Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp sanctuary

Jamie’s mood

by

Just like all emotional beings, Jamie’s mood fluctuates. We don’t always know if we’re going to be greeted in the morning by Happy Jamie or Somewhat Cranky Jamie. Lately she’s had far more of the former than the latter, which is a huge plus for all the primates at CSNW.

If Jamie wakes up on the wrong side of the nest, her crankiness can translate into intolerance for things like dropping food (which we do a lot—especially me, who wins the Clumsiest Caregiver award every year), or playing troll toss too loudly with Foxie, or standing closer to the fencing than Jamie would like. And sometimes, it’s for what seems like no reason at all.

One thing that Somewhat Cranky Jamie doesn’t always like is when we try to take photos or videos of her, especially if she’s working on a project. But she’s been very tolerant of such activities recently, and even let me take this very up close photo of her today:

web_jamie_close-up_eyes_gh_dm_IMG_2392

I usually thank her for letting me take her photo, and to show my appreciation, I turn the camera around so she can see what I captured. She likes to look at photos, so we will scroll through what is on the card until she turns away to find something else to do.

Today, Happy Jamie spent the afternoon getting groomed by caregiver-in-training Whitney, and played a brief game of tug-o-war and chase. Even though Jamie is very human-oriented, she doesn’t always roughhouse with her caregivers, so it’s a real treat when she allows us to play games like that with her. She also spent some quiet time grooming caregiver Lizz for awhile, and has already been on three walks, despite the drizzly overcast skies.

We love days like today… a Happy Jamie means a good day for everyone.

web_jamie_gh_dm_IMG_2390

Taking It All In

by

Today we’ve been lucky enough to have some mild temperatures and sunshine in Cle Elum. After lunch I headed out to the greenhouse, expecting to find most of the chimpanzees lounging out there (their favorite sunny day spot). I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find everyone except for Burrito and Negra outside on Young’s Hill, their two-acre outdoor habitat.

When it’s cold outside, the chimps would generally rather be indoors. The more determined among them might go out for very short periods, but as a rule, the chimps choose to spend most of the winter inside. On mild days, it’s not uncommon to find some activity on the hill – the chimps know that the nice temperatures won’t last long.

When I stepped outside this afternoon there was a large group of hawks circling over Young’s Hill.

web_hawks_circle_above_YH_ek_IMG_2356

I started thinking about how before Young’s Hill was built, the chimps had never had an unobstructed view of the sky before. Young’s Hill has expanded the chimps’ world in more ways than one. In addition to giving them more space to explore, it allows them to see more of their surroundings and to participate more in their environment.

Here’s Annie looking out over the valley adjacent to the sanctuary:

web_Annie_sit_on_climbing_structure_trees_in_background_YH_ek_IMG_2364

The chimps also have a clear line of sight to the driveway, so they can always check out who’s coming and going. Today Jody was very interested to watch volunteers Pam and T.J. arrive for their shift:

web_Jody_sit_on_ground_watch_volunteers_arrive_YH_ek_IMG_2350

Missy, on the other hand, had no time to look around. She was fully focused on her acrobatic feats.

web_Missy_tightrope_walk_firehose_YH_ek_IMG_2330

web_Missy_tightrope_walk_firehose_YH_ek_IMG_2331

Close-ups

by

It’s not often that I take non-blurry, close-up pictures of each of the chimps. There are number of reasons for this, one being operator error. Second, third and fourth reasons are that the chimps are often moving, just out of sight of the camera, or would rather not have their picture taken. So, when the close-up photos actually turn out, I cannot stop looking at them.

Sometimes pictures just convey so much more than words ever can about the beauty, serenity or nature of each of the chimpanzees. These are some of my favorite close-ups of each of the chimps from the past few weeks.

Jamie
web_Jamie_stare_at_camera_closeup_FRs_kh_IMG_0736

Burrito
web_Burrito_sit_ledge_arms_crossed_FR2_kh_IMG_0717

Jody
web_Jody_look_out_arms_crossed_sit_bench_FR4_kh_IMG_1971

Negra
web_Negra_look_at_camera_closeup_face_FR4_kh_IMG_2634

Foxie
web_Foxie_look_toward_camera_enrichment_hammer_in_hand_ledge_FRs_kh_IMG_0721

Missy
web_Missy_sit_platform_look_out_GH_IMG_7725

Annie
web_Annie_mouth_open_PR_kh_IMG_7900

Go Hawks!

by

Today is Blue Friday, which around the Seattle area means that fans shows their support for the Seahawks by wearing their favorite blue and green Seahawks gear. Since the team will be playing in their first playoff game tomorrow night, we thought we’d join in the spirit and throw a Blue Friday party for the chimps! We had broccoli and grapes for a forage, as well as tea in blue and green champagne flutes, and watered down blue gatorade in Seahawks cups.

The party set-up:

web_becca_volunteer_caregiver_seahawks_party_setup_pr_jb_IMG_8004

web_seahawks_party_setup_pr_dm_IMG_2134

The blue drinks were a bit hit! Everyone had a taste.

Jamie:
Jamie

Annie:
Annie

Burrito:
Burrito

Burrito

Jody:
Jody

Negra:
Negra

Missy:
Missy

Jamie loved the table we setup with the forage and the decorations:

Jamie drink tea

Jamie eat broccoli

Jamie Seahawks football

We’re glad we were able to throw a fun party for the chimps in the spirit of camaraderie of the pacific northwest fans. Running a sanctuary is all about teamwork, and we are lucky to have some really great fans of our own!

Jamie

Happy Birthday, Burrito!

by

For B’s big day we centered everything around his favorites: food, food, and more food! We spread out the meals into many different portions so that about every hour the chimps had a quick snack. We also had a small forage in each of the enclosures, so it was basically Burrito’s dream come true—a way to eat pretty much the entire day away.

Here’s some photos of the birthday guy’s first party in the greenhouse, where we had a chow and tea forage:
web_burrito_birthday_decorations_gh_dm_IMG_2030

Mr. B:
web_burrito_forage_birthday_gh_kd_IMG_2035

web_burrito_forage_birthday_gh_kd_IMG_2054

web_burrito_birthday_tree_gh_ek_IMG_7973

Annie:
web_annie_forage_birthday_party_gh_ek_IMG_7957

web_annie_eat_chow_forage_birthday_party_gh_ek_IMG_7956

Jamie:
web_jamie_lick_cup_forage_birthday_party_gh_ek_IMG_7969

Negra:
web_negra_profile_look_up_good_gh_ek_IMG_7941

web_negra_tea_forage_gh_ek_IMG_7945

And then in the playroom we had more tea, some blackberries, and lettuce to snack on:

Annie:
web_annie_lettuce_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2066

Missy:
web_missy_lettuce_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2075

Jamie:
web_jamie_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2092

Jody:
web_jody_eat_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2090

Thanks to all of Burrito’s pals for helping make this day great for him and again to Tracy and Jenny who sponsored the day!

Confidence

by

I was going through today’s photos of the chimpanzees, and these two stood out to me. It’s not uncommon to see Jamie looking confident and relaxed; as the leader of the group, she has every reason to be confident.

web_Jamie_profile_GH_ek_IMG_2018

But I love that Annie, who’s at the bottom of the social hierarchy, looks just as calm and content. Though Annie’s low-ranking position in the group brings with it a certain amount of stress, she is finding more and more moments of peace as the years go by.

web_Annie_sit_by_window_look_at_camera_catwalk_PR_ek_IMG_2011

Low-key play

by

Missy and Annie tend to play rough when they wrestle, but Missy tones it down a little for the elder and slower Negra. Here you can see some quiet low-key play between Negra and Missy, but toward the end Annie steps in and Missy picks up the pace a bit.