Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

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Here’s Luckin’ At You, Kid.

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The “Lucky Six” chimpanzees just arrived a few weeks ago, but they already feel like part of the sanctuary’s family.

Within this charismatic group, Lucky stands out for being vigilant, independent, and strong-willed. Although she is a female chimpanzee, Lucky shares many physical traits with her brother, Cy: a dark face, intense stare, and bulky frame.

So far, she has generally maintained a serious demeanor with the humans and often observes us from afar. Even so, she occasionally “breaks character” to playfully present her belly, inquisitively examine our footwear, and demand cool drinks from the cleaning hose.

Given that Lucky likes to monitor her surroundings, it’s not surprising that she has taken to the upper levels of the multi-tiered greenhouse enclosures. Diana wrote Saturday’s blog post about these innovative spaces and how they give the chimps many opportunities to be comfortable and entertained. The blog entry also included the following photo of Lucky peeking through the upper caging.

It’s a familiar look for Lucky. From that secure and elevated vantage, she can look down on the human staff as we go about our chores, waiting for the right time to swoop down and let loose. In just a couple of weeks, I’ve already taken several photographs of her staring down at me from the platforms above.

Popular Cy-ience

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Today’s blog is all about magazines.

This may seem like an odd topic, but please bear with me. There’s a cute chimp video at the end. I promise.

As one would expect, a quick dive into the various Wikipedia pages for the term “magazine” is quite enlightening. The modern English version of the word derives from medieval predecessors like magasin (French), magazzino (Italian) and makhazin (Arabic) all of which were generally used to refer to one or more warehouses or storehouses.

Essentially, a “magazine” is just a place to put stuff. Hypothetically, a pantry could be a magazine for food, a garage could be a magazine for vehicles, and CSNW could be a magazine for rescued cattle and chimpanzees. However, for some strange reason, humans in English-speaking cultures stopped using it for almost everything except firearms, artillery, ammunition, film cameras, and periodicals. Huh?

It wasn’t until the 1700s that the term was first used to describe a collection of printed articles published on a regular schedule and distributed for a fee. It’s easy to confuse magazines with journals, although the latter are usually peer-reviewed and typically feature some sort of academic content. Since the earliest versions appeared on street corners, these printed “magazines” have become a widespread cultural phenomenon. Current variations range in scope from celebrity gossip to international affairs. Although the era of print journalism has been cut short by social media, magazines are still ubiquitous in some corners of society; they can be found in dentist’s offices, airport bookshops, and even your grandparents’ coffee table (next to the bowl of hard candies and the cookie tin that actually contains knitting supplies).

Ironically, everyone seems to have collections of magazines but few people have a good place to store them.

Fortunately, we at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest make good use of donated magazines by giving them to the chimpanzees as enrichment. Usually, we smear peanut butter or mashed banana in between some of the pages, leading the chimps to flip through the periodicals in search of an unpredictable treat. Sometimes, they shred the magazines and use the scraps as nesting material. Eventually, they all get destroyed, but it’s nice to see them have a second purpose instead of immediately going in the trash.

It’s one thing to skim a magazine in search of peanut butter and another to genuinely peruse the imagery inside. Of all the sanctuary’s resident chimps, only Jamie has ever appeared to enjoy flipping through books and magazines for entertainment’s sake, so we don’t expect the others to follow suit.

However, we were intrigued when one of the new group’s former caregivers told us that adult male Cy loves to look at magazines. Shortly after they arrived and began settling in, we were able to give his group a whole stack of publications, ranging from sensationalist tabloids to issues of Popular Science and National Geographic. His response was overwhelmingly positive, to say the least. The embedded video shows his reaction, including some of the funniest little chirps I have ever heard from a chimpanzee. Cy was so excited that he kept gesturing to his caregivers to reassure him and even asked us to add more magazines to the pile.

Finally, at the end of the day, Cy threw some magazines in his nest and settled down for the evening.

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Note: We’re all stocked up on magazines at the moment (our magazine magazine is full), but we’ll let you all know if we have a need for more!

Comin’ in HOT

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Hey everyone! It’s been a long week so far.

For one thing, the scorching heat is  r e l e n t l e s s .

Today brought record-setting temperatures to Oregon and Washington. Tomorrow will have more of the same. For comparison, it’s hotter than Guy Fieri’s wardrobe over here.

For actual quantitative reference, tomorrow’s forecast shows Cle Elum being 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than it’s ever been in the state of Florida (109F).

That’s correct. Our town nestled among the snow-capped Central Cascades will have higher temperatures than they’ve EVER HAD on ANY DATE in FLORIDA. It will also be hotter than it’s ever been in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and at least fifteen other U.S. states and territories. Tomorrow would be the hottest day ever in Washington… if we hadn’t already broken that record today.

To cope, our staff has been closely monitoring the doors and windows, cranking all the electric fans, and consuming a steady stream of popsicles, sports drinks, and good ol’ fashioned water. As all the smart people say, hydrate to dominate, baby!

Despite the sweltering heat, we’re excited to report that all SIXTEEN chimpanzee residents are doing well, staying hydrated, and keeping cool. Of course, those sixteen residents include the six newest arrivals: Cy, Dora, Gordo, Lucky, Rayne and Terry.

This group of adult chimps has been called “The Lucky Six” during the campaign to send them to sanctuary, but we’ll also likely refer to them as “Cy’s Group” since he seems to be their undisputed chief. While our own medical and caregiving records have less mutable designations for each group (e.g., Group C), it will be nice to have an informal and familiar way to specify which group we’re talking about.

We’re still getting to know the six chimps in Cy’s group, but it’s already evident that they all have unique personalities and complex social dynamics. As is tradition, we’ll be shining a virtual spotlight on each individual over the next few months so that you can all get to know them as well. In case you missed it, Kelsi announced their arrival and posted a few portraits on Saturday, and Katelyn followed up with more photographs in yesterday’s post (which was dedicated to those who cared and advocated for the six newcomers at their previous home). For now, we’ll continue to share what we can on the blog when we’re not busy taking care of chimps!

For today’s blog, I threw together a video using clips that our staff have recorded over the past few days. We look forward to sharing more in the near future, so please stay tuned and be patient! The new guys are amazing and we can’t wait to tell you more about them!

They’re Here! They’re Here!

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Today was a wild and crazy day, but they are here. They are home! Words can not describe how excited we are to get to know Cy, Terry, Gordo, Lucky, Rayne, and Dora’s personalities more. For right now they are settling in well. I have to warn you, Cy is going to steal your heart, well Terry too. And maybe Lucky. Oh, Rayne and Gordo! Well, and then there is Dora. She might steal your heart too. We are so exhausted so us humans are going to go home and sleep!  We will share more tomorrow :).

Lucky was the first to go into the playroom. She so brave and after exploring Playroom 3 she ran straight out into Green House 3.

Rayne <3

Terry <3

Two Blogs

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First of all, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all of you dads out there.

In case you missed it, two of our supporters sponsored this day of sanctuary in honor of their own fathers. Thank you for this generous and thoughtful gift, Sharon and Marya!

Just as we had dual sponsors for this warm summer day, I also had two distinct ideas for today’s blog.

Initially, I wanted to continue our coverage of Honey B, Mave and Willy B’s acclimatization to the new greenhouses. Kelsi posted a great video of their first forays into the unknown on Wednesday and new staff member Sofia added some amazing photos in her follow-up on Friday. Yesterday, Diana wrote a reflective, insightful and pertinent post about how chimpanzees cope with new experiences (which will likely be a common theme over the next few months!). My plan for today was to share additional photos of the chimps hanging out in the new greenhouse enclosures.

The new enclosures (featuring new caregiver Sam, for scale):

However, I also took a look at some photographs I created while strolling through the woodlands and pastures that surround the sanctuary. I feel like I should share them with all of you, too.

Since I couldn’t pick one theme over the other, I am going to “finance two birds with one loan” (as the common idiom goes) and combine them into this mega-post.

First, here are some images of the “California Three” enjoying their new digs.

Honey B (“Beezy” “Beesus” “Chickpea” “Honey Badger” “Bee”):

Mave (who had to investigate the bamboo before settling down for a nap):

Willy B:

Then, as promised, here are some cool nature shots from around the property.

This may be a Say’s Phoebe, although Katelyn would have to confirm that since she is our resident wildlife expert:

A long-tailed weasel (also known locally as a stoat):

A chipmunk:

The cliff swallows that have taken over the eaves of the Chimp House this summer:

One of the many black-tailed deer that frequent the property:

The view of Cle Elum from the higher area of the property:

 

A Royal Brunch

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In addition to today’s video, I am going to share the following message from CSNW Co-Director Diana (with a few current photos sprinkled in):
Wow!!! The Queen’s Brunch brought out so many generous people – thank you all so much!
Negra and her friends are definitely feeling the love right now.
Negra
The bidding is going on through tomorrow night at 8:00pm PT, so there’s still time to secure those things you can’t live without! We set the donation goal for sponsoring the journey of the Lucky Six at $110,000 – that’s $100 for each mile of their journey. And guess what?! We are less than $10,000 shy of that very ambitious goal.
Maybe we’ll reach it by tomorrow night when the auction closes?
Thank you for this incredibly warm welcome for the new six chimpanzees. 
Missy
We owe a big “thank you” to Cory, Brad, Kayla, and everyone at Auction Frogs for once again hosting the virtual event. Cory did an outstanding job as host-at-a-distance (with the help of Honey B and Negra, of course).
Annie
We just want to clear up some important information about the Lucky Six. They were born at a biomedical research facility. For the last 25+ years, however, they have been cared for at the Wildlife Waystation (WWS).
WWS rescued them from life as biomedical research subjects and was a pioneer in that respect. It closed in 2019 with 42 chimpanzees and hundreds of other animals needing to be re-homed. That’s when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife stepped in to manage the daily operations, still keeping on the caregivers who have been with the chimpanzees for decades.
The Chimpanzees in Need campaign then arose and is working to re-home the remaining chimpanzees, including the Lucky Six.
We are beyond thrilled to have been in a position to help the chimpanzees at Wildlife Waystation, including Honey B, Mave, and Willy B, and soon the Lucky Six. We look forward to continuing to help the campaign and see other groups of chimpanzees find their way to more accredited sanctuaries.
The new greenhouse enclosures!

The CSNW Mixed Tape

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One of the most flattering things you can do for someone is to compile a list of songs just for them.

Regardless of the medium, playlists are powerful way to express friendship, interest, attraction, love, respect, gratitude… or even to just say “this music is good and you’re cool.” It doesn’t seem to matter whether you record the tracks on a cassette tape, burn them on a blank CD, transfer them as MP3s to someone’s iPod, or share them as a link to a streaming service… the symbolic act of sharing a curated piece of your music collection seems to be timeless.

Today, I’ve put together a mixed tape for all of you followers because, to be clear, you’re all pretty cool. Each track in the playlist represents one of the sanctuary’s residents thanks to something in the song title, artist name, or lyrical content that relates to their personality. I’ve included photos of the corresponding chimpanzees and bovines for your enjoyment, with a link for listening at the end.

Without further ado, here are the tracks in recommended listening order:

  1. “Annie’s Song” by John Denver

    Denver wrote this song while admiring the Rocky Mountains from a ski lift. If anyone likes to admire alpine views as much as he did, it’s Annie.

  2. “Burritos” by Sublime

    If Burrito was a genre of music, he’d probably be something energetic and goofy that you can skank to… like Sublime’s legendary ska-punk.

  3. “Foxey Lady” by Jimi Hendrix

    Nobody rocked harder than Hendrix… except perhaps Foxie. It’s easy to imagine her writing a spicy song like this about her new favorite doll.

  4. “You Are Not Alone” by Mavis Staples

    Mave, like Mavis, can perform as a powerful individual or as a member of the group. Either way, they’re both smooth and soulful icons, and they’ve got your back.

  5. “Willy’s Song” by Rayland Baxter

    Although the themes are more serious, this is an upbeat Americana song for lounging in and exploring the outdoors (just like Willy B likes to do).

  6. “Honeybee” by The Head and The Heart

    This warm, melodic pop song by one of Washington state’s own is good for serenely making a big nest of blankets in your favorite nook. This activity also happens to be part of Honey B’s nightly routine.

  7. “Jody” by America

    Just as the namesake of this song stole folk-rock songwriter Russ Ballard’s heart, Jody’s tender nature will steal yours. She’ll take all your veggies, too.

  8. “La Camisa Negra” by Juanes

    This Colombian rock song was a hit in Latin America… and with my high school Spanish teacher, who made us translate it dozens of times. Thanks to those exercises, I now know that Negra means the color “black” in Spanish.

  9. “Honey, I’m Home” by Shania Twain

    Shania is beloved by divas and country folks alike, bringing her blue-collar heritage to stadiums around the globe. You know who else has a bold attitude and fashionable look despite staying true to her wholesome country roots? Honey, the matriarch of the sanctuary’s rescued bovines.

  10. “Betsy” by Billie Marten

    To be honest, I’m not sure what this muted, politically-charged song from 2019 has to do with Betsy, the rescued Jersey cow. Still, it’s a decent song and it’s the only one I could find with her name in the title.

  11. “Jamie All Over” by Mayday Parade

    The mid-2000s flavor of pop-punk was defined by anthems that rocked hard, but most of the lyrics alluded to awkward romantic themes that resonated with moody teenagers at the time. Jamie Chimpanzee, like so many of that genre’s defining hits, has a soft and sensitive core guarded by a tense and prickly exterior.

  12. “Nutmeg” by Ghostface Killah (feat. RZA)

    Is there a genre that successfully emulates the laid-back, confident demeanor of an enormous steer like Nutmeg? East Coast hip-hop with some R&B samples might do the trick. This track is something to graze on.

  13. “Missy” by The Airborne Toxic Event

    The SoCal band’s frontman wrote this about a person with the same name whom he admired, but sometimes I wonder if Missy would prefer some high-tempo music to work out to. A throwback jam by Missy Elliot, maybe?

  14. “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac

    Like Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham (who split during the writing of this amazing album), sometimes its best to go off and do your own thing. Meredith is the most aloof and independent of the cattle, so this song is representative of her spirit.

Anyway, that’s the random collection of songs that I’ve assembled for your listening pleasure. I even made the mix into a public playlist on Spotify, so you can stream it by clicking here if you have an account!

Let me know if there are any songs that remind you of the sanctuary’s primate and bovine residents, and I can add them to the list!