Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Suzanne Van Ness is sponsoring this lovely day of sanctuary and shared this message about her gift:
“In memory of my sister Barbara Beck who was born on this date 66 years ago.”
Suzanne, thank you so much for sharing your celebration of Barbara and her legacy by making a difference in the lives of the chimpanzees and bovines. We hope your heart if full of comfort and joyful memories of your sister today.
Annie and Missy:
So many thanks to Rachel Ruggeri for sponsoring this lovely day of sanctuary as a way to celebrate her own special day!
“It’s my birthday on 7/28 and I want to celebrate the sanctuary and all that the staff and volunteers to to make the world a better place for the Chimpanzees and the Bovines! The idea of Sanctuary makes me feel hopeful and hope is the way I want to celebrate my year ahead. Cheers to 52 years!”
Happy Birthday, Rachel! It is so kind of you to allow us to celebrate your day with you! We’re truly grateful for the difference you have made, and continue to make, in all the chimpanzees’ and bovines’ lives. Between our wonderful growing sanctuary family I imagine we could get 52 hoots and moos and hoorays so we’ll imagine that heading your way, and may all the good fill your year ahead and beyond.
Jody:
Burrito:
Nutmeg and his mama, Betsy:
Willy B:
Honey B:
Meredith, Honey and Nutmeg:
Terry:
Sweet Dora:
We’re so thankful to Nancy and Jonathan Suttles for their generous gift of sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of our very own, Dr. Erin Zamzow!
“We are sponsoring a day for the chimps to honor Dr. Zamzow. She provided veterinary care for our beloved pittie, Portia, with the same dedication, compassion and wisdom that she provides to the chimpanzees & bovines. We are so thankful to have her in our community!”
Nancy and John, we understand completely what it means to have someone like Dr. Erin providing care for our friends and loved ones and are so glad she could be there with you and Portia. Thanks so much for honoring her today.
Dr. Erin and her medical colleagues have quite literally saved lives here at the sanctuary. More than once. We are profoundly grateful for the incredible compassion, professionalism, experience, dedication and sense of teamwork and community she brings to the sanctuary, and not only to her care of the chimpanzees and bovines, but to all the animals she provides care for. Not to mention her fellow human animals. 🙂
Burrito and Jody:
Our beautiful HCIC (Head Chimp in Charge), Jamie:
Erin and Honey C(ow):
Erin and Honey B(eezie):
Erin and Nutmeg:
Foxie:
Negra receiving a laser treatment from Dr. Erin:
Burrito smooches:
Heartfelt thanks to long-time friend of the chimpanzees, Nicki Walters, who sponsored this day of sanctuary in memory of her beloved husband, Bill Walters. Bill was lovingly known as “Twister” by his family and friends and if you are newer to the blog and wonder if there’s a connection to the chimpanzees’ climbing structure on Young’s Hill that we call the Twister, well, there sure is!
Nicki shared this beautiful and gracious message about today:
“On this day 5 years ago the world lost an amazing human, Bill Walters. Yet today we not only concentrate on celebrating his life but also the addition of the Lucky 6 to the Amazing 10! The generosity of the caregivers to take us along in such personal blogs has brought so many laughs and joy to my life and did to Bill‘s life. I love seeing Missy scaling the Twister and so many times they all gather below as if in a fort. I so look forward to following along this journey as the Lucky ones acclimate and join others to build an incredible community. Thank you to all the caregivers, Diana and JB for all you do for the chimps and for us in sharing so many wonderful events and funny antidotes on a daily basis. You allow us to feel like we know each of these amazing characters. You all make the world a better place for the Chimpanzees and for for all of us by doing so.”
Nicki, we’re sure thinking of you and Bill today. It’s such a gift to witness the chimpanzees continue to find courage, joy and shenanigans on the Twister. Even these years later, seeing someone gaining the courage to climb to the top for the first time, or seeing someone enjoying a moment of solitude up there as they take in the view, is incredible to witness. We can only imagine what the chimpanzees’ must be thinking when they’re up there, but we are so grateful to you both for giving them the opportunity to see more, to see further, to climb higher, than they at one time ever imagined. We’re so grateful to you both for continuing to bring new adventures and make a lasting difference in all the chimps’ lives. We hope your heart and memories are filled with comfort, ease and love today.
And if anyone would like to learn more about Bill’s wonderful legacy at the sanctuary, you can read more here.
Missy!
Annie, Missy, Jody and Jamie:
Missy:
Annie and Missy:
Missy (top) and Annie (below):
Many thanks to Paulette Wrisley, who sponsored this day of sanctuary in celebration of Gordo’s birthday, AND a couple of fellow supporters of the sanctuary who share his birthdate, Tom Austin and Dan Oksiuta!
As you may recall, we’ve recently moved from mailing out birthday cards to our supporters who choose to share their birthdays with us, to monthly blog posts for all who are celebrating their birthday during the month. Supporters Tom and Dan commented on sharing their birthdays (and apparent mutual good looks 🙂 ) with handsome Gordo and well, Paulette took it from there. 🙂
“In honor of: Three handsome devils: Gordo, Tom Austin, and Dan Oksiuta. Happy Birthday guys! Have the best of days!”
“The Lucky Six” are nearing the end of their first month since arriving home to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and we’re so excited to be able to celebrate the first of their birthdays with us! Gordo turns 33 today!!
Gordo, Cy, Lucky, Rayne, Dora, and Terry are sharing more and more of their personalities with us each day and while it takes time to figure out what things they each seem to enjoy the most, we hope Gordo’s special day, and all his years forward, are full of joy, curiosity, adventure and food squeaks (as well as yours, Tom and Dan! 🙂 ).
Happy Birthday, Gordo!
Happy Birthday, Tom and Dan!
Many thanks to Lynn Wilson for sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of Anher Flores, the Senior Manager at Wildlife Waystation, and for sharing this wonderful message about her gift:
“Last night we watched ‘A Checkered Past’. I felt so bad for Anher losing the chimps he has worked with for so many years. He also did so much for many of the other 77,000 animals saved by the Wildlife Waystation. My husband and I were fortunate enough to get to know him when we were volunteers at the Waystation. Anher deserves an honor mention and a donated chimp day for all he has given for the many years he has been with the Waystation. Thank you Anher.”
For Mave, Honey B and Willy B, and most recently, Cy, Rayne, Lucky, Dora, Gordo and Terry, Wildlife Waystation, was the only home they’d known for the majority of their lives before arriving here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. And Anher, along with so many other caregivers, are the wonderful humans who cared for them for all those years. The chimps’ human friends and family. We can well imagine how difficult it is for everyone, humans and chimpanzees, having their whole world change overnight.
We’re so happy to have the opportunity to honor Anher and his colleagues today for all they’ve done (and continue to do for the remaining 26 chimpanzees who are still at Wildlife Waystation awaiting their new sanctuary homes) to provide care and love to these amazing individuals and for all they’ve done to help make their transition as easeful as possible. We think of them every day, with so much gratitude.
Gordo, in one of his new greenhouses here at CSNW:
As many of you may be aware, “A Checkered Past”, a short film by Shaun Monson and narrated by Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, was just released on World Chimpanzee Day, July 14th, to highlight the emergency rescue campaign led by the North American Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) and fiscally sponsored by 7th Generation Advisors. The film tells the story of the original 42 chimpanzees who remained at Wildlife Waystation when the facility unexpectedly closed. Twenty six chimpanzees still remain there who urgently need our help.
We are profoundly grateful to each of you who, in a myriad of ways, made it possible for us to welcome home the nine incredible chimpanzees who have joined our family. And if you’ve followed us for awhile, you are well aware of the enormous undertaking it is to be able to offer safe, appropriate and enriching living space to chimpanzees. While accredited and experienced sanctuaries have been identified to take the remaining chimps, they are still in need of daily care and help getting to their new homes. If you are interested in learning more about the remaining Chimpanzees in Need, would like to see the film, or share the chimpanzees’ story (far and wide, please!), you may do so here.
Lucky:
Rayne:
Terry:
Dora:
Willy B:
Honey B:
Mave:
Heartfelt thanks to Joan O’Flaherty for sponsoring this day of sanctuary in memory of the anniversary and beautiful legacy of her parents, Ned and Noreen O’Flaherty.
“My parents loved animals and it is appropriate to mark their anniversary by contributing to the care of cows and chimpanzees. Thanks to all at Cle Elum.”
Lucky:
Honey B:
Betsy and her son, Nutmeg:
Jamie:
Missy:
