Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Kelsi

This One’s for the Girls

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Nothing is more important than your girl friends. As you will see in the video, Honey B and Dora agree! Today, Honey B and Dora held back in the front rooms so that they could have some one-on-one gal time. Sometimes you just need a break from the men, ya know! Watching these two play really warms my heart. I often get asked by people, what sanctuary means to me. For me, it’s the little moments, like watching Honey B build friendships within her group, or to watch Dora flourish and become a social butterfly, or to watch someone like Neggie turn 51 (tomorrow!) and thrive in sanctuary: making choices that was not allotted to her in her previous life.

Tomorrow is the Trifecta Jubilee, celebrating our sweet 16! I cannot believe it has been 16 years since the Cle Elum 7 arrived to the sanctuary or that Negra will already be turning 51 years young. But, lets not forget our sweet friend Terry who is turning 34 tomorrow! It will be quite the celebration! If you would like to help us celebrate, check out our Sweet Sixteen online auction.

I think it will come to no surprise that I personally love this painting, Jamie’s Boot by Cheryl Feng. I love how Cheryl captured Jamie! Place your bids today!

Class Clowns

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I think it’s fairly well known that Burrito is the jokester among his group. He is constantly making people laugh with his silly antics. He is so funny he can get anyone to usually join in, even Jamie for a little bit! However, if no one is in the mood to play, no biggie- Burrito always has a good time entertaining himself! I think the same could be said for Honey B. Honey B is so funny and always playing pranks on her caregivers, but when she is in the mood to play she is the goofiest of her group member’s.

Bonus Neggie 🙂

Say Cheese!

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We have a lot in common with the chimps, so this will come as no surprise when I tell you all that some chimps do not not like to have their photos taken. That may sound familiar because I think we all know the people who shine in front of a camera, while so many others loath getting their picture taken. This may also explain why you all see more photos captured of some chimps than others. Cy is very photogenic and never minds a photo shoot. Whereas Missy always seems to disappear when the camera comes out. However, today Missy did not mind letting me take a few portraits while she ate her onions from her forage. Often, when Missy does let us take her picture, she will politely turn away to let us know the portrait session is over. I say this is polite because most chimps try to poke the camera once they have decided the photo session is over, which I can not blame them for!

Please enjoy the Missy and Negra series of portraits and some bonus photos!

Missy portrait series of her eating an onion:

Negra watching her group go out onto Young’s Hill:

Negra at the lunch forage:

And a well deserved nap:

Foxie foraging:

Annie and Foxie foraging together:

Burrito with a handful of forage, watching the neighbors also forage:

Rayne on top of a structure eating her apple out on The Bray:

Mr. Caterpillar

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Over the past few days, I have been gathering photos and thinking about a theme for today’s blog. At first, it was going to be about Rayne holding her new broccoli enrichment toy. However, this morning, Dora allowed me to take some amazing portraits of her. So then I ran with the idea of writing about the “Small, but Mighty Dora”. But then… Burrito started playing with Mr. Caterpillar! After that, Lucky and Willy let me take some awesome portraits too. So today I thought, why not have it all, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I hope you enjoy the video of Burrito playing as he is always making our day brighter. And of course, all the bonus photos!

Mr. Burrito Caterpillar:

When the weather gets nicer, we often find Cy like this 🙂

Yesterday was a beautiful day. So beautiful that Honey B decided to hold out in the Chute 🙂

Lucky portrait:

And a Lucky smooch:

Mave grooming herself in the chute next to Dora:

Rayne relaxing in a nest:

Rayne holding her broccoli toy and enjoying the warm greenhouse:

Rayne’s typical breakfast spot, however, yesterday she brought this brush with her and never let it go:

She has amazing balance:

Willy B checking himself out:

And the little mighty Dora enjoying the warm sunshine in the chute this morning:

Stay a While

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The chimp house can be a bit chaotic in the morning into the early afternoon, but in a good way, of course. The building is humming with energy in preparation of the day, as the humans prepare meals, enrichment, food puzzles, work on laundry, clean the building, and do more laundry. Meanwhile, the chimps are either laughing and playing or displaying and causing a ruckus. Most days are a combination of all these activities. However, by the afternoon, the chimp house seems to be calmer, at least for the humans. After lunch, is often when you will see the chimps in the position I like to call, come over and stay a while. This is when the caregivers can sit and spend some time with their friends. The chimps often sit in a comfortable position and when they see you, they may get up and invite you to groom or sit with them for a while. Sometimes though, as we walk by to grab laundry or clean toys, we just admire how cozy and laid back they look.

Willy B grooming himself, foot up on the mesh to show he is very relaxed:

Obviously, Willy B have to try to look at his teeth through the camera:

Honey B can somehow look relaxed in a nest while simultaneous looking up to no good 🙂

And Rayne, the laid back queen herself:

Bonus photo of Annie! We put out a lunch forage today with some whole oranges and a few whole veggies. Annie went all the way to the top before everyone and scored big time!

 

 

Forage Season!

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We love forage season! It’s the best time of the year, when the weather is warm enough for chimps to hangout outside! Personally, it’s my favorite time of the year to take pictures of the chimps! I love seeing the grass contrast in the background. Please enjoy these photos of the chimps having a great day!

Burrito getting a bird’s-eye view of his neighbors while eating his kohlrabi:

Later he snagged some sweet potato:

Jamie did very well for herself (the green onion in foot is the best):

Annie bird:

Negra was the first one out this morning and the first one out for the forage:

Foxie eating a carrot:

Foxie in the green grass:

We even got a glimpse of Rayne from Young’s Hill:

Rayne really enjoyed the forage:

Bonus photos of Mave working on a Giant Kong:

*Event coming up* if anyone is in the Washington or Seattle area, we will be tabling at the Planted Expo at the Seattle Convention Center this Saturday, April 20th and Sunday, April 21st from 10 to 5. This will be our first time at Planted and we are really looking forward to it, so come say hi!

Playful Spirit

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The thing about Burrito is… everyone loves him, chimps and humans alike. Burrito’s light-hearted nature and playful energy is hard not to be contagious. Though at times his group does need him to settle down, they all love to play and interact with him. I mean who wouldn’t, just look at him!

A bonus photo of Jamie the fashionista: