Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Animal Welfare

Happy Birthday, Arlene!

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A weekend of celebration has been sponsored for the chimpanzees by Michael in honor of his wife, Arlene, for her birthday! Michael and Arlene are such wonderful friends to the chimps and we’re so happy to celebrate with them! Michael shared this sweet message about today:

“This is for Arlene’s birthday weekend!! I would like to sponsor today and tomorrow to my beautiful wife!! As this is all she wanted was to help the chimps.”

Michael and Arlene, thank you so very much for including the chimpanzees in your special celebration! We’re so grateful to have you as part of our chimp family. Your kind and compassionate hearts are a gift to them and make a lasting difference not only in their lives, but the world in general.

Arlene, all of us at CSNW hope your birthday weekend has been filled with all that brings you joy, comfort and love and wish you the happiest of birthdays yet! The chimps wishes might look something like this…

Annie and Missy wish you the love and companionship of friends and family (and stylish birthday fashion accessories):

Foxie wishes you adventures as often as possible:

Burrito, of course, wishes you all the good food you can possibly eat:

Jamie wishes you well, whatever you want:

Jody wishes you lots of lounging time:

And Negra wishes you a peaceful heart:

What’s in a Kiss?

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You may have seen the video we posted the other day of Foxie giving kisses to some of the other chimpanzees to reassure them after a brief conflict broke out during her birthday party.

If you’re a chimp, a kiss can say a few different things: “Everything’s okay. Please calm down.” Or “I’m feeling a little nervous.” Or “Isn’t this exciting?!”

Today we set out a lunch forage on Young’s Hill. Jody and Missy both have the same foraging strategy. They make one big sweep of the area, gather as much food as they can carry, and then head back into the greenhouse to sit down and enjoy it. Missy was on her way to the greenhouse, trying not to spill any of her spoils, when Jody met up with her, also heading to the greenhouse. They stopped briefly for a kiss and breathy pant, which in this case was part: “This is great! I can’t wait to eat this food!” and part: “I have food. You have food. Everything’s okay.”

Thus reassured, they completed the trek to the greenhouse where they ate in peace.

Reflections of Annie

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We sometimes refer to some of the chimps as “human-oriented” and others as more of a “chimp’s chimp.” Individual histories and personalities have Jamie, Burrito and Foxie choosing to spend more time interacting with the humans than their other family members, Missy, Jody, Negra and Annie. While the latter folks are occasionally interested in engaging with the humans, it’s more their preference to spend time with their chimp family. And as much as we love interacting with the chimps when they choose to, their relationships with one another are the priority.

All of that said, over the years the “chimps’ chimps” have shown increasing interest in interacting with the humans. Negra could watch us dance for ages, Missy now leaps on the caging in excitement before running off for a game of chase with her caregivers and enjoys long grooming sessions with us, Jody spends more time greeting us throughout the day, and Annie, well, Annie’s continuing to bloom and grow in pretty much all areas of her life as you may have read before.

I’ve often felt that Annie shares many similar interests with Jamie. She’s curious, intelligent and creative and loves to check out new projects and enrichment. Where in the past she was often hesitant to do so could have been because of her less dominant position and Jamie typically taking things over, and maybe it’s just that now that she is feeling more comfortable in her own skin, safe and secure, she finally has the space to follow her interests and express herself, no longer having to look at the world around her through the filter of anxiety and fear. Whatever the reason, she is a pure joy.

Today I decided to see if she was interested in taking some “selfies” and checking herself out on the iPhone with the camera screen turned toward her. As we all are with dear Annie, she appeared quite mesmerized with her reflection:

Moments of comfort

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After experiencing over 30 years of deprivation, it never ceases to amaze me (or make my heart burst) to see the chimpanzees so fully embrace a life of comfort in their own unique ways. It physically hurts my heart to think of all they went without for so long and makes each moment of joy and comfort for them all the more meaningful.

The chimps recently received some new SUPER fluffy fleece blankets and they adore them. They look as though they are floating on clouds sitting in their nests, the blankets sometimes as high as their chests. We found two super voluptuous nests this morning while cleaning the playroom. Despite Jamie’s aversion to snakes, she really loves to incorporate the stuffed toy snakes into her nests:

Jamie (we assume) decided to use a chopstick to remove a washer from somewhere yet to be discovered. She is far too smart for our own good:

This beauty was spread out over the catwalk:

Beautiful Annie lounging:

Jody in particular loved the new blankets (naturally) and frequently rubbed her head and face against them:

Jody’s sweet feet in a cloud of fluff as she napped this morning:

Seeing the chimps surrounding themselves in comfort will never grow old.

Happy Anniversary, Susana!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Susana Pataro! Susana shared this lovely message about her gift:

“I visited CSNW last year on the occasion of the NAPSA Workshop that took place in Tacoma. The last day was devoted to meet the chimps and the facilities. To be honest I didn’t have any idea of the place. Needless to say that when I discovered this old lovely farm, the story of the place, Ellie, the very special residents, the care they receive from such a compassionate team, I fell in love. I became a follower of your blog and I share the stories and pictures almost every day creating awareness among my friends on the suffering of chimps in biomedical research. So, on the occasion of my anniversary I decided to share the celebration in joy and love with all of you.”

Susana, thank you so much for celebrating not only your life, but the lives of the chimps (and Ellie! 🙂 ) in such a compassionate way. We so appreciate the work you do to make a difference in the lives of chimpanzees and share their stories with others. All of us at CSNW are wishing you the happiest of celebrations and hope your day is filled with all that brings you the love, comfort, joy and sanctuary you help provide the chimps.

You share a birthday month with these two ladies so you’re bound to have a special day:

Foxie turns 41 tomorrow!

Missy turns 42 on August 23rd!

Missy running

We don’t know for sure when Ellie’s birthday month is, but she’s definitely special!

Jamie and Ellie bottom of Young's Hill