Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

animal protection

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Ida Chan, in honor of Sarah Wong’s birthday! Ida shared the following: “We share this planet with all living things and must act responsibly toward all creatures big and small.” Ida and Sarah, thank you so much not only for caring about the chimpanzees, but for the lovely reminder of our interconnectedness to all of the amazing beings we are so fortunate to share our lives with. Sarah, have a wonderful birthday!!

Foxie and Negra enjoying some grooming time together:

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Young’s Hill party forage

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I mentioned earlier on the blog that today is the second anniversary of the opening of Young’s Hill. Watch the video of their first day out here and check out the previous post for some photos of the chimps on that very emotional and moving day!

Today we wanted to celebrate the anniversary in the best way we know how for chimps—a big food forage! The chimps usually are served their meals (so we know that everyone is getting appropriate portions) but a few times a week we do put out a forage for them to do what chimps would do in the wild. In order to scatter the food around and make the forages last for awhile, we usually cut up the food into small chunks so it takes some time for them to find everything.

This time, we not only included a fruit salad of some chopped peaches, raspberries, and grapes, as well as baby carrots and green onions—but we also included WHOLE apples and tomatoes. The chimps were so excited as we headed out to spread the food around! Mixing things up like that keeps the chimps super enriched and happy.

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Everyone really loved all the whole apples and tomatoes! Jody was the first to get a hand (and mouth) full!

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Jamie collected at least four apples:

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Annie:

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Burrito searching for goodies:

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And then taking a quick rest:

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Foxie:

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Missy:

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Thank you so much to everyone who helped with Young’s Hill, and to everyone who has helped the Cle Elum Seven along this amazing and considerable journey!

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Jamie helps flush the drain

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Jamie is always trying to help us get our jobs done the right way. Sometimes she helps scrub the mesh fencing for us, other times she wipes the floor down. She monitors us while we clean, almost as if she is there to make sure we are doing it right!

Yesterday I caught her doing something new: holding down one of the water spigots. I’m not really sure why she was doing it, but it went on for quite awhile! Jamie wasn’t being very environmentally friendly… but she was helping us flush the drain.

In honor of Deb Wagman

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Today was sponsored by Charlie Neath in honor of Deb Wagman. Charlie shared, “I love Wagwoman and what she does!!!!”

Deb is a volunteer caregiver here at the sanctuary and comes all the way up from California every month to give her time to help care for the chimpanzees. She and her husband, Bruce, are passionate advocates for the rights and well being of all animals. They are long time supporters of CSNW and generously help us provide sanctuary for the chimpanzees in countless ways.

Charlie, thanks so much for honoring Deb and the chimpanzees! As you can see, Burrito is a fan of “Wagwoman” as well!

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Virtual tour of the chimp house

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All the time we refer to different places in the chimp house on the blog—you’ve probably seen us write about the front rooms, the playroom, the greenhouse, and of course Young’s Hill. I can imagine that it might not make a lot of sense for the majority of our blog readers who have never seen the inside of the sanctuary!

So with this in mind I put together a virtual tour. I am a very visual person, so this sort of thing would help me out a lot and I’m hoping it helps you all too! For an idea of how the normal day goes, read this blog about the daily routine.

I also thought to include a map of the chimp house. You’ll notice a lot of letters and numbers between the rooms—these are the different chimp doors. Since we never enter the enclosures at the same time as the chimpanzees, we have another person check the doors before we unlock for cleaning. It’s nice to have a label for each door when we report our checks to the staff caregiver who is unlocking.

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Thank you, Michael!

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Today was sponsored by Michael Lee who wishes for the chimpanzees “to have a stress free day, everyday, to do whatever they desire….even something naughty!” Michael further shared his gratitude for “all those who go out of their way to save the chimps and give them back a life they deserve, who will continue to look out for them and provide for their needs. I wish you all to have good health, and may you continue to be blessed with the joy of knowing that all your effort has not gone unappreciated. On behalf of all the chimps….Thank You.”

Michael, this is so kind and thoughtful of you. And as if that weren’t enough, I would also like to note that today is Michael’s birthday! I cannot think of a more generous thing to do than to honor others on one’s own birthday.  Thank you so much, Michael, and have a wonderful day!

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