Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sofia Castro-Loza

¡Hasta luego!

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This is a bittersweet blog to write, it is my last one. A few weeks ago Anna posted about my departure and since then I have been trying too find the right words to express how grateful I am to have worked here. I am very excited to move to the east coast to be closer to family and further my veterinary technician career, but saying good bye to my chimp friends is probably going to be the hardest thing I ever have to do. There are moments lived with these chimps that can never be replaced by any personal or professional experience, and I will hold on to those memories forever. I remember the day Cy’s group arrived to CSNW for the first time. I was SO lucky to be on the other side of the caging to reassure each and every one of them as they walked in to new spaces and were faced with new people. After that, forming meaningful bonds with them was easy-breezy. I also remember quite vividly the day that Burrito got bit by a rattlesnake…again. I was still not done with probation time when I had to step up and prove that I was worthy of the position. After that procedure, many others followed and it’s been an honor to be there for the chimps in their time of need. I am also going to miss all my coworkers. Everyone here goes above and beyond to provide the best absolute care and life for the chimpanzees under their care and I’m also going to miss everyone’s personalities. I hope to visit the chimps and people as soon as I can.

Also, huge shout out to Dr. Zamzow, or Dr. Z as I call her. I’ve always been lucky enough to work under Veterinarians that take time to teach but also promote hands on learning. I have learned so much from Dr. Z and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her.

Honey B

Dora

Rayne

Lucky

Mave

Gordo

Willy B

Terry

Jamie

Negra

Missy

Foxie

Burrito

Jody

Annie

Cy

Burrito to the Rescue

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Burrito is the type of chimp that really enjoys interacting with caregivers, although he would happily interact with his group as well. But with the caregivers, not only is he always down to play chase, he is also up for a game of tug of war. It really doesn’t matter what type of day your are having, this guy will come to the rescue and will make sure to make your day ten times better. He makes everyone around him happy, and will fix anyone’s day in a heartbeat.

While playing with Burrito, Jamie was patiently observing from the window, and then made her way down to be closer to the action. She is known to be a bit of a fun police, however today she stayed back and observed Burrito and I play for what felt like forever. I love it when everyone is in a great mood!

I mean look at this silly dude!!!!!

Jamie always close by monitoring all play sessions

And by close by I mean really close by

A Private Dinner with Honey B!

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Today’s blog video features a private dinner with Honey B. While everyone was eating in the front rooms, she was patiently waiting in the greenhouse for a caregiver to serve her. She wanted her private meal in a specific order: corn, red peppers, bok choy and then night bag.

Mave eventually brought her night bag to the green house to finish her dinner close to her friend

Majestic Cy

Nutmeg Steer, Betsy Cow, and Honey Cow eating cob mixed with their Summer supplements

Dora’s 34th B-Day Bash!

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Today is a very special day at CSNW because sweet Dora turns 34 years old! This is Dora’s second birthday living in a true sanctuary setting which means that we are close to celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the Lucky Six’s arrival at CSNW. It is safe to say that she has stolen everyone’s heart with those big bubbly eyes, but mostly Mave’s heart. Dora’s best friend is Mave. Wherever you see one, you see the other one, making it very appropriate to call the duo: Mora. While Dora gets along great with everyone in her group, she is not to be messed with. Dora is a tiny chimpanzee, but she is mighty and will let you or her friends know, with impressive double kicks, if something is not to her liking.

To celebrate our favorite mini chimp, caregivers threw Dora and her friends a mini foods forage party.

The mini foods included were mini bananas, mini carrots, mini peppers, cherry tomatoes, mini cabbages, mini potatoes, and many more. Everyone, but specially Dora, had the best time!

Huge thanks to Paulette Wrisley for sponsoring today’s day of sanctuary in honor of Dora’s birthday!

A Terry and Willy B Play Session!

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It has been a little over a year since Cy’s group got merged into Willy B’s group to form a group of nine chimpanzees. The process of introductions is complex, and the exact moment that a group is considered successfully integrated remains a bit murky in the literature. It’s just hard to know! At the moment, the group continues to get to know each other on an individual way. We have probably mentioned in the past that for Willy B, the integration process has tested his ability to get along with his group mates. He could often be heard displaying at all hours of the night and day until someone in the group lost their patience, which would trigger bouts of chase and displaying. I sometimes see him as a chimp that is just a tad “misunderstood” and doesn’t quite get social ques that help him navigate social dynamics. With time Willy B has calmed down during the nights, and his daytime routine, although predictable, seems to be less triggering for his group mates. In general, and at the risk of completely jinxing this, his group seems to be more accepting and patient of his “outbursts”.

Because of all of that, I feel super proud of Willy B whenever I catch him having long and positive interactions with members of the group. Specially when it is with another male. On today’s video, Willy B and Terry share a very long play session across all three front rooms that in reality lasted over 20 minutes. Their breathy pants, tickles, and foot grabs are enough to fill anyone’s life with joy. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Lucky To Have Each Other

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Please forgive me as I have yet to find the appropriate words to express myself during this time. The one thing I know is how lucky we are to have each other during this time.

Thank you to everyone that has reached out with kind words. It means the world to us.

Spring Pedicures!

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Spring hoof trimmings happened this week!! Every Spring we have specialists to do routine hoof trims on Betsy, Nutmeg, Honey and Meredith and to make sure their hoofs look healthy. In addition to that, Dr. Erin and I updated the bovines on their yearly core vaccines which are Leptospirosis and Tetanus. We are very grateful for Mr. John Thomsen and his son Blade Thomsen from Thomsen Livestock Services for making the drive over here. All of you might know this already, but Nutmeg is quite a big steer, and past hoof trimmers were not able to accommodate him in their tilt table, but he fits perfectly on the Thomsen’s table. We took the opportunity to take stifle, hock, and hoofs radiographs as well to have on their medical records. All four bovines are very content with their new pedicures.

Blade and Mr. Thomsen doing Nutmeg’s hoof trim

Erin doing an abdominal ultrasound on Nutmeg with the help of Blade Thomsen

Erin and I preparing to grab radiographs