Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Negra:
Annie:
Jamie (with Foxie in the background):
Jody:
Burrito:
We have so much to be thankful for today: volunteers Patti, Denice, Sandra, and Joel, who spent their holiday caring for the chimpanzees; supporters like Robert Maurer who sponsored today for the chimps; and all of you out there who love the Cle Elum Seven as much as we do. Happy Thanksgiving!
Today we give thanks to Robert Maurer, who sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees! Robert wishes to extend his gratitude to all of the staff and volunteers who provide care for these beautiful chimpanzees. Robert, thank you so much for your kind words, it’s certainly our privilege and honor to be able to do so. And thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees on Thanksgiving and making their day even more special! All of the primates here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest wish you a wonderful holiday!
Here are best friends, Annie and Missy enjoying some time together:
We have so much to be thankful for here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, and at the top of the list are all of our amazing supporters who care for the chimpanzees and help us provide them with healthy food, enriching activities, and a safe, comfortable, and loving home. We couldn’t do it without you! Be sure to check out the blog later today to see the chimpanzees’ Thanksgiving festivities! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
The chimps here are so photogenic and always look happy, as you can see below:
Every once in awhile we do catch them when they’ve perhaps woken up on the wrong side of the nest:
As the least dominant chimpanzee in the group, Annie is often a little anxious (though much less than she was five years ago). So I always love to see her feeling relaxed and confident. One of my favorite Annie quirks is her foot clap, which she often does while relaxing on her back.
The chimpanzees had some special guests today! Friend of the chimpanzees (and the humans!) Adrienne Armstrong, along and her family and friends, Ollie, Jessy, and Jamie, paid a visit to the sanctuary to volunteer in the chimp house. And they brought the chimpanzees piñatas! And you’ll never guess who made a haul of all the loot…Annie!
As you may recall from a previous post, as the least dominant of the chimpanzees, this is quite a bold move for Annie and an undertaking not without some risk involved. As the boss of the sanctuary, Jamie typically makes a quick claim to enrichment like piñatas, leaving the other chimps to wait for an opportunity to see if anything was missed when she casts them aside. But today Jamie was distracted by a new pair of boots being “chimp approved” in the kitchen so Annie decided to make her move.
Jamie was briefly torn between seeing Annie with the piñatas, and staff with the new boots, but after screaming at Annie once and throwing a blanket at her from the loft, the prospective new boots won Jamie’s attention. And Annie seized not only her opportunity, but all, yes ALL, of the piñatas!
Annie wasn’t even swayed by her best (and more dominant) friend, Missy, who continually approached her while peering at her and moderately suggesting she hand the loot over. Annie just calmly picked up the piñatas and moved her spoils elsewhere. Gotta love this girl.
Thank you so much, Adrienne, Ollie, Jessy and Jamie, for all that you do for the chimpanzees and for making their day (especially Annie’s!!) special!
At Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest we take parties pretty seriously, and on this day, we have two occasions to celebrate: Halloween and Jamie’s 36th birthday. Consequently, we went a little wild with the festivities today.
The chimpanzees are lucky to have some really great friends, and today we want to thank three of them in particular for making the day so special. Supporter Jayne Roepke mailed us several boxes full of the most fun and creative enrichment for today’s party (and treated the chimps to some delicious and festive party food!); Lisa Stuverud sponsored today in Jamie’s honor; and volunteer caregiver Stephanie brought some more party decorations, food, and enrichment, including this hand-carved birthday/Halloween pumpkin:
The pumpkin was the star of the show, as you’ll see in the video below. But first, some photos of the party this morning.
Negra with a gift bag:
and with a chunk of the giant pumpkin:
Jody enjoying some cran-pomegranate juice:
and deconstructing one of the cute ghost pinatas that Jayne sent:
Jody also loved the giant pumpkin:
Foxie with the giant pumpkin (are you sensing a theme?):
Burrito taking a brief break from foraging:
Annie drinking some juice:
And if you’re wondering about Jamie, the birthday girl, she thoroughly enjoyed the festivities. Here she is looking cool with a party straw:
foraging for berries:
inspecting some new presents:
and treating herself to a “martini”:
One of the highlights of the day was watching the chimps dig into the pumpkin. They all eventually had their turns at it, but Negra was the first to enjoy the spoils.
If you’re signed up to receive our e-newsletter, you know that we’re holding a competition to see which chimpanzee can get the most Chimpanzee Pals by the end of the year. Wish Jamie a happy 36th birthday by signing up to be her Pal today!
Happy Jamieween, everyone!
I love how expressive chimpanzees are. In their emotions, gestures, movements, vocalizations and facial expressions they communicate exactly how they are feeling every moment with a complete lack of self consciousness or pretense. I am mesmerized when watching the chimpanzees and studying their individual characteristics (I just realized today that Jamie has adorable freckles in her ears!) And here are two amazing faces I never tire of looking at, whether funny or just plain beautiful.
Funny Foxie (while this looks a little fierce, she is actually yawning):
Foxie just being her beautiful self.
Funny Annie with a mouth full of water:
Annie just being her beautiful self:
