Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

animal rescue

Happy Valentine’s Day Chimpanzees!

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We are so happy to have two Valentine Sponsor-a-Days today! Our first sponsors are Donna and Doreen Hughes, two of the chimpanzees dear friends in New York City who are sponsoring today in honor of the chimpanzees! Donna and Doreen have hearts full of love for all animals and do so much to help them. They shared this sweet message about today:

“Happy Valentine’s Day to the chimpanzees! For Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra – you guys are the Sweetest – you are all Valentine’s and we wish you a Very Happy Valentine’s Day! We love reading about your lives and love seeing your photos! We are so glad you are all safe and thriving at the Sanctuary! Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! Love, Donna & Doreen”

Donna and Doreen, we are so thrilled to have you both as part of our chimpanzee family! Thank you for always holding the chimpanzees in your hearts and for all you do to make the lives of so many animals better. You are such special souls. And we all hope your recent birthdays were the best ones yet!

As I’m sure you already know, your beloved Pal Foxie may be tiny, but she is a joyful soul who has an awfully big heart. She’s peacekeeper, protector, and friend to all in her chimp family and probably the only person who can get serious boss Jamie to cut loose and really laugh. Thank you for helping to provide a home in which her heart can bloom.

Foxie and Annie (and Troll):

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Foxie and Burrito:

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Foxie and Jamie:

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Foxie and Jody:

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Foxie and Missy (and Dora):

with Dora, sitting next to Missy

Foxie and Negra:

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Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Be sure to check out our next sponsor a day later this morning and of course, preparation for the chimps’ party is underway so there’s a lot more love headed your way!

And to all of you who so generously contributed to our Share the Chimp Love fundraiser, thank you from the bottom of our hearts! You’re not only helping to ensure these seven chimpanzees’ lives are filled with love and care, but you’re helping us prepare for the expansion of their family so that other chimps will get to live out their days with hope, love, home and sanctuary. And if you haven’t had the chance to participate yet, there’s still time to share in the love! Every day that they get to live the lives they deserve is because of you and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Same boy, different toy

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Today’s blog is kind of a revisit of last Wednesday’s blog. Same boy, different toy.

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As most of these games with Burrito go, this is just his warm-up. Eventually, he can stand it no longer and launches down off the bench (as he’s moving to do here) to advance into the tickle and chase portion of the game.

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Of course, it’s incredibly fun to have the honor to play with any of the chimpanzees, but it’s hard to find words to express the heartfelt gratitude as we witness them living their lives with such joy after all they’ve been through. That they find within them such a capacity to enjoy each day out from under the shadow of their histories is the best gift of all.

Burrito’s invisibility cloak

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Burrito is known for his ridiculously adorable shenanigans. And today was no different. (There are some blurry action shots that I just couldn’t leave out).

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Despite the blur of Burrito, I love his huge play face you can just make out under the veil. At this point, he jumped down to begin a raucous game of tug o’ war with the scarf. This guy.

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Happy Birthday, Meg!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by the chimps’ good friend, Meg Lunnum! Meg has been a long-time supporter of the chimpanzees and their sanctuary home and she shared this message about today:

“Today is my birthday and my birthday wish is for the chimpanzees to have new roommates. I understand this is a real possibility and I am so excited.”

Meg, thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees today and always! We have such an exciting year ahead as we begin to move forward with our plans for expanding the sanctuary and the chimps’ family. How very special it is to have you as part of our sanctuary family as we watch the chimps’ lives grow in so many wonderful ways. Thank you so much for recognizing and honoring them, and all animals, as the amazing individuals they are. All of us here at the sanctuary send you Happy Birthday hoots!! We’re so glad you are in the world!

Your pal, Queen Neggie:

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The many faces of Annie

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Annie is like that naturally beautiful girl who takes everyone’s breath away, but has no idea how pretty she is. You know the ones, they are all the more special because they are so dear and down to earth and the first ones to pull a face or make others smile. Annie isn’t always keen on having her photo taken, though she has become much more comfortable with it over the years (much like she is with things in general) and she will often engage by making playful gestures during her photo shoots. Half way down this series of photos of the lovely Annie you will notice a seemingly mischievous look in her eye and then…bam, she does a “lip flip”!

Chimpanzees are extremely expressive in vocalization, body posture and facial expressions, all of which they use to communicate with each other. A lip flip is a facial expression chimpanzees sometimes exhibit and will often appear in times of stress or anxiety, but will just as often appear for reasons more associated with individual stereotypical behavior (a repetitive behavior brought on by captivity) and for seemingly no apparent reason. Foxie does this frequently and while it’s sometimes during times of stress, it’s more often when she’s just sitting quietly and hanging out. Annie used to flip her lip often when she felt anxious, such as when there was an argument going on in the group. We don’t see her do it very much anymore, and while we can’t know what she was thinking today, given how relaxed and playful she was being she seemed to just be practicing her repertoire of faces. And every one of them a beaut!

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Boat Bumper Ball Antics

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One of the first nearly chimp-proof enrichment items the chimpanzees had after arriving to the sanctuary was a “boat bumper” donated by long-time supporter Kathy Benson, who found it at a garage sale.

Below is a photo of Annie (yawning) holding the toy. This was taken in July of 2008, less than a month after the chimpanzees arrived.

Annie with boat bumper

 

Recently, I searched on amazon for the same thing, remembering how much fun it had been for the chimps all those years ago. It turns out the big ones are fairly expensive, and I didn’t know if it would last as long, so I opted to get a small version and see how things went…

 

I do like how portable this version is –

MIssy carrying boat bumper

but given Jamie and Missy’s keen interest in “opening” the ball, I’m not sure how long it will last. What do you think?

Jamie the Merciful

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We take a lot of photos and video around here, but Jamie isn’t always a fan of the camera. Sometimes she’ll be clear across the room, and as soon as she spots a caregiver with the camera she charges over and pounds on the caging to let us know to cut it out. If you’ve ever had an adult chimpanzee charge toward you, hair standing on end (even if there’s caging between you), you’ll know why we respect her wishes. She gets her message across loud and clear.

But sometimes Jamie’s in a tolerant mood. At times she even enjoys the camera; she likes for us to turn the camera around and show her what we’ve captured. Today she allowed me to record her building a nest in the playroom. She even gave me her patented head nod of approval (watch to the end).