Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

In honor of Jane Goodall

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This lovely day of sanctuary was sponsored by Robin Lundy, in honor of Jane Goodall on her birthday. Robin shared this thoughtful, heartfelt and poignant note about her gift:

“I am sponsoring today in honor of Jane Goodall on her birthday. With Biruté Galdikas and the late Dian Fossey, Dr. Goodall has devoted her life and work to advocate for the survival and well-being of our primate cousins. There are few humans whom I admire more than this woman of courage and vision. As the human species is besieged in the corona virus pandemic, it is well worth considering the ways in which we may have engendered the proliferation of this virus through our use – and misuse – of our natural environment and the non-human animals with whom we share our fragile biosphere. May the experience of the pandemic serve to teach us that human animals do not exist apart from the natural world, and as such, we must respect and protect the ecosystem. In honoring Dr. Goodall as a prophetic voice and witness, I like to think that people like Missy, her daughter Honey B (and for that matter, Honey the cow) also admire her for her life’s work of advocacy and activism on behalf of animals.”

Robin, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to celebrate Jane Goodall on her special day and the contributions through courage, hope and inspiration that she, and so many amazing women of all species, have and continue to make to life. And for reminding us that be they primate (including our human selves), bovine, plant, or otherwise, there truly is no separation.

From our sanctuary home in the mountains, we all send intentions of gratitude, joy and well-being across the waters to you, Dr. Goodall! We wish you a beautiful birthday! May the hope, kindness and steadfast resolve you inspire in so many of us stay bright in your heart and may we manifest it in the world around us all.

Missy:

and her daughter, Honey B:

Missy:

Honey B:

Missy:

Honey B:

Honey:

and her daughter, Meredith:

Honey (L) and Meredith (R):

Love a Moo Moo Day

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Amazing sanctuary friend and supporter, Monica Best, is sponsoring a day of sanctuary in a new celebration honoring our dear bovine family, Honey and her daughter, Meredith, and Betsy and her son, Nutmeg, and well, moo moos everywhere!

Monica is hoping this first annual Love a Moo Moo Day will allow everyone to get to know the lovely hoofed animals that share the sanctuary.

You can learn all about the four cattle by clicking on their individual pages from the cattle page on the website. They have a very interesting past, and we feel so very fortunate that we are able to care for them here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest while they happily keep the grass trimmed. This summer, we’ll be giving them access to even more of the sanctuary property!

Nutmeg is now a big steer, it’s difficult for us to imagine him this size when he was born at Farm Sanctuary’s California shelter:

Baby Nutmeg nursing from Betsy (photo from Farm Sanctuary)
Nutmeg (left), his mom Betsy (right) at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Nutmeg is much bigger than mom Betsy now, but he’s still a mama’s boy in the best way:

For her part, Betsy is a mom at heart and spends a lot of her time grooming her herd mates. The humans will do in a pinch:

Betsy licking J.B.

Honey, on the other hand, would prefer that the humans keep the appropriate social distance from her, unless they have some particularly valuable food, in which case she will lower herself to come closer.

Meredith (left), Honey (right)

Her daughter Meredith likes the occasional scratch, but has an independent streak. When we are watching the bovine family from the office, Meredith is often off doing her own thing.

Meredith

Just like their primate sanctuary counterparts, each of these four hoofed friends have individual personalities and charm!

Thank you to Monica for setting up a day to love them!

 

 

Happy Birthday, Krissy!

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Jason Merritt sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in honor of Krissy Brasfield, one of our amazing chimp house volunteers and “neighbors” for her birthday! We couldn’t be happier to celebrate Krissy and deeply appreciate the hard work and love she bestows upon the chimpanzees to make their days better in any way she can. Example: In between winter storms when the sanctuary found itself without an ounce of snow left to meet Burrito’s snow snack needs, Krissy scooped up a huge bowlful from her neighboring, slightly higher in elevation town, and brought it to the sanctuary just for him! To tell you he was thrilled, is an understatement.

Jason, thank you so much for such a kind gift for Krissy and the chimps!

Krissy, we hope this has been your happiest birthday yet and so appreciate your full heart for the chimpanzees!

Burrito:

Spring fashion runway

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We always know spring has officially arrived when dear, sweet Annie breaks out her favorite spring fashion choice of wearing a sweatband around her waist. She only seems to do this when the warmer weather arrives. This morning after breakfast she and Missy were ripping around Young’s Hill and I just caught Annie zooming by in her bright yellow spring accessory as she tried to catch Missy, hooting all the way:

Jody is recovering well after yesterday’s trip to the clinic to address her foot injury, and according to her, quite ready to return to her friends. While it’ll be a bit before she is actually ready (according to the humans), she enjoys frequent visits from everyone as they check up on her and make sure she’s doing okay. Initially she had her foot in the air to show them, but when Dr. Missy made a move to groom it, Jody thought better of it and put her foot back down. Good thinking, Jo. Dr. Missy isn’t exactly known for her light touch when grooming injuries. 😉

Jody visiting with Negra and Missy:

Thank you, Becca!

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Becca Hines, a long-time volunteer caregiver and friend of the chimpanzees. Becca and her husband, Lars Foster-Jorgensen, who has also volunteered in the chimp house, are off to the next chapter of their lives. Becca shared this message about her gift of sanctuary today:

“I would like to sponsor a day for the chimps as a “see you later” party before I move to IN. With the corona virus I can’t celebrate with them in person, so I thought this was the next best thing! It’s a bittersweet goodbye, after 8 years these chimps are truly some of my longest friends. The best times of my life have happened with these chimpanzees and I am forever grateful for the staff for creating this volunteer program and putting up with me for so long! I love these chimpanzees with all of my heart and I will miss seeing them dearly. I would also like to sponsor this day in honor of a former staff member, Elizabeth. I know she will probably hate this but she gave me my volunteer orientation in 2012 and has become one of the greatest friends I have ever known. She (and these chimps, mostly Jamie with all the walks around young’s hill) have mentally and physically turned me into the person I am today, and I am not sure I would be standing here without her. Thursday’s in the chimp house will always be my favorite memory. Thank you for all you have done for me EK.”

Becca, we’re so sorry you couldn’t be here in person for a “see you later” party and know how incredibly difficult that must be. But that’s why it’s “see you later” and not “goodbye.” Thank you for always holding the chimpanzees, and all animals, in your heart. You’ve been a wonderful friend to the chimpanzees and a dedicated subordinate human to Jamie Chimpanzee, and we can’t thank you enough for all you and Lars have done for them. All of us here wish you and Lars all the good things as you head toward your new lives. Do boss lady, Jamie, proud in your new endeavors. She’ll be watching you. We don’t know how, but she will. 😉

Happy Anniversary, Michael!

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Today was sponsored by our dear friend, Arlene, in honor of her husband, Michael, on their anniversary!

“I want to wish a Happy Anniversary to my husband Michael. In happy times and trying times like these, I am thankful for your love and support all the time. I am blessed to be staying home with you, someone whom I am truly happy to be with and who makes me feel safe. I wish those same feelings of love, hope, home and many blessings to all of you at the Sanctuary for what you do everyday, and to all of the Chimps and Bovine who are lucky to be there, and to everyone – stay safe and be well.”

Arlene, thank you so much for thinking of all the sanctuary residents on your and Michael’s special day and allowing us to celebrate with you!

Happy Anniversary to you both, from all of us here! We’re so glad you have each other and are safe and well at home in your own sanctuary.

Burrito and Negra 🙂

Blog post by Jamie

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Jamie’s a clever woman. If you’ve been following us for any length of time at all, this isn’t news. We have the great privilege and honor of getting to hang out with her every day and yet, she is always a delight and a surprise.

Sometimes it’s easy to make the ridiculous human mistake of thinking that Jamie is acting in a random manner without intent and purpose. When that happens, it’s usually because we just can’t figure out what she is trying to tell us, it’s not immediately apparent to us. But I guarantee you she always has something in mind.

This afternoon she headed out on a walk around Young’s Hill, her cohorts happily falling into line behind her for an after lunch walk around the hill in the sunshine and fresh air. But Jamie wasn’t just out for a stroll in the sunshine and fresh air. She’d been thinking and had a plan in mind. Once she completed walking the perimeter of the chimps’ outdoor habitat, she made a beeline for the bamboo in the center of the hill and immediately began collecting sticks of a precise kind and size. Jamie had been thinking about the fact that a volunteer caregiver had spilled peanut butter on her scrub top earlier in the day (which Jamie had politely pointed out) and if she had a perfect size tool she could get the peanut butter off the human under the guise of asking to groom her. The peanut butter had been washed off, but no mind, if you’re Jamie you never know when you might need a good bunch of sticks. You may feel like grooming the humans, attempting to poke an unsuspecting human, collecting a piece of gum just out of reach outside the caging, or maybe just taking a good selfie.

As I type this I can see Jamie in the camera, watching me from atop her barrel. She is kicking the wall to get my attention and saying, “Just hurry up and post my blog because I have a task for you!” It’s been merely a couple moments and I’ve been speaking to her the entire time, but Jamie gave up on the dawdling humans and took matters into her own hands. The task she had in mind was that a piece of gum had fallen into the crevice of the drain cover outside the door. Chad walked in to check on her and discovered a tool in the drain cover and now we can see Jamie in the camera chewing gum.

The boss lady calls again! So here you go, folks. And yes, she took this selfie with her stick :):