Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Burrito

A Difficult Day

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Tonight, Burrito is recovering from a rattlesnake bite.

We heard a commotion on Young’s Hill this morning and went out to find six of the chimps intensely alarm calling and screaming as they surrounded a large snake. Burrito unfortunately got too aggressive in pursuit of the snake and received a bite to the base of his thumb. Thankfully, we were able to get the chimps back inside relatively quickly. We then entered the enclosure, captured the snake, and confirmed that it was indeed a rattler.

Shortly thereafter, Burrito was anesthetized and given a course of antivenin while his symptoms were still relatively mild. At this point he is stable and resting but he is not out of the woods yet.

Diana and I are so grateful for the prompt response from the staff and veterinary team. Burrito will be monitored closely overnight and we promise to update you tomorrow as we know more. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Hype for HOOT!

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It would be an understatement to say that 2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year. At times, it’s felt more like a haunted house full of people who have all taken hallucinogenics (or something that is equally chaotic, confusing, and concerning).

Still, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate and we have much to be hopeful for. The chimps’ lives have been largely unaffected by the public health crisis and we’re working hard to keep it that way. Despite the economic uncertainty and logistical hurdles, we’ve managed to keep the residents happy and healthy, sustainably expand our staff, make upgrades to our existing property and facilities, and begin constructing new areas that will hopefully provide a home for more rescued chimpanzees.

All of this progress would be impossible without the financial support that comes from generous supporters, and we’re getting ready to host our biggest fundraising event of the year: HOOT 2020!

Unlike previous years, this edition of HOOT! will be a virtual celebration so that you can all participate from the comfort of your home (or office… we won’t tell anyone if you choose to spend your work day bidding on items). Of course, we’d love to be hosting you all in Seattle for a big ole’ shindig, but the “virtualness” of this year’s party has some benefits of its own. As always, there are some amazing items and experiences up for auction (bidding starts September 2nd!) and the itinerary also includes a happy hour and a pant-hoot contest.

The preparations have been underway for quite some time, but some aspects of the event are still developing. Burrito witnessed something that excited him today, but you’ll have to tune into the event to see what it was…

To get started, you can go to the HOOT! 2020 website hosted by Auction Frogs. Seriously, go to the website! I’m not going to post too many spoilers here, but we have a lot planned for this big event!!!

P.S. Here’s a little spoiler. Saxophone by Tobi Stone.

Burrito Takes Over The Live Stream

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Today, we let you all watch one of the most exciting events that takes place at the sanctuary every day: lunch.

For those of you who were busy during the live stream or were unable to connect via Facebook, you can watch the recording here. (Unfortunately, it’s not possible to embed Facebook videos directly into the blog post.)

Despite some early technical obstacles, I was eventually able to broadcast a live feed that showed the Seven foraging on Young’s Hill, their outdoor enclosure. I then brought my phone to the Greenhouse so that the chimpanzees could join in on the chat. Burrito, of course, was interested in playing chase and seemed intrigued by the Facebook video being sent to all of you from the palm of my hand. As usual, he stole the show.

It was great to see so many viewers join in on the broadcast, despite the short notice and connection troubles. I tried to answer some questions during the stream while Diana typed out additional responses from the sanctuary’s office. I wasn’t expecting so much engagement (170+ comments in 24 minutes!), so I will do my best to address any additional inquiries throughout the day.

Thank you all for your patience, interest, and support!

Here are some still photographs to accompany the today’s events.

Annie:

Negra:

Honey B:

Burrito:

The Neighbor’s Horses:

And, finally, an intimate moment shared between Honey (one of our resident cattle) and one of the neighboring mares:

 

In honor of everyone who is helping the chimps

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Darcy Collart sponsored this really lovely day of sanctuary for, well, us all!

“Thank you to all the people who work so hard to rescue, take care of, and support these wonderful and deserving chimps! This includes all the rescuers, caregivers, donors, and/or defenders. You are so needed and appreciated!”

Darcy, this is such a kind, uplifting thing to do! Thank you!! As you stated so beautifully, there are a myriad of ways to care for each of these amazing chimpanzee people, none of which would be possible without the incredible support, dedication and love of so many amazing humans. We couldn’t do it without you all. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making the chimps’ lives here in their sanctuary home possible.

Honey B:

Foxie:

Mave and Willy B:

Jody and Burrito:

Jamie:

Jamie, Foxie, Missy, Annie and Burrito::

Digital Field Trip

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Last Thursday we hosted a digital field trip with Northwest VEG. They are an amazing non-profit that offers all kinds of education, they create positive change, and help to build a stronger community and environment. I mean who doesn’t want to be a part of something like that! Please check out their website to see what they are up to!

We feel so lucky to have collaborated with them. Northwest VEG really understands the importance of sanctuaries and how crucial it is to educate people of all ages about the values that sanctuaries hold. I personally really loved working with them because they are such kind people, they’re respectful of the chimps, their needs, and our boundaries. As a sanctuary we rarely have public visits, especially now with COVID-19 we are not doing any visits. If you are not familiar with our philosophy on visits you can check out our website. This opportunity was very special and the participants asked a lot of hard questions and fun ones too.

My favorite question asked was, “What is the best part of the sanctuary?”. This may sound like an easy question. However, this was a hard question that I don’t think I gave justice to. There is so much that goes into that answer. Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest allows for the chimps to have freedom and choices, which are two things that humans took away. We all know humans took so much and that this is not their natural life, nor should it be. So I guess we could start there. They get to have choices. Another aspect is to see the chimps’ resiliency and watch the chimps grow as individuals. For example, Annie is now a much more bold and confident chimp. She sometimes swipes food from the other chimps and isn’t as afraid to test the waters and see if she can climb the social ladder. Foxie, for all the things she is unsure of, has become more brave than ever. She climbs and explores unfamiliar structures, and though blankets are one thing she won’t conform to, her love for dolls has expanded. One example that makes my heart happy and hurt all at the same time is Willy B going outside onto the new courtyard, an extension of Young’s Hill. He is getting more comfortable every day! It is something to celebrate and also if you think about it, that is something he should have never had to fear. Though we can never give them the life they should have had in the wild, we hope this is close.

If you want to have an experience like this one look out for our online auction, HOOT! 2020 on Saturday, September 12th, where you will be able to bid on a virtual tour of CSNW!

Most of my photos today are of Jamie. I hope you enjoy!

Jamie was having a very good day. I received my new cleaning boots yesterday from a very kind donor! They are the same pattern, octopus, just with less holes. Jamie, being the encyclopedia of boots noticed right away!

And Jamie approved. Though, her favorites are still Diana’s blue whale ones.

She is a very observant individual.

<3

Then there was Burrito.

A few days ago this is how I found Burrito nesting.v

This is a photo of Jody and her sweet heart shaped brow ridge.

Willy B has been nesting on the ground with some very plush blankets lately.

Mave nesting under the food chute.

Honey B. I just love this photo. You can see the intensity in her eyes.

I thought I would share some cattle pictures, just because.

Betsy.

Meredith.

Nutmeg.

And Honey.

I will leave you all with a photo I just took before closing up the chimp house for the night. It is a photo of Burrito and Jody nesting next to each other on a bench in the front rooms. Jody spent 15 minutes making her nest perfect. Burrito gathered 3 blankets and put one over his head. Goodnight everyone!

 

 

 

Batting A Thousand

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I was sure batting a thousand today in terms of not being able to get any decent photos. Though, that may have actually described today’s feel. Not that there’s anything is wrong with it or anything bad happened, but it was just quiet. Really quiet. Suspiciously quiet.

The only decent photo I was able to get was right after breakfast of Burrito and Foxie trying to spy on their neighbors.

Once cleaning was over, that was it. The ladies all decided to keep quiet and to themselves in the most difficult of spots around the sanctuary to get photos. As evident by Honey B here.

It’s enough to know who it is, but not enough to get a decent photo of.

There were, however, two strapping gentlemen who were within sight. As some of you know though, these two gentlemen can be extremely difficult to get photos of. Each for their own reasons.

In one of many failed attempts to get photos of the Group of Seven, Burrito insisted it was not photo time, but another play time. I had to opportunistically get whatever photos I could during our play session.

Wait for it….

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A very blurry kiss to the camera!

So I tried my luck on the other side, again, in one of many failed attempts to get photos of the Group of Three.

As you may know, Willy B usually likes to be very close to the camera and makes it difficult to take photos of him. But I gave it my best attempt.

First he allowed me to snap this photo.

I had to show him what I was able to capture. Apparently he liked it because…

Wait for it…

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He wanted to kiss it!

Again, like the prior Burrito kiss photo, he was super close and out of focus. I thought it was just interesting both of them had done the same thing by trying to kiss the camera.

And one last “model” shot of Willy B. Though close to the caging and camera.

UPDATE:

I was able to get some photos during dinner that tells a semi-interesting story.

First, I was able to capture sweet Annie enjoying her corn at dinner. (Make note of the piece of corn at her feet.)

Then seemingly out of nowhere, Missy comes by and swipes the corn that was at Annie’s feet.

Annie didn’t seem too worried about it. If you looked closely, you can see only the very top of the ear of corn was left.

But also…

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Annie spotted the cob Missy was given earlier for dinner. Coincidentally it was with roughly the same amount of corn kernels still left. So I guess that’s not really stealing. More like a long roundabout form of trading.