Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp sanctuary

In memory of John Frazee

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Today was sponsored by Sandy Frazee and she shared this message about her touching gift:

“The chimps were very special to him and I would like to sponsor this day in memory of my late husband John Frazee.”

Sandy, we so appreciate that you would think of the chimps as you honor John today. We are so sorry for your loss and are wishing you comfort and peace. Thank you for your and John’s compassion and generosity and for making a difference in the chimps’ lives.

John carved these special gifts for the sanctuary and we are so touched to have them. What an amazing amount of work and care he put into them. We will be thinking of him today.

Jody:

Negra:

Jamie:

Jamie, Foxie, Missy, Annie and Burrito:

How’s your chimp ID?

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One of the first things new chimp house volunteers start learning is how to identify each of the chimpanzees. When you’re meeting a group of chimps for the first time (or the first ten times), they can often look frustratingly similar to one another. Eventually, of course, they start to look like individuals and you wonder how you could ever have mixed them up. But there’s a definite learning curve.

It helps to be able to spend some time just staring at each chimpanzee, so I just made these videos for our volunteers, in which you can see each of the seven chimpanzees from every angle, just being themselves. I thought some of our blog followers might appreciate them also. And if you’re not interested in working on your chimp ID, the videos make seven good excuses just to look at each of these beautiful chimps for several minutes.

(For extra credit, click on each name below to learn some identifying physical characteristics for each individual).

Annie:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Jody:

Missy:

Negra:

Annie’s Birthday Bash

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What a day of celebrating beautiful, dear, sweet Annie! We decided to have the party on Young’s Hill, the chimps’ 2-acre outdoor habitat and it was complete with a chimp favorite, watermelon bowls filled with lettuce, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, onions, and cabbage, and a new treat of banana leaves filled with roasted sweet potatoes and onions and leftover watermelon, and beautiful organic sunflowers strewn about!

Aren’t these amazing?! They’re bigger than Kelsi! 🙂 We have the best volunteers who found a recipe for wrapping good stuff in squares of the leaves and another who found them in Seattle for us! Something completely new for the chimps!

Here’s the birthday lady opening her banana leaf packet:

Jody was actually first onto the hill and was very excited to make it back with two watermelon bowls! I caught her mid-blink – sorry Jo! – and food squeaking with delight:

Negra’s approach to the forage was to wait for Jody to bring her haul back to the greenhouse and promptly try to take it!:

Jody kindly let her have one. That said, when Jody came back later with another one she wasn’t so willing to give it up which the Queen wasn’t too happy about, though she did get what Jody couldn’t shovel in fast enough. Oh, Neggie:

Burrito found a bowl for himself and started to make his way back to the greenhouse food squeaking all the way. But he stopped short when he saw Jody and Negra near the raceway and decided to try and play it cool so as not to attract their attention (or probably more specifically, Negra’s). You can see how excited he is by his hair standing on end (pilo-erect):

Of course, he couldn’t wait too long before taking some bites:

Jamie’s tactic was to collect everything she wanted and put it in a good place to return to when she was ready:

Missy:

Annie and Jody out for more:

And Foxie! She was way out on one of the structures by herself when she found a watermelon bowl.

Then…Oh. My. Heart! We could hear Foxie food squeaking with excitement when all of a sudden she just couldn’t contain herself! When chimpanzees are overwhelmed with excitement or fear they will often express a facial gesture known as a “fear grimace.” This is what Foxie is doing here, but she was SUPER excited. Usually others chimps are nearby and they reassure one another, but Foxie just kept looking at us from afar as if to say, “Do you see this??!! Watermelon bowls!!! I just can’t…” We love how excited the chimpanzees get over something as seemingly simple as fresh food. It never seems to get old for them and certainly seeing their joy never gets old for us.

Happy 44th, Annie! May all your days and years ahead be filled with more love, joy and adventure than you ever imagined. We love you so very much!

Positive Reinforcement Training with Negra and Anna

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A few years ago, we began a Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) program with the chimpanzees here at the sanctuary. (See this post for an introduction to PRT including how it works, why we feel it’s important, and how it improves the chimps’ lives.)

All seven chimps have made incredible strides since we began the program. Some chimps were enthusiastic participants right from the start while others have chosen to take part at their own pace and in their own time.

Negra has always been a little touchy when it comes to, well, being touched. She’s still working on moving past her decades in research labs where she was poked and prodded against her will. Probably for that reason, she wasn’t always a big fan of PRT. She voluntarily participated, but she would be sure to let her caregivers know when she had reached her limit. At the very beginning of the program, she was even scared of the sound of the clicker.

As you’ll see in this video, she’s certainly come a long way…

Happy Birthday Weekend, Arlene!

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The chimpanzees have the best friends! Michael has sponsored the entire weekend for the chimpanzees in celebration of his beloved wife, Arlene, for her birthday! He shared this beautifully touching message for her:

“To my best friend and my soul mate I love you dearly! Have a great birthday weekend! 

All my love forever, Michael.”

Michael and Arlene have wrapped their hearts around the chimpanzees and over the years have included them in their lives, celebrations and honoring of loved ones. We’re so grateful for all the love and compassion that surrounds these seven special beings and we’re thrilled to be part of a weekend of celebration of another special being.

Thank you so much, Michael, for including the chimpanzees in such a special time for your family and for the lasting difference you and Arlene make in their lives, expanding their lives and horizons more than they may ever have imagined.

And from our hearts to yours, happiest of birthdays yet to you, Arlene! All of us here are wishing you a weekend full of joy, beauty, and all that you most love. Exactly as you bring to the chimps’ lives.

Missy:

Negra:

Burrito:

Jamie:

Annie:

Foxie:

Jody:

Thank you, Amy!

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Amy Moore is sponsoring today in honor of the Pearl Jam “Home Shows” in Seattle today and Friday and wanted to include the chimpanzees in her celebration! Pearl Jam’s time in Seattle will be about even more than their much anticipated shows. They are known for taking a stand and lending their voices to increase awareness and support social justice projects and non-profit organizations all over the world and their time back home comes with the goal of banding together in a community wide effort to fight Seattle’s homelessness crisis. Pearl Jam and other community members are matching donations for the Home Fund up to $960,000. Over $11.5 million has already been raised which will be distributed to a variety of organizations working to help people move into stable housing and prevent homeless in the Seattle area.

Amy, thank you so much for sponsoring this special day of sanctuary! And afterall, who knows what the gifts of Hope, Love, Home and Sanctuary make possible for every individual better than the chimpanzees? Just as all living beings should be able to experience.

While many humans are migrating to the westside of the state for the shows, we’re here at the sanctuary celebrating Foxie as she turns 42 years young today! She spent the morning hanging upside down, laughing, playing chase with her doll and her caregivers, and slurping up her breakfast smoothie, the first of many today as Foxie LOVES smoothies! Friends of Foxie have also ensured that there are so many new dolls who will be in attendance at her party today so be sure to check back later for the festivities!