Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
It’s not the wilds of Africa, but Young’s Hill is looking pretty good this time of year. Even nervous Negra is exploring more than ever.
Negra:
Missy:
Jody:
Burrito, Missy, Annie, Jamie, and Foxie:
Burrito, Foxie (with Dora), and Jamie:
Annie:
Foxie:
Today is a day for dual celebration. Not only is it Mother’s Day, but it’s also the day we celebrate Jody’s birthday. We don’t know her actual birthday, (she may have been born in the wild.) What we do know is that Jody spent decades as a test subject in biomedical research before coming to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. During those years in the lab, she gave birth to nine babies, so we chose Mother’s Day to celebrate her and to honor her as a mother.
It’s hard to fathom Jody never having had the chance to raise any of her babies. It’s equally hard to imagine that she was not able to learn and grow under the guidance of her own mother in the wild. Wrapping my brain around the reality of her past is heartbreaking. And knowing that there are so many other captive chimpanzees that share a similar story brings tears to my eyes. But, today is a day to celebrate; to celebrate Jody, her life and all that she has become since her new beginning at CSNW.
Because we have two very special reasons to celebrate, we set up two parties…one in the Greenhouse….
…and one in the Playroom.
Today, we honor the mother that Jody is by showering her with love and giving her some of her most favorite things…extra blankets for building huge nests, good food, flowers and alfalfa cubes. You can read more about Jody here.
Jody
Missy
Annie
Foxie
Jamie
Negra
Burrito
Of all the things we share with chimps – the ability to use tools, the capacity for language, the intelligence required to plan ahead and solve complex problems, and so on – none seems quite as relevant to the question of whether they deserve our compassion as how they react when they are tickled.
We are counting down to the HOOT! gala, just seven days away on April 30th.
This first day of HOOT! is thanks to Martha Faulkner Real Estate for being the Seattle Met Photo Booth Sponsor and thanks to Iain Moffat and Mohamed Jantan for being the Program Sponsor.
HOOT! includes an in-person live auction, but shhhh – anyone can take a peek at what attendees will be bidding on this Saturday via the auction preview site (note this is a preview site only, there will be no online bidding available). However, if you aren’t able to attend, but are seriously interested in bidding on an item, get in touch ([email protected]).
In addition to the live auction items, guests will have the opportunity to bid on unique photo prints of each of the chimpanzees. This First Day of HOOT! is for Burrito:
Burrito seemed appropriate for day one because graphic designer Lori Kiers used his hooting face to promote the event this year:
Thanks to everyone for already making this event a success! I am so looking forward to celebrating with you! Share your love of Burrito today if you’re excited too!
Several years ago (seven to be exact!), the chimpanzees’ good friend and supporter, Monica Best, chose to celebrate her birthday by proclaiming April 23rd “Love a Chimpanzee Day” and she has sponsored it each year since for the chimpanzees. And this year as we celebrate chimpanzees and Monica we are also celebrating in memory of Monica’s dad, Gary Best.
Monica, you have the biggest heart, full of generosity and compassion. We are so grateful to you for all you do not only for the chimps, but for so many other animals in the world. We are honored to celebrate your dad here today – he must have been quite a man to have a daughter like you. All of us here are wishing you a day full of the comfort, love and joy you provide for so many others.
Happy Birthday, Monica, and Happy Love a Chimpanzee Day!
It’s pretty easy to rack up 100 plus pictures of the chimpanzees throughout the course of a day. What’s not always easy is going through all of them, figuring out which ones to save and which ones to delete. Deleting the ones that are blurry or not quite in focus is pretty much a no-brainer. But, there are often times though, when I look through multiple pictures of the same chimp, doing the same exact thing and I just can’t decide which ones to keep. Each of those pictures has a slightly different angle or the lighting is just a little bit different or a different part of the face is in focus. And then, sometimes I just end up with great photos of the chimps, but they do not go along with the blog that I am writing.
So, today, I wanted to share with you some of my favorites of each of the chimps from the past few weeks that we haven’t shared on the blog yet.
Annie
Burrito
Foxie
Jamie
Jody
Missy
Negra
When the chimpanzees gained access to their 2 acre outdoor enclosure this morning, you could really feel their joy and excitement. The sun and light breeze together were a complimentary pair!
Annie chased Missy bipedally (trying to avoid touching the wet grass as much as possible).
She finally climbed onto a log to escape the morning dew.
Missy performed a few aerial stunts.
And then settled down to snack on the fresh green grass.
Foxie explored with two of her dolls.
And Jody and Burrito decided to relax and take in the view.
Jamie recruited J.B. into going for a perimeter walk.
The walk eventually evolved into a perimeter jog.
I must admit, I searched a while for a quote or poem about the loveliness of Spring to accompany this post, but I couldn’t quite find the right one. I suppose springtime at the sanctuary is best described in photos.
