Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sofia Castro-Loza

Warm, sunny and grassy!

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Just in time for some warm weather, Honey B, Mave and Willie B have had full access to their new and very refreshing green house enclosures for three days now. They have been very busy exploring the new areas, from lounging way up in the platforms to get a good view of the neighbors, to figuring out what the grass is all about. While Honey B has sprinted from side to side through the grass multiple times, for the moment the three still opt to use logs, structures, blankets or chimp furniture to move around.

Here is Honey B, using one of the logs to move around in the Green House

Honey B holding a small cleaning brush to brush the grass, cleaning is her thing

Honey B perched in one of the windows, taking it all in

Willie B measuring how to get to the chimp furniture for his next step

Mave would agree that there is always time for some relaxed lounging and sun basking

On the other side of the Chimp House, Jody was seen enjoying some forage she found in the hill

Warm days equal “chill” days, Missy approves

¡Hola!

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Hello blog readers! My name is Sofía and I recently joined the CSNW team as veterinary assistant and animal caregiver. I was born and raised in the south of Puerto Rico in a town called Ponce. I lived there up until I graduated with a BS in Animal Science from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) back in 2017. By then, I was interning in several animal hospitals to gain experience in the veterinary field, and also interned at a dairy cattle farm to complete graduation requirements. I always knew I wanted to care for animals, I just needed to figure out in what way. Right after finishing my BS degree, I moved to the United States to pursue a MS degree in Primate Behavior and Ecology from Central Washington University (CWU). While completing my master’s degree, I interned here at CSNW and achieved a Captive Primate Care Certificate from CWU. After defending my thesis and graduating, I moved to the Bay Area, California to work full time at a small animal veterinary hospital as veterinary assistant for almost two full years before moving back to the Pacific Northwest.

Here I am getting groomed with a tool by the boss herself, Jamie

I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am to be back with the Cle Elum Seven, and how amazing it has been to get to know the California three and the four majestic bovines. Complemented by amazing human coworkers, I can only describe this as: the dream job. These past weeks have been filled with hands on training with the goal of becoming lead caregiver. From security checks, to learning more about the chimps personalities, it has been serious business in the Chimp House.

But enough about me, I know all of you want to see some chimps and I wanted to show off how it’s going during photography practice!

Foxie, making sure only her best side is captured. All of her sides are her best side.

Willie B enjoying the breeze in one of the platforms in the new green houses

Missy enjoying some forage in the hill

Jody coming back in after exploring in the hill