Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp

Besties on the hill

by

I have been completely amazed at how much time the chimps have been spending on the hill these days! The other day it was cold, cold, cold. But Annie, Missy, Jody, Foxie, and Jamie (or the “Young’s Hill superstar five”) spent almost 2 hours out there! Missy and Annie ran around playing chase and wrestling with one another the whole time. Jody, Jamie, and Foxie jumped in the games at various times, but Annie and Missy didn’t stop… maybe because they are best friends, or maybe it was just a great way to stay warm! Either way, they seemed to be having a blast!

The games rapidly alternated between Annie chasing Missy, and Missy chasing Annie

As the chaser, Missy’s technique to slow Annie down was to grab at her feet

Missy chased and wrestled with Annie on this climbing structure for a long time. They went ’round and ’round and ’round until Annie was able to escape onto the nearby rope bridge

Winter Break

by

It was gorgeous this afternoon! No wind (a rarity around these parts), clear skies and that welcoming yellow orb in the sky. Everyone except Burrito and Negra spent quite a bit of time on Young’s Hill enjoying this little break from winter. Burrito was very happy to grab snow from the raceway and Negra peaked out but went back to the warmth of her nest.

These two don’t spend much time with each other, but today Annie and Jody went on a little hike together:

Jody and Annie in the bamboo

Jody hid herself above the bamboo:

jody behind bamboo

Annie found a perch:

Annie perched on log

 

Meanwhile, Missy was busy with a large piece of ice she found in a tire:

Missy hold ice

Missy eat ice

Missy carry ice in mouth

 

Jamie was busy trying to stuff a tie (with a troll doll tied to it) into one of the holes in the treat rock:

Jamie stuffing tie into treat rock

 

and Foxie wandered all around with her dolls:

Foxie walking with troll dolls

Foxie walking with troll dolls 2

Two months since Young’s Hill

by

Today marks the two month anniversary of the opening of Young’s Hill. Coincidentally it was also volunteer Katelyn’s birthday, so we did have a small party for the chimps. It was only later that I realized we could have also considered it the anniversary party! Here’s some (hopefully) never before seen pictures of the first day on Young’s Hill. I can’t believe it has already been two months! In just that short amount of time we’ve seen the chimps grow more and more comfortable on the hill, and I expect that when next summer rolls around (and all the snow is gone!) they will stay for hours and hours basking in the sun and looking up at the open sky. I watched the KOMO news story again today, and it still warms my heart. It was such an amazing, emotional, and remarkable day.

Annie giving Missy a reassuring kiss
Missy playing chase with Negra
Annie
Burrito
Foxie
Jamie
Jody
Missy
Negra

iEnrich

by

Today is sort of rainy out, so we wanted to enrich the chimpanzees with some indoor activity. Sometimes we play the TV for them, which some folks seem to really enjoy. We also know that the chimps like to watch themselves in mirrors, so I thought they might be interested in “Photo Booth,” which is an App on the iPad (and it’s also on most Mac computers) where you can take pictures of yourself. Foxie and Burrito seemed to think it was pretty cool, and I’m glad we were able to come up with some fun rainy day enrichment.

Brandon Wood’s Fundraising for Chimps

by

You may recognize the name Brandon Wood or Make a Chimp Smile from previous posts or from other organizations. He’s truly an inspiration to me and to anyone who knows about him.

Brandon is always busy helping chimpanzees. Recently he’s been busy sending out letters to representatives and the president, encouraging them to support the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act. And now he’s doing a fundraiser for the Cle Elum Seven through his Etsy shop. He has really cool “chimp tags” and earth-friendly tote bags for sale, with proceeds going to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Show your support of Brandon and his work to help chimpanzees by shopping in the Make a Chimp Smile Etsy store and following his blog at makeachimpsmile.blogspot.com.

Here’s a photo of Brandon that I borrowed from his blog. He’s wearing and holding the chimp tags that he made to support great apes:

Brandon

Thank you for all you do, Brandon!

 

Update: how you can help chimpanzees

by

For Seattleites and other Washingtonians who missed the talk on Wednesday, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has posted information about how you can help chimpanzees by contacting Senator Patty Murray. Time is of the essence, so do this today. Find all the info you need here (including a link for those who live outside of Washington): http://www.pcrm.org/email/murray_letter.html

For those who did come to the talk – thank you! It was great to see both familiar and new faces. As we said on Wednesday, we are hopeful that biomedical experimentation on chimpanzees in the U.S. can end soon. Jody’s son Levi and all of the chimpanzees still used as experimental subjects need your voices to make this happen.

PCRM’s Research Policy Specialist Noelle Callahan and Director of Public and Government Affairs Elizabeth Kucinich visited the sanctuary yesterday. Normally shy, Burrito spent the entire visit staring at Elizabeth Kucinich. I do believe he’s in love.

In the photo below, left to right, is Sarah, Noelle Callahan, me and Elizabeth Kucinich.