Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

Happy Birthday, Jody Chimpanzee!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Tracy Headley in honor of her beautiful Pal, Jody’s, honorary 39th birthday! We don’t know Jody’s actual date of birth so we chose Mother’s Day to celebrate her life, in honor of the 9 children she gave birth to, but was not allowed to raise. As heartbreaking as Jody’s history is, thanks to our amazing supporters, she seems to have fully embraced her life in sanctuary. She spends her days lounging in peace and comfort in the most amazingly cozy nests, foraging on Young’s Hill for as much as she can possibly carry, and increasingly so, playing and laughing with her chimpanzee family. Of Jody’s countless endearing qualities, a favorite that comes to mind today is how she always helps round everyone up at mealtime and makes sure they get through the door before we close it, seemingly making sure no one gets “left behind.”

While nothing could make up for the loss that Jody and all chimpanzee mommas and their children have endured, we honor and celebrate their lives today. We all give life in our own way and can mother at heart. Whether it’s to ourselves, our friends, our family, or the earth, regardless of species. As said by Anais Nin, “Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

Tracy, you are an extraordinary friend to the chimpanzees and we are so grateful for all you do for them. Thank you so much for making Jody’s day of celebration even more special! Happy Birthday/Mother’s Day, Jody, we love you!!

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All of us at CSNW wish you all a day of love, comfort, and nurturing. Be sure to check back later today for the birthday/Mother’s Day celebration!

Today is for Keri, Bob and the chimpanzees!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Keri Heniff and Bob Mark who want to celebrate their wedding day with the chimpanzees! Keri is a volunteer caregiver here at the sanctuary and is adored by the chimpanzees and humans alike and we couldn’t be happier for her and her fella on this special day! Keri and Bob shared the following message:

“We want to share this special day with all our family and friends and the chimps are part of our family, so we wanted to include them in our celebration.”

Keri and Bob, you make the world a better place just by being yourselves and we are so touched that you included the chimpanzees in your celebration. Annie and Missy seem to find something to celebrate in each day with joy and laughter and all of us here at CSNW wish the same for you both. Thank you so much for all you do and congratulations!!

Annie and Missy

Troll stroll

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It’s a beautiful spring day here at the sanctuary, not to mention a rare one without wind. It was already quite warm early this morning so we decided to do a chow forage on the hill for the chimpanzees after they were served their breakfast. Foxie and her troll friend were first out the door and they spent quite a bit of time traversing Young’s Hill in search of the chow. At first she held fast to her troll in her hand (I love her tongue sticking out here):

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But then she decided she had some ground to cover and the troll went on her back:

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It’s a good day for a stroll with one’s troll:

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Lilac garden party

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It is gorgeous at the sanctuary today, practically sweltering! Well, OK, that may be an exaggeration but it’s definitely the warmest day we’ve seen this year and none of the primates here at CSNW are quite used to the sudden higher temperatures. With gardening season upon us we thought we would have a pre-garden party of sorts, which started with volunteer caregiver, Steph, bringing lilacs for the chimpanzees to enjoy with their breakfast! The entire greenhouse smelled so beautiful!

Missy headed straight for the lilacs even before grabbing her breakfast:

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Her fabulous prehensile lips are perfect for “vacuuming” up the tiny buds:

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Jody in particular really enjoys eating fresh flowers and was peering at Missy in the hopes she would share:

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Missy wasn’t in the mood to share the fragrant treats but Jody found her own to enjoy in the comfort of her nest:

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The garden themed day continued after breakfast when we set up the chimps’ gardening table in the playroom. Debbie filled it with dirt, alfalfa cubes, and flowers, and made sure they had their gardening tools on hand:

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Annie decided to get right to work:

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She spent quite a while working at the table while enjoying the warm breeze by the barn doors:

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And of course, Jamie, wanted to get some gardening in as well and decided to bring the entire garden tray back to her nest to work on:

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Thank you, Steph, for the gorgeous lilacs and for always brightening the chimpanzees’ (and the humans’!) days! As I type this, the chimpanzees are all luxuriating in the heat of the greenhouse, enjoying a taste of the warm months ahead.

Lots of love for the chimpanzees!

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As you may have read this morning, thanks to the compassion and generosity of our friend and supporter, Monica Best, today is our fifth annual Love a Chimpanzee Day! So of course, a party was in order! The chimpanzees had a lunch forage with pomegranate juice in fancy cups, cantaloupe, corn, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes and grapes in gift boxes, and whole heads of lettuce (the hit of the party!).

Annie did quite well for herself:

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Missy was a little more elusive and chose to enjoy the celebration from the stairs:

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Burrito was the charmer of the party, as usual:

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Here is he watching his buddy, Foxie, stroll by:

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Foxie continuing her forage:

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And finding a mouthful of cantaloupe:

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And of course the boss of the party, Jamie, made sure to enjoy herself with an armload of lettuce, food grunting the entire time:

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Still food grunting with delight:

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Jamie is serious in pretty much all she does. Even when there’s a party going on. Though she may have slipped into what we endearingly refer to as her “party police” role and suggested the paparazzi leave the event, I can assure you she was pretty happy with the Love a Chimpanzee Day happenings!

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Negra and Jody both grabbed a couple heads of lettuce and made themselves scarce, preferring to celebrate in solitude. But I think it’s safe to say everyone had a great time. Thank you so much, Monica, for loving the chimpanzees and honoring them with such a special day!

5th Annual Love a Chimpanzee Day!

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Five years ago, our long time supporter, Monica Best, lovingly crowned April 23rd as “Love a Chimpanzee Day” and has sponsored this day for the chimpanzees every year since! And given the fact that today also happens to be Monica’s birthday, it’s even more incredible that she would create a special day in honor of the chimpanzees! In keeping with the celebration of some very special beings, Monica shared that she would also like today’s day of sanctuary to be in memory of her grandmother, Dorothy, and our dear friend, Dr. Mel Richardson.

Monica, thank you so much for honoring the chimpanzees in such a special way! May all the love and kindness you share with others come back to you tenfold. And from all of the primates here at CSNW, we wish you the happiest of birthdays! We hope your day is a Negra style celebration of life with a cozy nest to lounge and nap in, and good treats that make you food squeak.

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Losing your head

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As you might imagine, routine is very important for the chimpanzees, especially after spending decades in the uncertain environment of labs. We all feel a little better knowing what to expect from our environment and the other beings in it, especially when someone else might have certain control over a situation that we don’t. One example of the chimpanzees’ routine here at CSNW is how we invite them to move from one area to another so that we can clean their enclosures. After we clean the chimpanzees’ play room in the morning we scatter a treat for them to forage for when they are given access to the room again. The chimps know to expect this and as they see us nearing the end of cleaning they start getting excited and want to see what we’re are going to put out for them. This not only helps us encourage them to move to different areas, but also gives them something to look forward to as well as to encourage their natural foraging behavior. But it’s always the chimpanzees’ choice to leave an area or not and if someone wants to stay where they are, well then, we just wait it out until they are ready to leave the area.

Today we decided to give the chimps a special treat by putting out entire heads of lettuce. For whatever reason, the chimps get pretty excited over lettuce in general and of course, it’s extra exciting to be able to have a whole item to yourself as opposed to pieces (kind of like me and chocolate bars, for example).

Jamie, enjoying her lettuce and mildly tolerating the paparazzi:

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Despite it being an exciting forage item, the chimpanzees were all generous with one another and at some point, choosing to share their spoils with each other. In this photo, Jody had just asked Jamie for permission to have this lettuce and you can see her glancing to the side where Jamie is sitting out of frame:

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Unfortunately, the light wasn’t cooperating for pictures of Negra but I can tell you that she had so many heads of lettuce that she had to scoot across the floor on her bottom all the way back to her nest because her hands and feet were full! Here is Burrito cautiously reaching toward Negra’s stash which she kindly allowed him to do:

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Foxie finds some blueberries:

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Annie scooped up her lettuce and headed for the greenhouse. But her plan to avoid the crowd failed and she found herself the center of a lot of food peering. Foxie is in the background here:

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Foxie and Jody were very persistent in their attempts to convince Annie to share. But Annie was equally persistent in keeping her lettuce for herself. Even if she had to enjoy it in a rather awkward position (you can see Jody waiting patiently behind her):

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Annie was surrounded as Foxie continued to peer from above:

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Annie eventually did share her last bites with Jody and Foxie. It was probably all the “peer” pressure (sorry, I couldn’t resist). I didn’t catch any photos of Missy because she was smartly cornered away in the top of the playroom, out of sight. But in the end, everyone was able to enjoy some lettuce, whether they found their own, covertly took it from someone else, or found a friend in an altruistic mood.