spirit with each passing season. We can’t wait to celebrate this amazingly wonderful chimpanzee woman on her special day!

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Happy Birthday, Foxie!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Tracy Headley in honor of her pal, Foxie’s, birthday! Tracy is a dear friend to the chimpanzees, always holding them in her heart and including them in her life in countless ways.

Beloved Foxie turns 40 today and the sanctuary is all a flurry preparing for a Troll, Dora the Explorer, and Smoothie Extravaganza which begins in mere moments! Foxie is a special soul full of joy, beauty, courage, love, and her particular brand of exuberant goofiness. She is a mother, a dear friend, and an important part of a special family who loves her. Foxie makes the lives of her chimp and human friends better every day with her compassionate and joyful heart and we are honored to be celebrating this special woman today. Not to mention, pretty excited for this party!

Tracy, thank you so much for sponsoring this day of celebration for Foxie and her family! We are full of gratitude for the friendship they (and we!) have in you!

Happiest of birthdays, Foxie! We love you so much!!

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In celebration of Bill Walters’ life

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This special day of sanctuary was sponsored by Nicki Walters in memory of her husband, Bill. Nicki and Bill have been such wonderful friends to the chimpanzees over the years and we are so honored to celebrate Bill’s life with the chimps today. Bill had a great passion for animals and their well-being and he was also a long-time supporter and volunteer at PAWS Lynnwood. Nicki shared this special message:

“Today is the day that we celebrate Bill Walter‘s life. So I wanted the Chimps to be able to do the same since they brought him many smiles and were a source of happiness during many rough days as he fought Cancer. Knowing that they will be playing on a Monument dedicated to him, The Twister, gave him a lot of pride that his memory will be kept alive in such a fun way.”

If you’re new to the blog, you can also check out the unveiling of the Twister here.

Nicki, thank you so much for holding the chimps in your heart and giving them such a special day of sanctuary. Our hearts are with you and your loved ones. Words fall short in the face of such profound loss, but the difference Bill made for so many others with his life gives much to celebrate.

We are so moved by all that you, Bill and your friends have done to add to the chimps’ home and lives in a meaningful and lasting way. Bill’s spirit will always be present in the joy you’ve all brought the chimps and in all of the lives made better by his. We’ll think of him every time we see the chimps enjoying your amazing gift to them and especially when we see Jamie surveying her kingdom from the new heights of her beloved crow’s nest.

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This is 40

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This Monday, August 8th, we will be celebrating Foxie’s 40th birthday! This tiny woman is known for her joyful spirit and exuberant chimpanzee shenanigans and acrobatics which are more typically seen in juvenile chimps. But if you didn’t believe it before, you can believe it now…age really is just a number.

The chimps are typically happy and playful in the mornings and it’s one of my favorite times of the day with them. Well, boss lady Jamie can be a bit of a wild card, sometimes seemingly getting up on the wrong side of the nest, but even she is often in a lighthearted mood. Members of a chimp family will exuberantly greet one another after any length of separation and the chimps often include us humans in that so when we arrive in the morning they will often come over to offer us a greeting. (And sometimes they completely ignore us!). On the more boisterous mornings, Jamie wants us to don a pair of boots immediately and play a rare game of chase. Burrito sometime runs over with a play stomp ready for a raucous game of chase or tickle. If we’re lucky, Jody and Negra will sometimes run over and greet us with kisses or hand tickles (and if we’re not so lucky, a hand poke). Annie and Missy are often already engaged in a world of joy all their own, chasing, wrestling and laughing with one another. And Foxie is ready for a game of toss the troll or Dora with her doll du jour.

When I went in to say good morning today, Foxie ran into one of the front rooms and greeted me with a huge play face (notice only her bottom teeth are showing which is how chimpanzees smile). This started out innocently enough and then quickly progressed into both of us laughing wildly and jumping up and down like maniacs (’cause that’s what we do).
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And then she took it to a whole other classic Foxie-level. She climbed up the caging, flipped upside down and continued to nod her head up and down and laugh hysterically with the biggest play face ever. From the photos, she looks a little wild and upset with all those chimp chompers showing, but trust me, it was nothing but fun and games, Foxie-style. Of course, I was doing much the same on the other side of the caging. Well, minus the hanging upside down bit – that’s all Foxie. (Excuse the poor quality of the photos, but there was a lot of action going on!):

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In honor of Amanda Lollar and Bat World Sanctuary!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Meg Lunnum, a dear friend to the chimps and humans here alike. Meg does so much to advocate for our fellow animals of the world and also happens to be a professional bat rehabilitator with Bats Northwest, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of bats here in the Pacific Northwest through education, conservation, and research. Meg shared this message about her gift today:

“I would like to honor Amanda Lollar from Bat World Sanctuary for being awarded the GFAS Carole Noon Award for Sanctuary Excellence. Bat World Sanctuary was founded in 1994, since then, Amanda has been available 24/7/365 to help injured and orphaned bats. Currently the Sanctuary cares for over 200 permanent resident bats. Amanda has also trained over 400 zoologists, veterinarians, and other animal care professionals to rehabilitate bats. I am proud to say I am one of the animal care professionals she trained. The Carole Noon Award for Sanctuary Excellence is given annually to a sanctuary or individual who embodies and puts into practice the GFAS philosophy of vision, dedication and excellence in animal care. It memorializes Carole Noon, founder of Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida, the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary. Carole was a courageous and innovative sanctuary pioneer and champion of chimpanzees. The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries accredits animal sanctuaries; Bat World Sanctuary and our own Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW are on the list of accredited sanctuaries. Who would have thought there would be a connection between bats and chimpanzees?”

Meg, thank you so much for your care and compassion in honoring Amanda and the incredibly valuable work on behalf of bats worldwide that she and her colleagues dedicate themselves to through Bat World Sanctuary! We so appreciate you thinking of the chimpanzees as you celebrate the important work of such a wonderful sanctuary! We are full of gratitude to you for all you do to provide care, respect and sanctuary to so many beings.

Bats play incredibly important roles as pollinators and pest controllers and are vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems around the world and yet, unfortunately they are often very misunderstood. Like so many of our fellow animals, including chimpanzees in the wild, they are vulnerable or endangered due a variety of factors ranging from habitat loss, disease, roost destruction, hunting and killing. We are thrilled to celebrate these special beings here today with the chimpanzees! The sanctuary is fortunate to have a small colony of bats who roost on the property and we anxiously watch for their return every spring. Their lively nursery is such a joy to catch glimpses of and if you’ve ever attended one of our summer education visits you may have heard the babies boisterous vocalizations to their mamas.

Meg’s pal, Queen Negra:

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Negra and Jody:

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Snoozing…

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Happy Birthday, Rachel!

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Rachel Ruggeri! Rachel is such a wonderful friend to the chimps and she shared this lovely message about today:

“The chimps at the sanctuary are always first every year to send me a birthday card. And that card makes my day! So in honor of them, I want to celebrate by starting my year off with a donation to them. Happy Birthday to us all!”

Rachel, thank you SO much for celebrating your special day by ensuring the chimpanzees’ lives remain full of comfort, safety, adventure, love, laughter and goofiness! Our hearts are full of gratitude for all you do for these seven amazing people. Happiest of birthdays to you and we all send you wishes and hoots for a beautiful year ahead!

Annie:

Annie with a huge playface (Missy's hand)

Burrito:

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Foxie:

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Jamie:

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Jody:

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Missy (Annie in foreground):

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Negra:

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Chow bags to go

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After breakfast was served this morning everyone took their chow bags to go, be it to work (Jamie walking the perimeter), explore (Foxie and her Doras), or just head back to bed (Negra). We serve the chimps two small bags of primate chow biscuits each after breakfast and lunch and the chimps are usually anxious to receive them. But Missy was so anxious to go outside that she didn’t even stay long enough to take both her bags! She took one and rushed up the hill behind Jamie before setting off on her own.

Jamie headed straight for her beloved lookout on Twister, below the crow’s nest, followed by Jody (at base of Twister), Burrito and Annie (in lower right corner). It didn’t take long for Burrito to realize he’d gotten himself into a long walk, so he stopped briefly to stuff BOTH bags full of chow into his mouth before continuing on his way with the others:

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Jamie and Jody at the top, as Burrito and Annie look around below:

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Jamie enjoying her chow while somehow managing to look cool and relaxed. That foot!!

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Missy quickly made her way to the top of Carlene’s Tower to enjoy her chow in solitude:

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Foxie initially stayed below and explored with her twin Dora dolls:

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But she eventually decided to follow the others up to the top of the hill and stopped briefly to toss the dolls on her back. This is how chimp mamas carry their children when on the go. We don’t know if Foxie does this as maternal behavior toward her dolls or if it’s just an easier way to carry them when she’s on the move, but nevertheless it’s always endearing.

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