Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Happy Birthday, Meredith!

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Today we are celebrating Meredith’s 9th birthday! Our girl Meredith went through a lot last year, having undergone several procedures over the winter to treat her arthritis and then enduring several months stuck in and around the barn during her recovery, but it was all worth it because she has spent a glorious summer roaming the upper pond pasture with her Mom, Honey, and second mom, Betsy.

We’re grateful to Tobin for sponsoring this day in the birthday girl’s honor. As Tobin says, “I’m glad that she’s part of the group of people that live at the sanctuary and I wish her a happy birthday and a good new year of life.”

Thanks, Tobin, and thanks to all of Meredith’s Bovine Buddies for caring for one of the sweetest cows we’ve ever known!

Grazing Days

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What food could possibly be so exciting that a chimpanzee would willingly pass up fresh fruit, peanuts, chow, and smoothie? Why, it’s grass, of course!

Yes, for a few weeks each year the chimpanzees at CSNW become grazers, chomping down on grass at a rate more in line with the cows they share their sanctuary home with. What’s so great about grass? You got me. Wild chimpanzees do naturally consume significant amounts of browse—fibrous foods such as shoots, stems, and leaves—but the chimps at CSNW don’t eat any other browse with the same gusto as they do spring grass. This time of year, the grass is at its sweetest and most tender, as the cows will most certainly attest. But is it really better than smoothie?

Speaking of grazing (and with it being Earth Day and all), I thought I’d mention one of the projects we’ve been working on: Converting our pasture fencing to wildlife-friendly fencing. The original sanctuary property and the four parcels we purchased in recent years were part of a large homestead ranch that was in operation for a least a century. During that time, most of the pastures were fenced using barbed wire or a combination of barbed wire and woven field fence. Unfortunately, we’ve seen firsthand the toll this kind of fencing can take on wildlife. First, there’s the very real risk that wildlife, such as deer or elk, will get injured by or caught up in a fence. And second, there’s the problem of fawns being separated from their mothers as their moms cross over pasture fencing too high for them to jump. After doing a lot of research, we decided to transition to 3-wire high-tensile electric fencing, which can effectively contain our cows while allowing wildlife such as deer, elk, bobcats, and marmots to cross over or under safely. And for pastures no longer in use, the fences can be removed and the areas can be slowly re-wilded. As we work on finalizing our master site plan, we will also do so with an eye toward preserving wildlife migration corridors throughout the 113-acre property. After all, it’s not much of a sanctuary if it’s not also a home for the animals that were here first.

And last but not least, allow me to share some photos of Negra from today’s lunch forage:

Currant Events

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In today’s blog, we will do something a little different. Sprinkled within the blog will be some exciting announcements we have! Be sure to find out what they are as you read along!

This morning as I was driving in, there was a mother deer and her fawns in the sanctuary driveway.

Just a sign summer is really here! Another sign is the currant bush is full of berries. If you didn’t know, Jamie is a BIG fan of currants. It has been well documented that Jamie will always gesture for caregivers to give her some when they walk by the bush. She even has eagle eyes to spot a single berry hidden in the grass.

As a part of our browse program, today we decided to bring parts of the bush to her. Parts of the currant branches were placed in the braided firehose feeder and some berries were put into pools of water for them to fish out.

Burrito

Jamie

Before I continue onto the next event from today, we want to announce some exciting news! HOOT! 2023 early bird tickets are now on sale! We have re-imagined our annual fundraising event to be more mission-focused (and appetizer forward). You can join us in-person in Seattle on September 9th or you can participate remotely from the comfort of your own home. We can’t wait to see you in September to celebrate all things sanctuary! Read more about the event and get your tickets with early bird pricing here: https://onecau.se/chimp .

After lunch, the chimpanzees were given a treat! In honor of today’s date (7-11), the chimpanzees were given icy treats with blueberries for Slurpee® Day!
Terry
Burrito
Jamie
Honey B
Negra
For today’s second announcement, we are about a week away from Gordo’s 35th Birthday! Some new items were added to our Amazon Wish List to try to make it very special! I’m not going to spoil the theme for anybody, but you can kind of get a hint of where it’s going by seeing the items! We, especially Gordo, would greatly appreciate it!
As a bonus, here are some other photos taken from around the sanctuary!
Cy inspecting his hands
Foxie watching caregivers clean her playroom
This might as well be a sign that says “Missy was here!”
For some context, Missy is a highly intelligent chimp! To figure out the best way to extract some peanuts from her food puzzle, she did a trial and error session. She started of with the stick. After realizing the stick was much too big, she set off to find another tool. She found one of Burrito’s toy hammers. It did the job! All Missy left behind was evidence of her work!
Burrito wondering why I’m taking photos and not playing
Speaking of birthdays, next week is also this lovely young lady’s 16th birthday! Betsy!

World Environment Day 2023

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Today is World Environment Day! World Environment Day has been held annually on June 5th since 1972 to raise awareness on issues our environment is facing and how to combat them. The events are also hosted by a city or nation to lead the theme and festivities. This year is being hosted by Côte d’Ivoire with the theme Solutions to Plastic Pollution with the social media hashtag #BeatPlasticPollution.

Here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, we try as much as we can to limit our footprint on the environment. From composting uneaten foods to recycling paper to reusing items for chimpanzee enrichment, we are conscious of what we use, how we use it, and how to properly dispose of it. Through the TerraCycle programs, we have boxes setup throughout the sanctuary where staff and volunteers can get rid of used gloves and masks, which are then shipped off to be recycled. We also use Tru Earth laundry eco-strips. These strips if concentrated laundry detergent help us keep the chimpanzees’ blankets smelling fresh without the use of big plastic jugs detergent usually comes in. In fact, the packing itself is zero waste and can be composted. Did you know, the people were gracious enough to set up a fundraising page for us? Every purchased made at this link, 20% will be donated to help with the chimpanzee and cattle care!

For World Environment Day, I had a plan to have photos of the chimpanzees with today’s browse: wild roses!

The chimpanzees were faster than I had anticipated. After giving them access back to their Greenhouse after cleaning, Jamie’s group left nothing buy stems of the once beautiful roses. This photo of Jamie finishing off the last rose was all I was able to capture.

I apologize, but you will just have to imagine the chimpanzees with roses.

After all the roses were gone, it was time to relax. I couldn’t tell though if Burrito was relaxing or planning his next scheme.

(Hint: it was a scheme that involved a lot of play.)

On the other side of the sanctuary, Cy’s group had an amazing day on the Bray. The weather was perfect. The sun was out. The temperature was warm but not hot. And there was a breeze that would come through every so often.

Cy looking on as Rayne and Gordo explore Ryan’s Lookout.

Rayne and Gordo marching along.

Cy soaking up some sun.

Lucky looking out to the valley and river below the sanctuary.

Rayne waiting for the train to pass by.

While most were out on the Bray, some elected to stay behind and groom in the shade.

Mora!

Mave even was able to go into full relaxation mode.

they’re called playrooms for a reason

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Or maybe they should be called multi-purpose rooms?

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed watching these clips over and over!

I had many technical difficulties with computers and software today, so you are seeing this video after a great deal of perseverance. I almost gave up a few times, but I’m pretty stubborn.

I was thinking of you all in my stubbornness. I wanted to deliver some quality footage of the Californians in part of the new playroom space. It’s fun to be able to film through the windows for those close-up views, even when Willy B videobombs the camera.

Queen of the Hill

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Negra has spent more time outside today than any of the other chimps. Here at CSNW, that marks the official start of spring.

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That’s because Negra is always the first to realize that the spring grass is ready to eat. A rainy March followed by a week of sun and unseasonably warm temperatures turned Young’s Hill once again into a 2-acre salad buffet. The moment Negra decides that the shoots are long enough and sweet enough to pick, she plants her butt down and eats to her heart’s content. And when the other chimps see her eating grass, they start digging in too.

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But no one loves spring grass as much as Negra.

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Of course, Missy can’t just sit around eating grass all day.

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But she took a break long enough to pick a few of the finest blades of grass on the hill.

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Alfalfa, the miracle weight loss food

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If the chimps had their way, they’d eat all day long. Burrito would be unstoppable. Negra would probably forego blankets entirely and just make huge nests out of bread and peanuts so that she would never have to get out of bed again. But overeating is not usually conducive to good health, so for their sake we try to balance these two competing interests as best we can.

Thankfully, there’s a miracle diet food that helps keep chimps happy and healthy: alfalfa. Not just alfalfa, but also bamboo, grape vines, timothy hay, cattails – things that we collectively refer to as “browse”. Chimps love browse, but most browse plants are too fibrous to be digested properly, so they either pass right through or the chimps spit them out after a thorough chewing. Browse makes it possible for chimps to chew to their hearts’ content without eating a lot of calories.

In the summer and fall, many types of browse grow naturally in the chimps’ two-acre enclosure, which allows them to grab a snack anytime they like. Naturally occurring browse is harder to find during the winter, so we make sure to provide Burrito and his family with store-bought treats like alfalfa cubes on a regular basis:

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