Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Missy

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Long-time followers of the blog have probably seen us write about the ever cool and aloof Missy. She doesn’t mind the humans, but we don’t really serve a purpose for her outside of her daily needs and she usually prefers the company of her best friend, Annie, and chimp family.  And she has places to go and things to do. That’s the beauty of choice.

The chimps have been here for nearly 9 years now and it’s really only been in the last couple of years that we have seen Missy take more of an occasional interest in engaging with the humans. For example, it’s becoming more common for Missy to ask us to groom her or engage in a game of tug o’ war. And as Missy’s partner in Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) I have definitely seen an increase in her excitement upon seeing the humans and her taking the initiative to engage us in a game of chase, just for the sake of play (as opposed to just brilliantly leading the humans to do her bidding like picking something from the garden or opening the barn doors up for her).

Missy is not a particular fan of having her photo taken (I can relate). But today she came up and sat next to me at the caging and just hung out. I always ask the chimps before I take their photo, which I did with Missy, and this is typically where she turns her back to the camera or takes off. But she tolerated me and the camera in her face and graced me with one, fleeting nano second of eye contact with those beautiful eyes. What a gift for us all. Then she pushed her lemon peel out at me, nodded her head, and took off for a game of chase.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Elliott Sumers!

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Anne Sumers sponsored this day of sanctuary in honor of her husband, Dr. Elliott Sumers, to celebrate his birthday! Anne shared this special message about today:

“Dr. Elliott Sumers is very fond of all the chimpanzees at the Sanctuary, and enjoys reading about the enrichment activities of Annie, Burrito, Jamie, Jody, and all the others as they enjoy the outdoors, playing with each other, and food treats. It makes Elliott very happy that the chimps have such a loving, good place for them to live, and that they have each other!”

Anne, thank you so much for your generous and compassionate gift for the chimpanzees and for wanting to share your husband’s special day with them.

We made a cake in Elliott’s honor yesterday for the chimpanzees. It’s probably not the kind of cake most humans would enjoy, but we’re betting the chimps like it!

elliott cake

 

Dr. Sumers, all of the primates here wish you a wild rumpus chimpanzee kind of celebration! Thank you for helping to fill the chimps’ lives with the joy, comfort, and family they are thriving in. Happiest of birthdays to you!

 

Jamie and Foxie:

Annie and Missy:

Annie Missy best friends

Negra play-biting Missy’s toes:

Jody in forage heaven:

Jody close-up forage queen

Burrito in a blanket!

Together:

Foxie and Jamie:

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Remembering a friend

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Nicki Walters in memory of her husband, Bill Walters. Nicki and Bill have been such good friends to the chimpanzees and we’re honored to celebrate Bill and the difference he made in life. In fact, we are privileged to celebrate the difference his life made here at the sanctuary every day. Nicki shared this special message about Bill:

“We lost Bill last year in July but not before he got to see in person the amazing Twister & the beloved Chimps playing on it. Missy was first up! It all started by sponsoring a day in honor of his Birthday, that ended up spreading to last more days. He loved animals and life and is very missed but knowing a tribute that benefits the magnificent 7 named after him with his nickname truly provides peace and happiness to all who loved him. This is a tradition that will continue on. He loved what all of you do, thank you for helping to give him so many bright spots on the dark days with your incredible posts and to all who made the Twister possible.”

Nicki, thank you so much for choosing to honor and celebrate Bill’s memory with the chimpanzees. All of us here at CSNW hold you and your loved ones in our thoughts and hearts.

I believe most of us have the desire to somehow say we were here, to mark our time and to know that our life made a difference – that we left the world a better place for having been here. The possibilities are as far-reaching and unique as each one of us. And I think all of us will leave having made differences we will never be aware of. But for seven chimpanzee people who live on a hillside outside a small town in eastern Washington, Bill and his loved ones made a difference which will continue to ripple throughout all their days forward.

The chimps’  first inspection of the Twister:

Missy, first to the top!

Bill and Nicki watch the unveiling:

Annie and Missy playing chase underneath:

Jamie keeping watch over her home from under her beloved crow’s nest:

Foxie and Dora on an adventure:

Burrito’s courage:

Jody:

Missy (top) and Annie (below):

Annie and Missy top of Twister

The Twister quickly became an important part of Jamie’s daily routine territory checks. Weather permitting, it’s the first place she heads each morning and the place she ends her day…or in many cases, her evening:

Jamie on Twister dusk

The Boss

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Most of the chimpanzees here at the sanctuary are pretty “low-maintenance”. Give Foxie some dolls and she can entertain herself for hours. Jody’s thrilled with a huge pile of blankets. All Negra wants is some peace and quiet and a patch of sun.

But Jamie is not easy to please. It would be fair to say that all Jamie requires is the unceasing, devoted attention of her caregivers almost every moment of the day. She might demand more of us – more time, more attention – than the other six chimps combined.

It’s hard to imagine someone with a personality like Jamie’s surviving decades in a research lab, where she wasn’t in a position to demand anything of anyone. The chimps experienced a lot of firsts when they moved here: fresh air, sunshine, good food, warm blankets, friends. But I think for Jamie, the ability to make humans do things for her is just as important.

It’s our honor to be bossed around by her.

Chimpanzee shenanigans

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Today the chimps started out arguing and fighting and ripping and hooting, a little more than usual. But whatever family business they had to work out seems to have been resolved and they’ve spent the afternoon lounging about and engaging in a variety of goofy and endearing shenanigans.

Jamie has a routine of building a nest in one of the front rooms and napping/supervising the humans as we clean the playroom. Even while at rest, she usually has a project or a plan in progress…

and today she chose this:

Jamie is very creative and often likes to repurpose her enrichment:

(Happy Jamie flailing about):

Viola! From sock to ankle bandana:

Later in the afternoon, Foxie joined Jamie nesting in the playroom. Here is a good example of different nesting styles – Foxie doesn’t like to use blankets, whereas Jamie gets pretty creative:

With these two, it isn’t long before wrestling ensues:

And here it is folks, the ever-elusive Jamie play face!!:

Foxie is the one person who can really get Jamie to cut loose. But Jamie takes everything pretty seriously (she is the boss after all) so even when she is in full play mode, we don’t often catch a play face. So we need that in a closeup:

Foxie laughing as Jamie play bites her hand:

And last, but certainly not least, I leave you with this guy:

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