Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Burrito

Snapshots of a Winter Day

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Today was a beautiful winter day. The chimps spent most of their time exploring outside and lounging in the warm greenhouses. We’ll let the photos do most of the talking!

Negra was the first out this morning:

Annie:

Foxie took one of her dolls out for a stroll:

A little traffic jam this morning with Foxie and Burrito:

While Annie and Burrito decided to commute together:

Dora drinking some Gatorade out of a bowl in the cozy greenhouse:

Lucky enjoying the warmth of the greenhouse:

Gordo grooming his foot:

Gordo laying down in the greenhouse:

Later, as he was laying Rayne came up and started grooming him:

And a side profile of sweet Cy, we played a slow game of chase in the greenhouse:

Not Another Clip Show

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Staff are conducting several training meeting this afternoon, so please excuse me for the short posting. So today’s blog and video is going to be a hodgepodge of clips and photos that haven’t found their way into a blog due to either length or missing context.

Misc. Photos:

George (L) and Cy (R) eating their breakfast chow in the Oakwood Greenhouse window while watching their caregivers clean the Lupin Playroom.
Gordo sitting in a modified box waiting for his time to join the integration group.
The view from the space separating Young’s Hill and the Bray a couple of weeks ago. It made me feel like I was in the movie “Tron.”
Mora (Mave + Dora) having a dinner date when they were first together the other week.

Burrito’s Bouncy Birthday Bash

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43. That number has been circling around my head today as I came into the Chimp House this morning. How could my friend be turning 43? I remember growing thinking of the time adults would tell me to “act my age.” That saying has been upmost rejected by Burrito. At what age did he protest acting his age? I have no idea, but I would guess it was sometime in his adolescence.

Burrito was born in a laboratory on this day in 1983 to his mom, Karen, and father, Mack. Off the top of my head I’m not sure what happened to his mother, but I do know his father was able to live out his remaining years at Save the Chimps in sunny Florida. When he was born, he was given the name “Raj” by his human caregivers. Unfortunately, at the age of 1 he was put into the hepatitis B testing. At one point he was he was transferred to the Buckshire Corporation where he was kept as a pet before being leased to a small attraction. A year later he was returned to Buckshire and his life as a test subject was renewed. It wasn’t until 2008 when he was rescued and came to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. His days being used in hepatitis trials was finally over.

Since then his days have been full of play, laughter, and yes, chaos. He still creates a ruckus within his group and has the girls  screaming at him, though I personally don’t see how he gets the blame since it usually starts with someone *ahemAnnieahem* starts screaming at him as he’s minding his business. But behind all the chaos and ruckus is a sweet lovable guy, and more recently, protector of Foxie who has been unjustly targeted from time-to-time by Jamie and her battle buddy, Missy. Though he gets into these squabbles, he’s always fairly quick to make up with a nice bout of play and some grooming.

This past year, I was lucky enough to attend a conference with other caregivers from around the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance umbrella. This includes caregivers from Chimp Haven, Save the Chimps, Center for Great Apes, Project Chimps, Fauna Foundation, and others. It was always funny to introduce myself by saying I am a caregiver at CSNW and getting the reaction of who? Where? No fault to any of them. We are a pretty small sanctuary in comparison to the others. But when I would describe where we were located and our chimpanzee residents, it was almost without fail I would just utter the words “Burrito” and all of a sudden getting the reaction “Ooooh Burrito! You are the ones to take care of Burrito!”

Burrito is known and loved not just around this country, but around the world. Especially by his caregivers here. I love arriving at the sanctuary in the morning and trying to get my rounds of saying good morning to the chimps but not being able to get very far in the process. It’s almost immediately when I unlock the door leading to the chimpanzee areas that signature sound of Bronx cheers can start to be heard. I swear at this point I hear his Bronx cheers to the tune of the Jaws theme music now. First it’s subtle and in the distance. But then it grows louder, grows closer, and the frequency picks up as he hones in on his caregiver prey… err I mean play partner. And what luck for him, one of his good friends, caregiver Krissy, was the one who got the privilege to plan his birthday party. Boy did she knock this one out of the park. They day was filled with coconuts, pasta, and everything bouncy! He seemed to really love today, so major kudos to Krissy.

I’ll wrap this up and let you enjoy the video of him enjoying himself today with this message: Burrito is my friend. He is all of our friend! For me personally though I truly don’t know where I’d be without this guy in my life. I’m proud to call him my friend. Besides all the play and laughter, he inspires me in more ways than one. One of the most important lessons he has taught me is that tough times will come. But no matter how long or how tough those times may be, enjoy living in the now. Soak in the moment. Learn your lesson (if there is one). Move on. Get through it with play and laughter with your loved ones. It softens the hard times.

I love you my friend! We all do!

A Very CSNW Christmas (Jamie’s Edition)

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Today was a Christmas to be remembered! It was such a great party for all the chimpanzees here. So much was happening we had no choice to split up the footage to make two videos. So please enjoy Jamie’s group’s Christmas celebration today, and be sure to come back tomorrow to watch the other groups’ parties! Including George’s first CSNW Christmas! I won’t say much other than he was really, really, really excited!

Jamie was also excited and partied her heart out!

And please remember to donate! We are getting so close to our $100,000 goal by tomorrow in order to unlock an additional $40,000! Every little bit helps!

Help us reach our end of the year goal here!

Negra’s Night Bag Recipe

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‘Twas nine days before Christmas and all through the sanctuary not a creature was stirring except . . . Burrito.

The socks were hung on the firehose with care, in hope that fun treats would soon be there.

The chimps were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of night bags danced in their heads.

Especially Negra. She loves night bags, which are a post-dinner treat. The evening wouldn’t be the same without them.

Negra loves night bags so much, she wanted to share her night bag recipe with you for the holidays.

Recipe for night bags

Ingredients: popcorn, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, raisins, sunflower seeds, dried fruit (oranges, apples, pears, strawberries)

Supplies: small brown bags

Directions: mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Scoop about ½ cup of mix into a small brown bag and roll it up tight. Serve before bedtime or anytime.

Optional: decorate and personalize the bags before filling with mix. Here are some examples:

You can make up your own night bag mix with your favorite treats (chocolate, peppermints, marshmallows, pretzels, etc.). Don’t forget, it’s perfect for the neighborhood holiday night bag exchange.

Happy holidays!
Negra

P.S. If you’d like to help fill night bags, we are always in need of more sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and raisins – please see our Amazon wish list. Thank you from all of us!

Bonus photos:

Willy B enjoying a night bag.

Honey B snacking on pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and raisins from her night bag.

Gordo keeping his night bag in a safe place.

 

By and Down the Atmospheric River

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The Pacific Northwest is currently under an atmospheric river. No need to fear for our humble sanctuary though. Being on the high ground has it’s advantages. Atmospheric river or not, it still hasn’t stopped the chimps from going outside.

Foxie
Burrito
Rayne taking in the view of the Yakima River from the Bray.
Not the actual scene she was gazing upon, but close—just another viewpoint from the cattle’s side of the sanctuary.

Though the rain isn’t finished and we have several more days in the forecast, I just really wanted to celebrate and applaud my fellow staff members and volunteers who braved the floods and mudslides to make it in today. I know to them it may not seem as much, but it’s the world to the residents here. I have met some pretty gritty people in my life, but the caregivers here, both staff and volunteer, are exemplary gritty. Braving the down pours, floods, walking through the mud and muck around the sanctuary, I admire each and every one of you and all that you do for the chimpanzees, cattle, and each other.

And one last photo of one the the most handsome individuals you could ever meet for good measure:

Cy