Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Annie

The Last Days of Summer

by

We are having a last burst of summer at the sanctuary this week with temperatures back in the 90’s. The flies and wasps are endlessly buzzing and the chimps and humans are all endlessly swatting. The chimp house is completely quiet as I type this. Negra is sound asleep in her window nest. Jamie is in her nest flipping through two new boot catalogs I gave her and filing her nails with an emery board. She is also making the occasional happy groan when she sees something she likes. (For those of you who are new to our blog, Jamie was raised in a human home by a trainer until the age of 9 and sometimes chooses to engage in more human oriented activities). Burrito, Foxie, Jody, and Annie are lying in the greenhouse with their feet propped up on the caging, arms splayed out to their sides. And Missy, always on the move Missy, just raced me through the chimp house to the window by the chimpanzees’ cherry tomato bush and asked me to pick some for her, and I of course was happy to oblige.

Autumn is definitely in the air these days although you wouldn’t know it right now. It’s hard to believe we will all be talking about cold temperatures and snow before long. But for now we can revel in the last lazy days of summer. We hope you are all enjoying the special days that only summertime brings as much as the chimpanzees. Here are a few photos of some of the chimpanzees during a forage on Young’s Hill this week:

Annie:

web_Annie_stand_bipedal_in_grass_YH_ek_IMG_4238

Missy:

web_Missy_walk_on_bridge_YH_ek_IMG_4179

Foxie and Dora:

web_Foxie&Dora_foraging_chow_YH_ek_IMG_4262

Burrito:

web_Burrito_walk_on_log_YH_jb_IMG_4513

Annie’s 39th birthday

by

Wow. I can’t believe Annie is 39 today! It’s an honorary birthday, because we don’t know exactly when Annie was born. She was captured from Africa and used in biomedical testing for over three decades before coming to CSNW.

Today, we celebrated her freedom from the lab by throwing two parties—first in the greenhouse, we set up a small forage of peanuts and primate chow along with perfect party decor including a cupcake piñata. Then at lunch, volunteers Denice and Joel and myself set up a pretty cool forage on the hill… we dug holes in the ground and “planted” whole veggies—carrots with the greens, whole cabbage plants, beets, and some green onions (Annie’s favorite)!

I never tire of seeing all the chimps out on Young’s Hill, knowing that now they have the chance to have grass under their feet and sun on their backs. It’s something that Annie hadn’t experienced since her infancy before coming to the sanctuary. And today they not only got to forage for their food like chimps do in the wild, but they also got to “harvest” their own plants to enjoy!

Party #1 – in the greenhouse

Annie’s cupcake piñata:

web_cupcake_pinata_annie_birthday_party_gh_dg_MG_4574

Jamie grabbed it first:

web_jamie_pinata_birthday_party_GH_ek_IMG_4152

But quickly moved on, leaving it for Annie!

web_annie_birthday_pinata_nut_forage_GH_ek_IMG_4167

Burrito found a sock with a box of nuts in it:

web_burrito_forage_sock_GH_ek_IMG_4177


Party #2 – garden forage on Young’s Hill

Volunteers Denice and Joel helped with the planting:

web_volunteer_caregiver_denice_garden_forage_setup_ek_IMG_4589

web_volunteer_joel_garden_forage_setup_ek_IMG_4592

web_carrot_ground_garden_forage_dmphone

Jody really loved the garden forage. She cleaned up! Here she’s carrying her bounty with her:

web_jody_carry_food_garden_birthday_party_forage_YH_ek_IMG_4642

web_jody_mouth_and_arm_full_food_forage_garden_birthday_party_YH_dm_IMG_4237

And enjoying cabbage in the greenhouse:

web_jody_lie_down_eat_cabbage_birthday_party_GH_dm_IMG_4281

Foxie found some chow pieces to munch on:

web_foxie_troll_chow_forage_YH_ek_IMG_4628

Missy collected a bunch of food:

web_missy_load_food_forage_garden_birthday_party_YH_dm_IMG_4259

web_missy_on_bridge_forage_birthday_party_garden_YH_dm_IMG_4226

She enjoyed some on the shaky bridge, but then took the rest into the greenhouse with her. Negra didn’t come out for the forage (she was much more comfortable in her nest!) but Missy, being such a good friend, brought some carrots and green onions for Negra to enjoy. Negra also picked up some cabbage scraps, so she got basically the same food at the harvesters outside. Why should the Queen have to go work in the garden anyway, when others will just bring her the goods? 🙂

And Annie grabbed all the beets:

web_annie_armful_beets_garden_birthday_party_YH_dm_IMG_4252

Which gave her “beet lipstick”

web_annie_beet_lips_birthday_party_garden_GH_dm_IMG_4296

Help keep the birthday celebrations going on all week! FLOAT (For Love of All Things) has created a unique clothing design, and for this week only, for every sale they make they will donate $8 to Annie and everyone else at CSNW. Please share the site on Facebook and forward to your friends! The proceeds for CSNW only last until the end of the day on Sunday, September 15th. So hurry and get your shopping in now!

Chimp ID: Annie

by

Those of you who have been following our blog for a while have probably gotten pretty good at telling the chimpanzees apart, but it can be tough when you’re first getting to know them. I thought it’d be fun to do a series of posts featuring each chimpanzee’s distinguishing physical characteristics.

Annie is pretty distinct looking. She has a uniformly dark face, unlike most of the other chimps, who have some white markings.

web_Annie_close_up_GH_ek_IMG_4135

She also has prominent ears with a notch out of the right one, which you can see in these photos:

web Annie lie on bridge sunshine big ears playroom PR IMG_3206

web Annie watermelon food eat forage funny face outdoor area IMG_4688

web Annie sit in grass under climbing structure shade YH IMG_1934

web Annie side glance close up birthday outside oa IMG_0441

Lastly, the hair on the back of Annie’s head and shoulders is almost always standing up:

web_Annie_YH_look_into_distance_hand_up_jb_IMG_0416

web Annie sit new bamboo greenhouse GH IMG_1857

web Annie sit cute outdoor area DSC_0139

Here are a couple of photos of Annie playing with her BFF Missy. See if you can tell which one is Annie!

web Annie Missy wrestle play playface YH IMG_4435

web Missy grab annie foot play chase YH stump IMG_2640

In memory of Robert C. Thompson

by

Today was sponsored by Madelaine Thompson in memory of her dad, Robert C. Thompson. Madelaine shared the following sentiments:

“My dad and mom welcomed strays and rescue pets into our household from the time I was a baby. At times, pets outnumbered humans – and there were nine kids! I am ever grateful for his compassion and sense of humor in dealing with the challenges and rewards of a chaotic, loving household.”

Madelaine, thank you so much for including the chimpanzees with such lovely memories of your family. What a generous and compassionate way to honor your dad. Something tells me he would have appreciated the chimpanzees’ household!

annie and missy playing

Chimpanzees are kind of amazing

by

If we’re being honest, we have to admit that chimpanzees are cooler than us in many ways. Some of the chimpanzee attributes I’m most envious of are their superior strength, their amazing feet, and their flexibility, as demonstrated below.

Annie:

web_Annie_nest_self-groom_GH_ek_IMG_4001

web_Annie_nest_self-groom_look_at_camera_GH_ek_IMG_4002

Jody:

web_Jody_sit_on_deck_leg_up_hold_foot_GH_ek_IMG_3954

web_Jody_sit_on_deck_leg_up_hold_groom_foot_GH_ek_MG_3952

The Chimps Take Manhattan!

by

As most of us have mentioned this week, providing the chimpanzees (especially Jamie!) with an enriching and stimulating environment can be challenging. Thanks to Donna and Doreen’s sponsorship of today, we decided to use the theme of the “Big Apple.” It’s always fun to see how each of the chimpanzees choose to engage with new enrichment. Debbie and volunteer Deb spent a lot of time constructing a cardboard box version of the New York City skyline and we even made a Dora of Liberty statue on “Ellis Island” (aka the turtle wading pool). After scattering dried apples still warm from the dehydrator (courtesy of volunteer, Patty) about like confetti for the chimps’ forage in Times Square, the scene was set. Mind you, it’s sometimes difficult to say whether the chimpanzees or the humans are more enriched by these endeavors.

web_Big_apple_day_skyline_dm_photo

Foxie “hearts” NY:

web_Foxie_look_at_IheartNY_dm_IMG_1347

Jody and Annie checking out the Dora of Liberty statue:

web_Jody_Annie_look_at_DoraLiberty_dm_IMG_1376

As you can imagine, the chimps not only took Manhattan, but quickly toppled it. Here’s Jamie inspecting the ruins:

web_Jamie_investigate_NYCday_boxes_IMG_1410

And Jody found “Ellis Island” to be the perfect nesting spot (after getting that pesky Dora of Liberty out of the way):

web_Jody_nest_turtle_NYCday_boxes_dm_IMG_1400

web_Jody_nest_in_turtle_NYCday_IMG_1402

Donna and Doreen, thanks again for sponsoring the day in honor of Foxie’s birthday month and your anniversary in the Big Apple!

And tomorrow is the last day to vote for your favorite chimpanzee artist! Get your votes in now and help make a real difference for the winning chimpanzee and their sanctuary family and home!