Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Animal Welfare

Happy Birthday to Gary Smith!

by

Today was sponsored by Kery Shaw and Terran Baylor in honor of Gary Smith and his wife, Kezia Jauron, on his birthday. Kery and Terran are long-time friends of the chimps and advocates for animal welfare and they shared this message about Gary and Kezia:

“Gary Smith and his wife, Kezia, have decades of experience in advertising, marketing, and public relations for a range of clients and product. They left the profitable world of corporate high-tech PR to create Evolotus in 2006. Gary focuses on media relations and account management. Their company, Evolotus values strong and lasting relationships with clients. Gary and his wife have dedicated their lives to advocating for animals trying to help those who have the same goals, such as documentary film makers, non profits, wellness and personal growth individuals, vegan companies, including so many more individuals. The list goes on. The work that Gary and his wife do is incredible and so crucial to our movement. “Evolotus also has a reputation for representing clients that are working for a better world, so journalists know that when we approach them, we have something important to communicate. We don’t just promote; we educate the market and the public, we raise awareness, we make people think and feel differently than they did before. “Happy 50th Birthday Gary!!! What an extraordinary individual YOU are. So glad we bonded over Animal Place, chicken rescues and Tony Kanal! We look forward to bringing you here, so we can bond even more over chimps! – Much Love, Respect & Gratitude, Kery & Terran”

Kery and Terran, thank you for always thinking of the chimpanzees and for celebrating the work of Gary and Kezia!

Happy Birthday, Gary! Thank you for all you and Kezia do to make a difference for our fellow animals. We hope you have a wonderful day!

Jamie:

A whirlwind of years

by

Today is about time flying by and some of the great random moments in the lives of the chimpanzees over the last ten years.

I’ve started and stopped this blog so many times today that I lost count.

 

There were toys to clean:

 

Laundry to do:

 

Amazing interns to train:

 

Paper braids for evening enrichment to be made (most of which were made by the aforementioned amazing interns):

 

 

And of course walks to take. Jamie was in the running mood today, so this quick snapshot was the only halfway decent photo I was able to get on one of our day walks:

 

Plus a whole host of other daily activities.

 

And then more walks after dinner! (well after I thought I would have this blog posted).

Courtesy of the unseasonably mild weather and the lengthening days, Jamie did three more walks after her evening meal, with Missy joining her for two of them.

 

This year’s HOOT! gala on May 19th will celebrate ten years of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees living the sanctuary life. TEN YEARS!

We are in the process of a website redesign right now. I’m really excited about a whole new look that highlights the great photos of the chimpanzees and hopefully makes it easy for people to be drawn in and fall in love with them. Here’s a sneak peek:

When the designers were starting to move the data over from the existing site into the new design, they ran into a snag because of the amount of content that we had in the blog. Ten years worth of photos, videos, and stories, it seems, takes up quite a bit of space.

I love that we have this diary of the chimpanzees’ days and the moments that were funny, poignant, and sometimes even mundane.

I remember being a kid and thinking that a week, or even a day (an hour?), was an excruciatingly long time to wait for something. I remember adults saying, “don’t complain – when you get older, time will fly by.”

Never were truer words uttered.

Lately, I feel like I’m in a movie montage – days pass by in seconds, and years are contained in just a minute’s worth of highlights. But then there’s this blog with all of these posts that mark real moments in time over the last several years. Moments that the chimpanzees were living to the fullest. Days that were spent with companionship, favorite foods, boots, trolls, blankets. Years that marked new additions to their home. Almost a decade of exploration into this new life they were given.

 

Here’s a look back on the last ten years of blog posts for January 20th (or thereabouts – we didn’t always post to the blog every single day – can you imagine!)

 

January 21, 2008:

not-so-shy Foxie

 

January 19, 2009:

Trolls: Not just for Foxie!

 

January 19, 2010:

Annie Upside Down

 

 

January 20, 2011:

Greenhouse play

 

January 21, 2012:

the snow days continue

 

January 20, 2013:

Floppy ears

 

January 20, 2014:

There’s something about Burrito

 

January 21, 2015:

Always a reason to play

 

January 20, 2016:

20 snapshots of the day

 

January 20, 2017:

Tool Use

 

And that bring us to today. Happy January 20th to everyone. Thank you for following along!

 

Whatever the Boss Says

by

Volunteer caregiver Becca swung by the sanctuary today to drop off some produce for the chimpanzees. It was supposed to be a quick visit but as soon as Jamie spotted her, she recruited her for a couple of runs (runs!) around Young’s Hill. After the perimeter runs, a grooming session in the greenhouse was in order. Jamie eventually requested that Becca hand over the boot she was wearing, so she had to hobble back to the chimp house on one foot. We’ve learned to submit to Jamie’s rule and not complain too much.

Burrito's 35th Birthday Bash!

by

As the video illustrates, Burrito was in high spirits today as we celebrated his 35th birthday. He is the epitome of being young at heart. Just when you think you couldn’t love him any more he does something else to irrevocably endear himself, like eating lettuce with never-before-seen abandon or practically jumping right out of his skin with excitement.

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Burrito from Kimberly Fleming!

by

Burrito’s friend Kimberly sponsored today in his honor! It’s pretty difficult to believe that goofy, playful,  rambunctious Burrito is 35 today. He’s come a long way since he and the six female chimpanzees arrived at the sanctuary in 2008. He had a lot to overcome – you can read about his history on this page.

We are catering the day to him today and will post later about how we celebrated Burrito’s birthday in the way we think he would appreciate the most.

Thank you for sponsoring the day for the one and only lovable Burrito Chimpanzee, Kimberly.