Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Third Day of Thanks – on Thanksgiving! – Featuring Julie & Jody

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This is the third post for our week of thanks highlighting seven donors that represent seven different types of giving, while also highlighting the seven chimpanzees.

If you missed the first two, day one featured legacy donor Bruce Davidson + Burrito and day two featured event donor Kathy Cochran + Annie.

Today we are featuring Julie Olson who has been giving a monthly donation to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest continuously starting in December of 2008 – that’s 107 (and counting) donations!

I really love to learn how donors have come to know about the sanctuary. This is what Julie shared about how her support  began:

My sister first made me aware of the chimps by showing me the KOMO news story. I sponsored Jody for awhile as a gift to her and pretty soon I was hooked! I sponsor Burrito now and I never miss a day checking up on how the chimps and caregivers are doing.

I thought Julie’s story was particularly appropriate for Thanksgiving because her donations to the sanctuary started as a gift for a loved one.

Like Julie, many of our monthly donors give through our Chimpanzee Pal program, where you can choose one of the chimpanzees (may I suggest Jody?) to sponsor as a gift for someone else or for yourself. You can even choose to sponsor the whole family! Alternatively, some monthly donors choose to give through our general donation page, and we make it an option for special fundraising campaigns too, like the upcoming Giving Tuesday campaign!

We are so incredibly grateful for monthly donations and want to send a big thanks to everyone who gives in this way. Having that steady stream of income to rely on for the day-to-day running of the sanctuary and care of the chimpanzees provides a sense of security.

As someone who also donates to other organizations, I also like to give monthly donations partly because it’s an easy – you sign up once and everything goes through automatically unless there’s a change with your credit card or bank.

I know that Jody has directly benefited from Julie and others’ monthly gifts. Just one look at a “then” and “now” photo shows what a sanctuary life has provided for her.

Jody Before
Jody on the day she arrived to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

 

Jody relaxing
Jody relaxing in the pool

 

Jody knows just what she wants and she lives her sanctuary life with a solid sense of independence but motherly concern for her chimpanzee friends. If I were a chimpanzee, I would definitely want Jody to be a part of my family group.

She’s not as concerned with spending time with the humans as some of the other chimpanzees at the sanctuary, which is another thing I love about Jody. She does, however give us humans the best bouncy greetings and is always eager to share her excitement about parties and meals with her caregivers. I’m about to go up to the chimp house now, and I’m willing to bet that we will share in an excited breathy-pant as Elizabeth and volunteers Patti and Grace are setting up the Thanksgiving party.

Elizabeth will be posting about the Thanksgiving festivities later today, but I’ll leave you with a few more photos of Jody.

Jody eating a banana

 

This last photo, taken by Elizabeth last year, is the November 2017 calendar photo. I forgot to mention in our last e-newsletter that our 2018 calendar is now available for purchase!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Second Day of Thanks, Featuring Kathy & Annie

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This is the second installment in our week of thanks highlighting seven donors that represent seven different types of giving, while also highlighting the seven chimpanzees.

As I mentioned yesterday in the first post highlighting Bruce Davidson’s legacy giving, we at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest have a lot of people to be thankful for every day, and there is not a single day that goes by that I am not actively thinking about how grateful I am for all of the supporters who make up the family of the sanctuary.

Today, I have chosen to highlight Kathy Cochran for her event giving. Kathy is a retired lawyer and a current photographer (check out her amazing photography here). She was an early donor to the sanctuary, starting in 2008. Here is why Kathy gives to CSNW, in her own words,

I represented pharmaceutical companies in litigation for many years, and in that capacity learned about animal testing as a part of gaining approval from the FDA.  When I heard about CSNW, I felt one way I could thank and apologize to these beings for their involuntary (and often unnecessary) servitude was to contribute to CSNW. I have since followed this sanctuary closely, and get a great deal of satisfaction knowing that this is an organization addressing the aftermath of society’s mistreatment of these intelligent and soulful beings.

What better chimpanzee to feature as the intelligent and soulful being that she is than Annie?

Annie chin hair

(above photo of Annie by J.B.)

Like many of the donors we’ll be talking about over the week, Kathy has given and shown her support in several different ways, including lending her artistic talents in designing promotional material and donating photos for our auctions. Raising her paddle during the donation portion of our gala events has been her “specialty” of sorts. Even on years when she wasn’t able to attend our gala, she made sure that there was a proxy bidder to make her donation.

Each year, auctioneer Laura Michalek has been able to leverage Kathy’s raise-the-paddle pledge to inspire others to give during the sometimes knuckle-biting portion of the auction. Kathy’s event donations have gone towards crucial general operating expenses, helped create a greenhouse out of the chimps’ original “outdoor” area, aided in the completion of Young’s Hill, allowed us to purchase and outfit a trailer into a veterinary clinic, and, most recently, have contributed to the Bring Them Home expansion fund for the chimpanzee building expansion.

That was fun to write all of that out, because it shows how integral event donations have been to the last nine years of sanctuary. Wow!

If you’re the type that plans ahead, or if you’re the type that tends to forget (that probably covers everyone, right?), and you’re able to get yourself to Seattle next spring, add the date for next year’s HOOT! gala to all of your calendars now: Saturday, May 19th.

Between Kathy today and Bruce and Burrito yesterday, I hope you are feeling the thankfulness and inspiration too.

 

Below are a few more photos of the beautiful Annie for even more inspiration.

 

This one, also taken by J.B., symbolizes how far Annie has come. Looking at her calm face as she is perched high up on the twister structure alone, it’s easy to forget the anxiety-filled Annie that we met when she arrived at the sanctuary.

Annie on twister

 

Annie knows herself so much better now, and her awakening has been a beautiful experience to witness.

annie with bit of tree

annie

 

Blowing off steam

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Mornings in the chimp house have been, well, shall we say a little intense the past few days. With what seems to be an early winter, changing routines and closer quarters at mealtimes, we usually experience a little adjustment period with the changing seasons. Breakfast is often pre-empted with the normal raucous and rowdy displays and cage rattling from Burrito (with some extra flare this time of year) which leads to the usual arguments and scuffles with the girls flying after him screaming at the tops of their lungs. Then with tensions high and breakfast being served in the warmer (but smaller) front rooms, it’s been every caregiver for themselves during breakfast service which has frequently involved dodging (if you’re lucky) flying feces from the boss lady. Most of this is normal chimpanzee behavior and all of it is understandable. We all have to blow off steam sometimes.

The chimps also sometimes choose to exert some sense of control over their changing routine or avoid tension in the group by choosing to stay in areas when we are attempting to shift them to others so we can clean. This is Missy’s favorite time to stay back on her own in the playroom and hoot and holler from the loft to her hearts content. Jody also loves to bring her snack into the front rooms when she sees me attempting to close the doors. I leave the area at which point she leaves the front rooms, but the second she sees me looking that way she runs back in. But as we’ve said many times, part of the importance and beauty of sanctuary is the chimpanzees having the choice to call the shots and make their own choices as much as possible. And we’re only too happy to follow their lead.

So after the breakfast kerfuffle, When this morning dawned warmer and somewhat sunny, we couldn’t have been more thrilled for the chimps to have the chance to spend much of the day outside zooming about, racing and running with each other and their caregivers, and just getting some space from one another, taking in the sights and getting some fresh air.

And while Negra still chose to stay inside in her cozy nest, she was entertained by no less than four caregivers dancing like maniacs as she nodded along with approval. It’s been a good day.

Burrito, Annie and Foxie (below):

Burrito and Annie:

Annie checking out the comings and goings of the sanctuary:

Missy:

Jody started to head back to the greenhouse with a favorite pine tree treat, but stopped short of going inside to check on all her friends. Jody spotted Foxie hanging out by herself and decided she needed to go collect her:

Jamie was thrilled to be out and about and has Kelsi running (literally) around the hill all the live long day:

Foxie’s mysterious relationship with dolls

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We will never truly know what it is about Foxie’s treasured dolls that she loves so much.

Foxie hug troll

 

We will never know what she is thinking when she is gazing at them.

Foxie gazing at troll

 

We will never know what tales she weaves when she is interacting with her dolls.

 

Do they speak to her?

Foxie listening to troll

 

Do they have individual personalities?

foxie hand holding troll

 

What we do know is that Foxie is a unique chimpanzee. We love her exactly as she is.

Foxie hoot face

 

We are so happy she found something that provides endless entertainment and makes her feel safe and happy:

Foxie bite dora

Foxie hugging blonde dora

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A Nod to Dr. Jane Goodall

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Thanks to CSNW board member Elizabeth List, J.B. and I recently had the opportunity to see Jane Goodall give a presentation to a small group of people hosted by the Seattle Foundation.

Here is Elizabeth and Dr. Goodall (you may be able to tell from this photo that Elizabeth was pretty excited to share a stage with Jane):

 

And here we are, in case you didn’t believe me:

jane with jb and diana

 

Like many other devoted fans, we’ve met Dr. Goodall several times over the years and have seen her speak in very diverse venues, and she never fails to be truly inspirational. She’s a force for good in this world. Her legacy reaches every corner of the earth, in both big and small ways. She is a groundbreaking animal behavior scientist, a role model for girls and women, and a voice of both compassion and reason in matters concerning the environment and animals.

In my world, her influence is present nearly everyday because she literally wrote the book on chimpanzee behavior. When we describe chimpanzee facial expressions, vocalizations, social interactions, and all other behavior, we are most often using the terminology that developed from the hours upon hours that Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees in their natural habitat. She published papers and books that proceeded it, but the quintessential academic book on chimpanzee behavior, that every primatologist has on their bookshelves, is called The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior.

I could say that this blog post is a nod to Jane Goodall’s work, but really almost all of our blog posts, and, indeed, the sanctuary itself, in the big picture, is thanks to Jane Goodall and her work that allowed us all a glimpse into the world of our closest living relatives.

As I’ve written before on this blog – my favorite chimpanzee facial expression is, as Jane Goodall named it, “relaxed face with drooped lip.”

Among all of the chimpanzees who I have worked directly for over the years, there is no one that illustrates that face better than Jody. Here are two photos that J.B. took of Jody demonstrating the perfect relaxed face with drooped lip:

 

Jody drooped lip

Jody drooped lip profile

 

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Happy Birthday, Vicki!

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We are sending birthday wishes to a very special person today.

Happy Birthday to Vicki Fagerlee, one of our favorite visitors, from all the chimps (and your loving family)!

Thanks to Vicki’s (human) family, Jim, Kim, and family for sponsoring the day in her honor!

 

May you take some time to rest, like Annie:

 

play, like Burrito:

 

spend some time with a loved one, like Foxie and Jamie:

Foxie doll on back

 

enjoy a treat (or three), like Jody:

jody shoulders

 

have an adventure, like Missy:

Missy tightrope walking

 

and end your day as comfortably as you began it, like Negra: