Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

For Carlene

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Joseph Garza sponsored this special day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in memory of his lovely wife, Carlene Olsen-Garza:

“My late wife Carlene, became an admirer of CSNW in 2010 with hope of one day being a part of the movement to save and support these noble creatures. Unfortunately her life was taken from us in 2014. So on what would have been her 63rd birthday, we honor her by helping our friends at the Sanctuary do what they do best.”

Joseph, you and Carlene are a permanent part of our chimpanzee family and we’re honored to be part of her beautiful legacy that you continue to share so graciously and generously. We are so thankful to you both for the lasting difference you’ve made, and continue to make, in the lives of these amazing chimpanzee people. We’re sending you and your family all the good thoughts and wishing you comfort and peace as you celebrate Carlene’s life and memory.

Jamie:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jody, Foxie and Annie taking in the view from “Carlene’s Tower”:

Happiest Birthday, Keri!

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Today was sponsored by our wonderful and dear friend, former staff and current volunteer caregiver (on hold due to the pandemic), Keri Heniff, along with her husband, Bob Mark, and their sons, Cody and Skyler. Keri shared this beautiful, heartfelt message about her gift:

“I wanted to sponsor today in celebration of my next trip around the sun and to celebrate what has been and look forward to what will be.

The chimpanzees at CSNW have reminded me I’m never to old to explore new things; to continue to be resilient in the face of adversity; to have courage enough to grow and try new things; to relax and soak in the moments of the day; to trust in spite of fear; that it’s okay to snuggle up in a blanket (or 20) and enjoy the comfort it brings; to play like it’s the only mission of the day; and to squeak and moan at the sight of exciting food; and so, so much more. These chimps have brought so much joy into my life, for which I will always treasure.

And all of the human primates associated with the sanctuary; staff, volunteers, donors, followers old and new, continue to remind me what determination, humility, generosity, sincerity and a genuine concern for the well-being of these chimps (and bovines too) can do to bring together complete strangers. The common goal to support and love these beings unifies us and there’s nothing more that I could ask for in my upcoming trip around the sun.

So, cheers to today and the year ahead!”

Keri, we miss you every day and no doubt the chimpanzees feel the same. Know that you are part of our chimpanzee family, always, and we are so happy to celebrate this special day with you! You are a gift of a being and we humans and chimpanzees all, are so lucky to call you friend. And thanks for helping to remind us of all there is, even in these times – especially in these times, to celebrate in life. We hope you have the most beautiful day, one to remember in all the best ways.

Happy Birthday, Keri!!

Jamie:

Missy:

Burrito:

Negra:

Foxie:

Jody:

Willy B:

Honey B:

Happy Anniversary, Robin!

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Pat Salak sponsored a day of sanctuary to wish, “Happy 35th Wedding Anniversary to my wife Robin!!” Robin is one of our pre-Covid student volunteers from the Primate Behavior and Ecology Program at Central Washington University and among all those waiting patiently and hoping for the day volunteers are able to return to the sanctuary.

Pat and Robin, thanks so much for choosing to celebrate your anniversary by thinking of the chimpanzees and contributing to their care in such a thoughtful way. Happy Anniversary to you both!

Burrito and Negra:

Jody:

Willy B and Mave:

Honey B:

The seven:

A more easeful evening

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As you might imagine, it’s been an extra, extra busy day in the chimp house! Hopefully you’ve had a chance to check out the very endearing and very encouraging update Diana and J.B. shared earlier today of Burrito’s continued progress toward healing from the recent rattlesnake bite he received. We will continue to closely monitor him for potential complications over the next several days, so while he isn’t out of the woods yet, each day that passes with his steady progress allows us to breathe a little deeper.

As we mentioned earlier today, many of you have been asking how you can help and so we’ve added a medical fund to our upcoming HOOT! 2020 online auction to help cover the cost of Burrito’s antivenin treatment. We’ve seen your donations coming in these past days in his name and please know how deeply we appreciate your support, in all it’s many and varied forms. The love, support and well wishes that’s been wrapped around Burrito from near and far is felt by us all. And I believe, most importantly, by him. We are profoundly grateful to you for that.

I wasn’t able to capture a dang thing for photos today, but Chad came to the rescue again and has graciously shared photos he captured of these two lovely ladies:

Cute Honey B eating a beet:

Beautiful Jody eating some foraged wild-greens:

I did manage this one a few moments ago. After a full day of visiting and playing with his chimpanzee and human family from his recovery room, working ever so hard at healing, his paper boat emptied of grape snacks, Burrito has tucked himself in and is out for the night:

May we all rest just a little easier as we hold him in our hearts tonight.

Happy Birthday, Mykel and Steph!

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Kathleen Zasimovich sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in honor of two special humans and sends this message:

“Happy Birthday Mykel and Steph. The chimpanzees will celebrate with you. Aunt Kathy.”

Thank you for including the chimpanzees in your family’s day of celebration for Mykel and Steph, Kathleen!

Happy Birthday, Mykel and Steph! All of us here at the sanctuary hope your day is filled with everything that brings you happiness, just as you’ve helped do for the chimpanzees by sharing your special day with them.

Foxie:

Jamie and Foxie:

Burrito:

Honey B and Mave:

Happy Birthday, Tammi!

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Kelsy Compton sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees and her mom, Tammi Finnick!: “Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you enjoy your special day. Love you!”

Thank you so much, Kelsy, for including the chimpanzees in your celebration of your mom on her birthday!

Happy Birthday, Tammi! All of us here hope you have a beautiful day!

Sweet Jody:

Jody and Foxie:

Enrichment comes in many forms

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As you may be aware, Willy B and Honey B both love watching videos and checking out their photos on our phones. They also quite enjoy watching movies, more so than any of the other chimpanzees. Though we don’t play movies all the time, they are one more form of enrichment we offer the chimpanzees that they can choose to engage with or not. With Willy B and Honey B, as soon as the TV gets wheeled in they both get really excited! They seem to enjoy nature documentaries in particular, and will both sit in front of the TV, RIVETED, especially Willy B. (Honey is a busy woman and perhaps cannot contain her zooms quite as long as he does 🙂 ).

But we recently discovered the ultimate movie in Willy B’s opinion. He cannot get enough of it! I walked in Phase 1 after the chimps had lunch yesterday to find Willy sprawled out on the bench, glued to the TV, just like any of us might do on our couch. And his favorite movie??

Ice Age!

We have no idea what it is about this movie, but he LOVES it. It took me ages to get it set up and he somehow patiently waited for what must have felt like an eternity, never once losing interest. Some time later, one of us accidentally tripped the cord walking past and unplugged it and Willy B blew raspberries to let us know. Then one of us accidentally walked in front of the TV and Honey B waved her arms, seemingly suggesting, “Get out of the way!”

Willy B!!

But also just like most of us, I eventually caught him napping in front of the TV:

In other news, we caught Jamie and Foxie in a good ol’ game of head-butting (??). They were laughing so hard and then, these faces!!

And we recently had a kind supporter bring the gift of fresh mangoes for the chimpanzees! Annie is allergic to mangoes, so we cannot give them to the seven, but what a wonderful surprise for the three! Just to be on the safe side and prevent anything making it’s way to Annie, we don’t buy mangoes so we hadn’t yet offered them to Mave, Willy B and Honey B and we weren’t sure how they’d respond (they can be known to be a little particular with their food choices). Well, they knew exactly what they were and were so excited! Here’s Honey B enjoying hers at dinner tonight. And let me say, it’s incredible to watch them eat these! Literally, within seconds it’s completely gone and they spit out the pit that ends up looking like a Pringles potato chip. Honey B might suggest we all go try that.