Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Kelsi

Willy B’s 33rd Unbirthday Party!

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As some of you might have read in Diana’s blog, we recently found out Willy B’s real birthday is in November. We felt like Willy B deserved one last hurrah for his former March celebration! The lucky guy will get two birthday parties this year! Personally, I love Willy B’s birthday because we always put out coconuts, which is a special treat for them. But truthfully I love watching Willy B with coconuts because he has his own special flare on how to crack a coconut. I look forward to it every year!

Our next celebration is Cy! It is coming up fast, we put some special items on the Amazon Wish List to celebrate his book club party!

Ten Ways to Charm our Boss!

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The other day we were sharing tips on how to get on Jamie’s good side. Jamie can be a tough nut to crack sometimes, because of this, building a friendship with Jamie has been a true pleasure of mine.

Top 10 tips to help you make friends with Jamie:

1. Quality time- Jamie appreciates when you make time for her or show that you find her to be a priority.
2. Wear a good part of Jamie approved boots- Xtratufs, cowboy boots, Doc Martens, or something new she hasn’t seen yet!
3. Always be willing to find the item she is requesting- She always has something in particular she is looking for like a book, boot, person to wear said boot.
4. Go on as many walks with her as per her request- especially with the gator and her favorite book.
5. Don’t forget to drop everything if she wants you to play with her- remember she has a silly side.
6. Give her all of the pears and all of the leeks!
7. Make sure to sit and groom with her when she asks.
8. All of the food puzzles are hers ;).
9. Make sure she has an endless supply of snow or drinks from the hose when cleaning.
10. Before you leave for the night make sure she has her favorite boot and book.

Of course there are so many more ways to please Jamie, but these are just a few that seem to bring her happiness.

Jamie with her intense gaze:

And a portrait series of Jamie:

Bonus photos of Foxie!

If you would like to help the chimps, we always need items off our Amazon Wish List!

Keep the Love Going: Fall in Love with Dora!

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Today, we are continuing on with our Fall in Love videos and highlighting the small but mighty, Dora! I think I can speak for everyone when I say, we fall in love with Dora a little bit more everyday. I think for chimps and humans, Dora has something about her that makes you want to spend all your time with her. To learn more about Dora and why she has stolen everyone’s hearts at CSNW, check out the video above!

If you’re interested in sponsoring Dora, you can become her Chimpanzee Pal today!

Do you have any spare magazines laying around? Cy would love to take them off your hands!

Our Queen

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Negra, as we all know, is our awe-inspiring queen here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. This morning in particular, Negra was looking more regal than normal, if that can even be possible.

Often when I look at Negra, I find myself reflecting on just how resilient and amazing she really is. There are some parts of her life I will never understand how she endured and still found a way to persevere. It is a true honor when Negra graces us with her presence, whether it be a kiss, a laugh, a head nod, ordering us to dance for her, or simply just a glance.

Over the years Negra has taught me so much in life: never settle, be unapologetically yourself, always appreciate a sunny day, speak up when you are dissatisfied, life is short- take your sweet time, and to only spend time doing the things you love. I have many things to be thankful for in my career, but one of the greatest privileges is to have built a relationship with a true queen, Negra.

Please enjoy the photo series of Neggie:

Negra yawning:

Negra food grunting before breakfast:

Bonus photos!

This morning at breakfast Burrito took his sweet potatoes to the bench in Front Room 2 and relaxed:

After cleaning we found a grooming train!

Jamie (not seen Missy grooming Jamie), Jody, Foxie, Burrito:

 

Two Most Likely Friends

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To start, if you haven’t read Anthony’s final blog from Monday, I would stop here and go read his blog first. He very beautifully wrote about his experiences in sanctuary and the new journey he is about to start, but he also described the life of a caregiver. To be a caregiver is a true honor, but it also comes with many challenges. There are moments like the one I am going to write about today that make everything worth the hard parts, but then you have days of watching your friends fight and there is nothing you can do to help (which might just be the hardest part of the job). I digress though, I encourage you to read his blog!

For me personally, watching chimps who struggle socially develop strong relationships with other chimps is one of the most extraordinary parts of the job. Facilitating chimp introductions may have been one of the most stressful points in my career, but it was also one of the most rewarding as well. Now that they are a fully integrated group, I catch amazing moments every day between Honey B and Dora in particular, both with other individuals in their group and with each other. I feel so immensely proud of them. With their own quirks, they each left us unsure of how they would integrate in the very beginning of the introduction stage. This is not a new story I am telling; many of you who follow the blog know that we had a few individuals that we referred to as “wild cards.” What I didn’t expect was for Dora to become Miss Popular or for Honey B to sometimes be the cool, calm and collected one in the group. One might even go as far as saying that she may occasionally be a peace-keeper, and has developed strong relationships with multiple people in her group!  This is just proof that chimps really do belong in larger groups with more social stimulation. I am not exactly sure what I am getting at today, but I am just really, really happy for them!

It is not so surprising that Honey B let the sweet, tiny, but also mighty Dora into her social circle. They did live with each other at Wildlife Waystation at some point, so they were not wholly unfamiliar. As Terry knows, however, it doesn’t always matter if you have history; you still have to put the work in for a friendship! (Fortunately, Honey B and Terry are good friends now.) While Terry had to work hard for Honey B’s affection, Dora did not. What a wild experience it must be to think that you won’t ever see or live with someone again and then end up back together. I hope you enjoy this video of Honey B and Dora, the two most likely friends :).

Bonus photo of Foxie:

Wednesdays Book Club

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Though Jamie and Cy may be in different groups they had the same idea today, Wednesday is for reading.

Jamie’s current must reads are:

1. I’m Lucy by Marian Brickner – (a classic)

And a sequel to the Lucy bonobo book

2. Bonobo Lucy Grows up by Marian Brickner

Cy’s new favorite read is a magazine:

¡Hola!

Other than book club, it was a pretty quiet day, which is why it was the perfect day for reading!

Cy could not put this magazine down:

Jamie with both Lucy books:

Bonus photos!

Burrito:

Rayne:

Annie and Missy playing on the bench in front room 2:

And I will leave you with a series of Negra photos:

Terry: The Whole Tooth and Nothing but the Tooth

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Another busy day in the Chimp House! Unfortunately, Terry had to take a trip to the clinic today for a fractured tooth.

Fortunately, we were able to have a skilled group of individuals come to the sanctuary to help with Terry’s procedure. In addition to our vet Dr. Erin and our vet assistant Sofía, we were grateful to have the assistance of Dr. Dan Whitemarsh of Cle Elum Dental Clinic and Mekenzie, CRNA for this procedure! Also a special thank you to Sofía’s aunt Maria A. Loza, DMD, MS for consulting with us about Terry’s tooth!

Through x-rays we were able to determine his canine was completely fractured below the gum line. Dr. Erin opted to extract the broken fragment and clean up the gum to where it could be sutured back together. Out of all the outcomes, this was a good one that will lead to the fastest recovery for him. If all goes well, he can go back to his group sooner! It was exciting to determine, after consulting with other veterinarians and dentists that have worked on chimps, that we could resolve the issue without extracting the entire tooth root. We will keep a close eye on his healing process and do more work if needed, but we are currently happy with the results. Since Terry was already under anesthesia, we also collected all the medical information we could. He got a full dental x-ray, body x-ray, ultrasound, and blood work profile, among other things.

Recently, we received a grant from the Ruth Foundation, a legacy of the Gary E. Millard Family Foundation, for some new medical equipment. With that money we were able to purchase a dental cleaning machine and a dental x-ray, which up until now we had been borrowing. We can’t express how amazing it was to do a full dental cleaning with our new dental machine and x-ray system. We are also awaiting delivery of a new patient monitor, funded by the same grant, which uses new technology for capturing blood oxygen saturation – something that can be difficult to capture in chimps.

Using our new Dental x-ray:

Terry getting his teeth polished by Sofía with our new dental cleaning equipment:

Dr. Whitemarsh and Sofía cleaning Terry’s teeth:

Just finishing up the teeth cleaning with Dr. Erin (left), Sofía (middle), Mekenzie (right):

Dr. Whitemarsh needed to get back to his own clinic, but with the power of technology Dr. Erin was able to consult with him over FaceTime video chat:

Dr. Erin suturing Terry up:

Dr. Erin using the ultrasound:

Caregiver Grace observing and helping out in the clinic:

Dr. Erin (left) doing an eye exam on Terry and Mekenzie (right) assisting:

Sofía doing a blood glucose test:

After stitching him up and doing as many health assessments we could, Terry was ready to go back into the recovery room. He had quite the crowd waiting for him; Terry is a very popular guy! 🙂

Mave, Honey B, and Cy watching Terry come back into his room:

Rayne monitoring Dr. Erin:

Before Terry woke up Dr. Erin was able to do some laser therapy on Terry’s mouth. Laser therapy is very cool, it can help with pain, inflammation, and healing!

Terry did great during the procedure and is recovering very well, just a little sleepy.

Sweet Terry snoozing after a long morning: