Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

In memory of Linda

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Many thanks to you and your gracious heart, Lisa Stuverud, for sponsoring this hopeful day of spring and sanctuary in memory of Linda Vizzare. We so appreciate you and your long-time friendship and support and hope today and beloved memories bring your heart comfort and ease, joy and inspiration. We’re honored to celebrate Linda with you. And from our hearts, thank you for all you help make possible for the chimpanzees and bovines!

Lisa shared this message:

“I am sponsoring April 4th in memory of my sister-in-law, Linda Vizzare because we always shared this day. I miss her terribly and often wish to be able to talk to her especially this last year…WOW…it has seemed unbelievable in everything that has transpired. I often have no words but like my dear sister-in-law you find something positive like Burrito doing his happy dance which was her favorite. You focus on what feeds a passion in your heart and life and you find purpose and joy amongst the chaos. For me that is everyone at CSNW and I do mean everyone! I am so grateful to have all of you to share this day with.”

Best friends, Annie and Missy:

Honey B and Mave:

Betsy and her son, Nutmeg:

Burrito and Jody:

Meredith and her mama, Honey:

Willy B!:

Jamie and Foxie:

Burrito and Negra:

Missy and Annie:

Easter celebration preparations are under way so be sure to tune in later today to see what the chimpanzees think of the Easter Bunny’s visit! 🙂

Just a regular kinda Monday

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Today has been one of those days where it feels both like so much has been happening and not much at all has been happening. After a gorgeous morning fit for foraging for breakfast outdoors yesterday, we had a wild spring storm of high winds, rain, and snow overnight. So while today dawned with mostly bright blue skies and wild, cold winds, we were back to the toasty greenhouse for breakfast. Though it hasn’t been a perfect day for outdoor chimpanzee activities, this human has to say it’s been a glorious day. Every once in a while I’d catch someone like Annie or Jody, just sitting outside on their own. Sometimes we just need to feel the elements. It’s exhilarating.

Our construction friends arrived en masse bright and early, everyone working hard to finish the expansion as soon as possible. Since they arrive a little before chimp house staff do, Honey B, Mave and Willy B were up and extra-ready for breakfast. Maybe because they knew they had an a busy day of supervising workers ahead:

The three also decided some strong words needed to be had with one another, well, specifically Honey B and Willy B. I was folding blankets (oh, I digress, but did I mention one of our dryers completely refused to power on today? Imagine normally having two washers and two dryers running from the second we walk in each morning until the second we leave at night to just get through the day’s laundry unexpectedly being squished down to the use of one dryer. As I type this, I can hear poor Chad’s footsteps behind me going back and forth from laundry to laundry, but we’re going to make it!). Anyway, back to the folding…I suddenly heard Honey B angry screaming at the top of her lungs and arrived to find her furious with Willy B, flailing about and then chasing him into the chute, biting at his heels, literally. So we humans put cleaning on hold and spent a bit of time observing from the sidelines to make sure things were resolved with minimal problems. They were.

The seven have added to the bubbling pot much of the day by yelling back at their neighbors, and if the neighbors were actually quiet, yelling extra loud to get a response. But outside of that, they’ve all enjoyed most of the day in the toasty greenhouse, grooming, playing chase with one another, and just soaking up all that magnificent sunshine minus the blustery wind.

After lunch, I caught Jamie just hanging out leisurely on top of a barrel, foot propped on the caging, arm resting in a firehose swing, peaceful, thinking whatever Jamie thoughts she was at the moment. I wish I knew. I asked if I could take a few photos to which she graciously agreed:

It’s somehow already time to prep dinner service for these ten incredible people. Honey B and Willy B seem to have worked out whatever needed working out as I can see them playing a slow motion game of chase…now chimpanzee laughter is ringing through the house as Mave got in on the action and is chasing Willy B. Honestly, I wish humans resolved their issues in a similar fashion. Speak your mind, express your feelings, just say what needs saying and then move on, things resolved for the time. (With maybe an occasional bite. Just kidding. But not really…;) ).

In memory of James

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This special day of sanctuary is gifted to the chimpanzees from Jen Douglas in memory of her beloved husband, and our dear friend, James Douglas, on his birthday.

“I sponsored this day not because James would want us to remember the day of his passing, this day 2 years ago, but because he would want us to celebrate how he made a difference in this world, for humans and for chimpanzees.  He would be so excited about the upcoming arrival of the new chimps and so proud of what CSNW has achieved in the last 10 years. Slainte James!”

We will soon be breaking ground on “The Bray”, the Young’s Hill version of outdoor habitat made possible by Jen and James for Honey B, Willy B and Mave, as well as the six new chimpanzees who will be arriving soon. J.B. wrote this post last summer detailing all the expansion plans and you can get an idea of what The Bray will look like. And you can read a bit more about what a special human James was and the incredible legacy he left through his path that Jen carries on.

Jen, we’re so grateful to you and James, our friends, for the difference you’ve made and continue to make, both for the chimpanzees dear to your heart, as well as for those to come. Our thoughts are with you and your family today and thank you for allowing us to celebrate James with you. We can’t wait to see some chimpanzees racing around The Bray one day soon!

Jamie and Burrito:

The seven on Young’s Hill, looking southward, toward where The Bray will eventually be:

Mave, watching the new construction in her home:

Honey B, supervising:

Willy B, in the Courtyard:

Jamie:

Spring happenings

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Nothing jump-starts your day like going in to say good morning to the chimpanzees and having Honey B greet you with a screw in her lips. Of course everything we give the chimpanzees for enrichment goes through multiple safety checks, as do their enclosures, so we weren’t too worried. Honey B handed over the contraband, along with tossing out a second screw, in exchange for an apple slice. We thought they were probably from a toy, but they turned out to be from a little DIY project Honey B had been working on which required an interruption to J.B.’s day off for a quick repair. I’m pretty sure Honey B and Jamie would rule the world if they combined the forces behind the marvelous miraculous individuals they both are.

Honey B’s been zipping and zooming and taking things apart all the day long. Perhaps her version of spring fever. This is an older photo of Honey B that Chad took which I love because it’s so Honey B, and I figured we all needed a visual of this amazing woman:

On that note, it’s a quintessential early spring day here in eastern Washington. After a bit of snow last night, the wild spring winds came barreling off the mountains and whisked the clouds away turning the sky bright blue and birds of all shapes and sizes have been gliding the windy currents. I saw a juvenile bald eagle get thunked on the head by a crow, the red tail of a hawk flashing like fire in the sun, and more robins than I’ve ever seen in my life searching the slowly greening grass for all the good things.

The seven have spent much of their day in the greenhouse where it’s been light-filled and toasty warm. After a brisk run around the hill with Jamie and Missy, we all met back in the greenhouse and dear sweet Annie surprised me by swinging down for a grooming (and selfie) session:

She was actually poking the phone camera’s shutter release here as she watched herself:

Dear, beautiful, Annie. Mesmerized by her image…much like us all.

For Lacy

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Many thanks to Shaun Mayo (one of our former student interns), for sponsoring this day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in honor of Lacy Rambo:

“For someone who has always been so supportive of and loving towards the Cle Elum Crew. It means the world.”

Shaun and Lacy, thank you both for holding the chimpanzees in your hearts and for your continued support in their lives. We so appreciate it.

Lacy, may you have the most beautiful of days!

Jody:

Foxie and Strawberry Shortcake:

Burrito and Jody:

Negra:

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to Jamie and friends!

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Many thanks to Tami Roy for sponsoring this day of sanctuary in honor of Jamie Chimpanzee and her friends!

“Happy St. Patrick’s Day to Jamie and all her friends. She has captured my heart with all her books and boots!”

We truly appreciate you making this fun day of celebration extra special for the chimpanzees, Tami! Thank you for seeing how truly unique and special Jamie (and each of the chimpanzees) is!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! Naturally, preparations for a party are underway so be sure to check back later today to join the chimps’ celebration!

Jamie marching the humans around the perimeter of Young’s Hill while they wear Jamie-approved boots:

Nesting with her beloved books and boots:

#willyb

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If you know Willy B, you know that he is big on his “screen time.” He loves his “stories” (current favorites are: Wild Chimpanzees with Jane Goodall, Orangutan Diaries, Orangutan Eden, Ice Age, and Terminal (while I find this one curious from a human attempting to see things from a chimpanzee’s perspective, I have no explanation for this one, but it doesn’t matter because it’s his choice). He is also a big fan of our iPhones and LOVES to see himself, take “selfies” and look at photos and videos of other animals, particularly chimpanzees, whenever he can. He knows we all carry iPhones and knows which pocket we carry them in and will gesture while looking at my pocket and blow raspberries to request seeing it. And as you’ve probably read a zillion times, it’s such a challenge to get photos of him, Honey B, or Mave because the second Willy B sees the camera, he’s front and center!

While we don’t spend an extended amount of time doing this with him, we do try to oblige him when he requests it. He was clearly was very familiar with phones and cameras when he arrived to the sanctuary and greatly enjoys it, so we treat it as any other form of enrichment, offering it when he asks and including it along with a myriad of other enrichment items and/or activities on offer to the chimpanzees to engage with (or not) as they choose. Anything with a screen is probably Willy B’s equivalent of Jamie’s boots or Foxie’s dolls, or Burrito’s endless games of chase with caregiver, Chad. 😉

Whether you spend all your time on social media or avoid it like the plague, you may (or may not) be familiar with filter options for taking selfies. You’ve probably seen them, the ones that add animation to the screen (and your face) with things like dog ears and whiskers, sparkly crowns, falling glitter, floating hearts, the list is endless really. Well, I thought #WillyB might like to try these out. Needless to say, social media influencer that he is, he did:

A couple of random things seen while cleaning the greenhouse when happening to look up above our heads that made us smile (and to remind you to look up and around yourselves because you never know when something beautiful or magical or just plain silly might lift your spirits):

And a bonus of this beautiful, beloved, woman, Jody, who makes my heart swell with how special she is and how much I love her. Right before I took this she held out her fingers and wiggled them in greeting to me, then let out the biggest sigh of contentment, ensconced as she was in her plush giant wolf blanket nest: