Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Annie

Today is for Crystal Codina

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Pam Miller in honor of her friend, Crystal Codina, with the following message: “I am sponsoring this day on behalf of Crystal Codina, a friend to all animals and someone who I am proud to call my friend.”

I love this story: Pam shared that when she recently attempted to make a payment at her veterinarian’s office she learned that Crystal had called the office earlier and made a significant payment to her account to help her with expenses. Pam was so touched by Crystal’s selflessness and did not want the gift to place an undue hardship on Crystal so Pam insisted on returning the gift. But Crystal refused to allow Pam to pay her back. So Pam felt sponsoring a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in Crystal’s honor was the next best thing.

Crystal, what a truly kind thing to do for your friend and we hope you know that your compassion has made an even bigger difference than you may have imagined. Pam, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story. You and Crystal both sound like amazing friends to have.  We are touched by your thought to expand such generosity and “pay it forward” to the chimpanzees.

Always looking out for one another, best friends, Annie and Missy:

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Missy and Annie on the hill

Missy chase Annie

Jody the carpenter

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If you have been following the blog for awhile you may have seen us endearingly refer to Jody as “Farmer Jo Jo,” and “Jody the Harvester” due to her love of collecting wild plants and bamboo from Young’s Hill. We never tire of seeing how much she enjoys doing this and knowing that this is the first time in her life that she is able to harvest her own plants for eating or nesting makes it especially meaningful.

It’s also exciting every time we see the chimpanzees take an interest in something new. As caregivers, one of the biggest (and most important) challenges we face is alleviating the boredom that can come with captivity and keeping the chimps lives interesting and enriching. They are extremely intelligent and curious individuals and we never know what may spark their interest.

We are so grateful that the chimpanzees have such amazing friends and today they received a new tool kit, thanks to Debbie B., one of our neighbors in Canada! It’s often Jamie who goes straight for these items, but today Jody was the first one to check it out.

First off, the bite test:

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Closer inspection:

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This was the moment Jody looked up and decided to walk over and attempt to poke the paparazzi through the caging so the photo session ended here. But it was so great to see Jody checking out the new enrichment and expanding her horizons!

And then there’s Annie, just because:

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Annie’s bird noises

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I just posted this video to our Facebook page:

Post by Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Annie loves to relax on her back. Today I not only caught her making her “bird noises,” but also snapped a quick photo of her tongue sticking out a little bit—which just adds to her endearing personality.

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The Day After

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All the excitement from yesterday’s big Valentine’s Day celebration has left the chimpanzees pretty quiet today. All of them spent time on Young’s Hill (some a little longer than others) in the sunshine. And this afternoon, most of them relaxed in the Greenhouse.

Jamie, as you may have guessed, took quite a few walks around Young’s Hill, before grooming her boots in the Greenhouse this afternoon. After our morning cleaning, I put on two black boots and went out to accompany her. I must have took too long because when I went outside, she and Missy were already at the top of the hill. Once she saw me, she walked back down to meet me (Missy took off running) and we continued back up the hill.

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Missy accompanied Jamie on a few of her perimeter patrols, half the time walking, half the time running. After that, she spent time chewing on an alfalfa cube in the Greenhouse.
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As you may have guessed already, Foxie spent her afternoon with her troll and dora dolls.
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Jody took a little time to stretch her arms from the tire swing. She also inspected the tree to see if there were any leftovers from yesterday’s party, although by the angle of the photo it seems she was deep in thought.
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Annie was all about kicking her feet up and relaxing in the Greenhouse.
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Burrito followed up his walk around Young’s Hill by sitting in the doorway leading from the Greenhouse to outside, looking out.
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And Negra. She went outside for a few moments, looked up to the sky before going back into the Greenhouse, where she could be sheltered from the cool breeze. Unfortunately, for photo purposes, she spent her time on top of the platform out of camera reach. But here’s one of her resting in one of her favorite spots in the Playroom.

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Thanks too all those who helped share the love for these beautiful chimpanzees!

Sanctuary is love.

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Today has been all about love! We threw a big party in the greenhouse for Valentine’s Day with the help of decorations and enrichment donated by Lisa S., Carol M., and volunteer Patti—plus delicious food donated by Anne R. and Patti, including some tasty buckwheat waffles with walnuts and carrots. They smelled delicious! Patti excluded the sugar and salt from the recipe, but the chimpanzees didn’t mind one bit. They wolfed them down!

Here’s some photos from the set-up:
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During the party, Foxie started to whimper a little bit. Jamie swooped in and comforted her and even shared a waffle piece with her. Now that is love! Jamie is the boss of the group, and in the chimp world, that means she doesn’t have to share anything if she doesn’t want to. In fact, she can take anything from anyone to assert her dominance. So for her to share something with Foxie is a true gesture of friendship.

Negra especially loved the waffles:
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Jamie loved the drinks—we had red gatorade watered down plus smoothie in little shot glasses!
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Foxie:
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Jody:
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We all appreciate your gestures of friendship and love for the chimpanzees and are blown away with how we surpassed our Share the Chimp Love goal! It warms our hearts to know that these chimpanzees mean so much to all of you that you would share your generosity with them.

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note: Patty Clark’s name should have also been included in the heart above!

 

You all have played a part in a second chance at life for these chimpanzees.

As supporter Kathleen C. put it in her sponsor-a-day message for today, “Sanctuary is love.” Just watch the video below to see how much love they had for sanctuary today!

 

 

And here’s the final Share the Chimp Love image of what love is for Negra

Love is for Negra

Today is for chimp love

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Today we celebrate love, not only in it’s countless beautiful forms, but also for what it makes possible. And making this day even more special, a day of sanctuary love was sponsored for the chimpanzees by both Kathleen Corby and Secrette Miller.

I don’t think I could ever sum up all the love we have in our hearts for the chimpanzees and the gratitude we have that they are able to live the lives they do. Kathleen shared this heartfelt message which definitely speaks for us all:

“I love Missy, Annie, Negra, Burrito, Jamie, Jody and Foxie. Why not celebrate their life in Sanctuary on The Day of LOVE?! I cannot fathom what their lives must have been like during the decades before they arrived at CSNW. I have great respect and admiration for what they had to overcome and for who they are today. May love and generosity fill every day of their lives. And may the Cle Elum Seven always serve as an example of the importance that all captive chimpanzees deserve the right to live a life full of good health, comfort and care, choices, friendships, and LOVE. Sanctuary is love. Let’s all celebrate our CSNW Love today!”

Kathleen and Secrette, thank you so much for sponsoring such a special day for the chimpanzees and for all that you both do to give them a life full of love. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Speaking of love, we’ve received a lot of it over the past two weeks during our Share the Chimp Love campaign. So much, that we increased our goal! Joan and Pat Borders, who gave us a generous $2,500 gift early on in the fundraising made another $1,000 gift, and yesterday we received a $1,000 gift from the Armstrong Family as well, pushing us well beyond our original goal of $12,000. Now we have just $209 to go to reach our new goal of $14,000 on the 14th! Many thanks to EVERYONE who has donated! For those who haven’t, there’s still time!  You can make a gift for a loved one, yourself, or just to celebrate love.

For inspiration, here are some photos of the chimps celebrating love:

Annie and Missy:

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Negra:

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Burrito:

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Jody:

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Foxie and Dora:

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Jamie:

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Be sure to check the blog later today to see the chimpanzees’ 2015 Valentine’s Day celebration!

The Meaning of Sanctuary

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Like many of you who read Diana’s blog yesterday, I was moved to tears thinking about all of the captive chimpanzees who have spent most or all of their lives in biomedical research and who have never known a life of sanctuary. Instead, their only perspective of life thus far is from behind metal bars, with no autonomy, no hope. And her post got me to thinking about what it means to provide sanctuary for Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra and what it possibly means to each one of them.

Webster’s dictionary defines sanctuary as “a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter” and “the protection that is provided by a safe place.” To me, that definition just doesn’t seem to convey the whole meaning of what I think the word sanctuary means.

I certainly agree that sanctuary means a “safe” place where someone is protected. But, I also think sanctuary means so much more than just that. To provide sanctuary also means to provide a place where each and every chimpanzee can feel the sun on their face and grass beneath their feet. It means providing opportunity for each of them to make choices on behalf of themselves, like whether or not to go outdoors or stay inside and nap or to play a game of chase or pass the troll with human caregivers. It also means providing a space in which there are no expectations of any of them other than for them to be themselves; essentially providing a place where they call the shots. And sanctuary means providing a home where they can feel hope, love and a place they consider their true home. This is what providing sanctuary means to me.

For Annie, sanctuary means being able to share the same space with her best friend Missy and fresh green grass.
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Sanctuary for Burrito probably means access to fresh food!
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Sanctuary for Foxie means she can finally care for her “babies”
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For Jamie, sanctuary probably has a lot to do with walks around Young’s Hill and boots.
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Sanctuary for Jody probably has something to do with foraging for plants on Young’s Hill.
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For Missy, sanctuary means having the space to run, jump, swing, tight-rope walk and use every form of locomotion possible.
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Peanuts, blankets and naps are what Negra seems to enjoy the most about sanctuary.
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And finally, for me, sanctuary means that we humans are here for these chimpanzees, they are not here for us. I look forward to the day when all chimpanzees currently in captivity are retired to a true sanctuary.