Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Burrito

Happy Birthday, Judy!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Judy Nash! Today is Judy’s birthday and she shared that she is giving herself a day for the chimpanzees, who she’s fallen in love with! Judy, what an incredibly lovely and generous gift to give! Thank you so much for including the chimpanzees in your special day. We hope your day is off to a wonderful start and full of pant hoots and food grunts, just like the chimp house is right now!

On behalf of your Pal, Burrito, and all of the primates here at CSNW, Happy Birthday!!

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It’s Groundhog Day, Again

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Okay, okay, yesterday was actually Groundhog Day but, as it happens, it was also GAME DAY so we may have been a little bit distracted! As it turns out, it appears the Groundhog has predicted 6 more weeks of winter. [And a Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl win! Oh, wait that wasn’t Punxsutawney Phil, that was me. Did I mention I love football?] Seahawks pride aside, the wind and the snow seem to be in agreement with the prognosticating rodent and have conspired to keep the chimpanzees primarily indoors today.

Annie, in the playroom, relaxing on the bridge:
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Burrito, in the playroom, playing with a wooden toy:
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Negra, in the playroom, lying down on the catwalk and watching Burrito from above:
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Foxie, in the playroom, observing the paparazzi:
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Jody, in the front rooms, relaxing on a bench:
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Missy, also in the front rooms, relaxing on the bench:
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You may be wondering about Jamie’s whereabouts. I can assure you she was around and making her usual rounds but was in no mood to have her picture taken today. Since she is the boss, I was only too happy to oblige her request!

Today is for Jack, Sue, and Zach!

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A day of sanctuary was sponsored today all the way from Australia by Kim Williams for Jack and Sue Dignum! Today is Jack and Sue’s grandson, Zach’s, birthday and Kim expressed that they wanted to be able to share this day with Jack and Sue by sponsoring a day for their favorite chimps. Kim expressed that Jack and Sue “are extremely kind and generous and we love them to bits! We hope the chimps have a lovely day!”

Kim, thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees today! Jack and Sue do so much to support the sanctuary and we are honored that the chimpanzees are included in such a special day for your family. And from all of the primates here at CSNW, Happy Birthday, Zach!!

Burrito knows a thing or two about parties!

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There’s something about Burrito

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So, by now, you just might be aware that Burrito likes to bite on things (his hand, wooden toys.) It’s certainly true that he often uses this gesture as a way to initiate play with others. However, just as frequently, he’ll simply incorporate it into his play alone. Today I found him playing by himself in the front rooms as we cleaned the playroom and just couldn’t help capturing it on film for you. He looks pretty content to me!

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Greenhouse mornings

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As JB mentioned in the video of his recent blog post, “Lending a hand,” the days at the sanctuary revolve around a routine that relies on chimpanzee participation. For example, the chimpanzees are asked to shift into different areas throughout the day so that we can have access other areas to clean while they are not present. The majority of enclosure cleaning happens in the morning (provided everyone is in the mood, of course). On warm, sunny, summer days this often means that the chimpanzees spend an hour or so exploring Young’s Hill. During the winter, however, this is sometimes not the most appealing way to spend time! This morning, with windy gusts up to 40 miles an hour, the chimpanzees opted to spend their morning in the greenhouse while we cleaned in the playroom.

Missy:
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Annie in the foreground, Missy in the background:
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Missy catches me taking pictures from the loft in the playroom:
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Annie rests after a quick wrestling game with Missy:
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Burrito catches the paparazzi:
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Burrito and Jamie inspect the boxes:
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And, finally, Jamie comes over to see what I’m up to:
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B is for birthday and that’s good enough for Burrito

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To celebrate the birthday boy today we tried to make sure his day was filled with things that he enjoys most. Enrichment for the party included scarves for playing tug-o-war with, the bedbug popper toys he likes so well, and wooden toys for biting to his heart’s content. Party decorations included streamers, paper, boxes, and more streamers. Volunteer Patti Sims contributed birthday pinatas and, for the coupe de grace, food! Truly, when it comes to Burrito’s favorite things, food is right up there on the list. So in his honor we made today about the food he loves. There was pineapple smoothie for breakfast, a chow and Brussels sprout forage in the party room, a leek and cucumber lunch forage in the front rooms, baked squash for dinner and healthy food snacks served throughout the day. In addition to his food themed day, Burrito also enjoyed plenty of games with human and chimpanzee friends alike! I don’t know about you, but I think he looks pretty well satisfied with the day’s festivities.

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And while most of the photos we captured of the day involved the birthday boy, I can assure you that the other chimpanzees enjoyed the party as well!

Foxie foraging for chow (It’s what’s in the yellow party box):
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Jamie foraging for chow, or possibly the Brussels sprouts:
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Happy Birthday, Don Young!

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Today we’re celebrating Don Young’s 75th birthday. Don and Karen Young have been endlessly generous in their support of the sanctuary and the Cle Elum Seven. Among many other things, Don and Karen provided the contribution that allowed us to break ground on what is now known as Young’s Hill. Each time the chimpanzees step outside onto their two-acre open air habitat, we feel so thankful to the Youngs for making it happen. See Diana’s blog post from this morning for more on Don and Karen.

Karen sponsored today for the chimps in honor of Don’s birthday, so we threw a lavish party to celebrate. The weather was unseasonably nice today, so first thing this morning we set up parties in the greenhouse and on Young’s Hill. The chimps foraged for coconuts, pineapple, kiwi, beets, Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, and fruit smoothie in Dixie cups.

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Although the weather was beautiful for January in Cle Elum, it was still a little cool for Negra, so she chose to stay in the greenhouse:

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But everyone else went outside and foraged for breakfast on Young’s Hill:

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Burrito gathered some Brussels sprouts:

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And Jamie collected some beets:

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The real prizes of the morning were the two whole coconuts. Missy quickly found one of them:

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and looked for a safe place to enjoy it:

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She was soon joined by Jody:

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Jody was very happy to find the second coconut a little later:

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There was plenty of coconut to go around, and everyone eventually got a chance to enjoy some.

Foxie:

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Annie:

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We can’t possibly count the ways in which we’re grateful for Karen and Don’s generosity. The Cle Elum Seven wouldn’t enjoy the life they do without them. Happy birthday, Don!