Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Animal Welfare

Party Central

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We’ve been living it up here at the sanctuary today! In honor of our 4th Anniversary, today we’ve thrown 4 parties! (If you haven’t already, please check out the amazing retrospective video J.B. put together and posted earlier today– and grab some tissues!)

Party one: Pancakes made by volunteer Denice followed by a lettuce, peanut, and chow forage on Young’s Hill. Unfortunately, it’s been crazy windy all day so no one was too excited to go out to Young’s Hill though a few folks went out to get peanuts (and everyone went out later in the day). And the squeaks over the pancakes were out of this world!

Foxie:

Party two: New enrichment party in the greenhouse. As always, Dick and Robbi collected some great gifts for the chimps. Jamie made sure to check out each and every gift bag today.

Annie tangled herself up in a ball of yarn

Jamie checked out what everything looked like in a new set of binoculars

Party three: Margaritas in the playroom! Well, not really margaritas… it was just yellow Gatorade with lime wedges. But it looked festive!

and the chimps were happy with it!

Annie:

It’s hard to see but Jody is actually licking the bottom of the glass in this photo

Foxie

Jamie

Foxie

Jody

I love the next series of photos. Burrito went through this bag, found a toy with a mirror on it, and proceeded to “admire” how handsome he is. Can ya blame him?

Party Four: Lunch forage in the greenhouse. Mini bell peppers and grapefruit- some of Negra’s favorites!

Jody:

Jamie collected as much as possible, as usual!

And Negra’s birthday would not be complete without nightbags. We did mini nightbags after every meal today. She has been in heaven! The wind has made her want to spend most of the day relaxing in her bed in the playroom (in the one spot where we can’t get photos) but I got a sweet photo of Mr. B enjoying his.

Thanks so much to everyone for making this such a great day!

***Up until about 20 minutes ago, this was going to be the end of my blog post, but as I walked outside to close off Young’s Hill and invite the chimps in for dinner, I found Negra and Foxie out there enjoying some grass. J.B. happened to be out there and reported that when Negra came outside, Foxie greeted her with a big hug and they walked up to the lower platform together. What a wonderful ending to the day! Happy Birthday, Neg!

New moves

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After several days of rain and wind and gloom, we finally have a perfect day here at the sanctuary. All of the windows are open to let in fresh air, and the chimpanzees are in great moods. This video shows part of a longer play session that took place this morning in the playroom. My favorite part is Foxie’s new move.

Lazy Sunday

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The chimps have been ridiculously playful lately (see Negra and Missy’s play session from last Wednesday, as well as Missy and Annie’s goofiness on Friday)! But some days, they just want to kick back and relax. It’s been sunny but really windy today (and the last several days!) which makes for a really warm and relaxing greenhouse.

Annie has been laying in a super comfy-looking nest all morning- the perfect place for a little yoga:

Foxie has been kicked back with a couple of troll dolls while grooming herself. There’s something so adorable about Foxie’s tongue!

And just now, I caught Jody grooming Burrito. I love the way she was holding his foot!

In memory of Tovarisch and Ilka

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We are so lucky to have an amazing base of supporters who are always thinking of the chimpanzees. Today is sponsored by Robyn Leff in memory of Tovarisch and Ilka.  (It’s easy to sponsor a day of sanctuary for the chimps as a gift or memorial (or just because!) – just go here.)  We’re so grateful, Robyn!

Your support keeps this guy supplied with as much watermelon as he can eat:

Comfort

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A few nights ago while the chimpanzees were being served dinner in the greenhouse, I entered the playroom for a quick spot clean and found this nest in Negra’s current favorite spot in the loft. The photos really don’t do it justice. It was about four feet wide and beautifully put together. The next morning when we (reluctantly) deconstructed it during cleaning, we counted 23 blankets! It was only four years ago that Negra and the other chimps were sleeping on bare concrete in the lab. To Negra, I think sanctuary means comfort.

Thank you, Barbara King!

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Barbara King has sponsored today in appreciation of the chimpanzees’ caregivers.  (Thank you, Barbara!)  We’re lucky to have a great team of staff and volunteers who provide direct care to the chimps every day.  It’s a demanding job, but I think we’d all agree that the rewards are infinite.  After all, we get to look at faces like this each day:

 

Thank you to Barbara and to all of our supporters who make our jobs that much easier!