Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Being Chimpanzees

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One of our primary goals here at the sanctuary is to allow and encourage the chimpanzees to act like chimpanzees, in as many ways as possible. A big part of being a chimp is being around other chimps – something that many lab chimps are denied. As much as we caregivers love playing, grooming, and just hanging out with our chimp friends (and we’re always there for them if they want our company), we always prefer to see them enjoying the company of other chimps.

Some chimps, like Missy, tend to prefer chimp company over human company, while others, like Burrito, usually seek out humans to play with. So it’s especially rewarding to see a guy like Burrito just be a chimp with other chimps.

Chimpanzees: Always Curious

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It’s important to have priorities in life, and the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest are good at deciding what is top priority (usually food) and what is a close ranking second, as you’ll see in the video below.

Here’s what the back of the lower mount for the GoPro camera looks like. I caught this photo last week of Annie standing next to it. The steel mount, custom made by J.B., has a hinge and opens up to slip the camera in and then has a padlock to secure it.

Annie looking at GoPro mount

Annie’s 40th

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We celebrated Annie’s 40th birthday today! Her exact birthday is unknown since she was captured in the wild, but her records indicate that she was born sometime in 1974, and today is the day we picked to celebrate it. Annie certainly doesn’t act 40 at all! She’s still very young at heart—she shows her playful side daily when wrestling with Missy or running around Young’s Hill.

We wanted to celebrate her special day with some of her favorites—green grass, beets, green onions, piñatas, buckets of water, shovels, and chow! Thanks to some supplies Lisa Stuverud brought us we had a fun colorful party with new enrichment, too. We set up a breakfast forage first, and then volunteer Becca served Annie’s favorite veggies at lunch.

Here’s the party setup:
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I love this photo — you can see the juice from the tangerine spraying to the side! Good shot by Elizabeth.
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Annie with a mouthful of chow (she loves to wadge chow!)
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Annie loves green grass, so we picked some for her and included bunches of it in their breakfast forage:
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Some of her favorite veggies are green onions and beets:
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The other chimps enjoyed the party too! Burrito the charmer practically posed during the forage for this photo:
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Everyone loved the fruit! Here’s Jamie:
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Jody:
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Foxie:
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Missy loved the green grass:
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And Jody ended up getting the piñatas (there was a Dora the Explorer piñata too, but that was torn up before we could snap a photo!)
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Foxie got a new troll and some knuckle rubs from Diana, which made her laugh:
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And Negra spent a lot of time in hard-to-see spots during the day, but I did get this picture of her beautiful relaxed face:
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Happy 40th Birthday, Annie!

Annie and Foxie

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Foxie and Annie both have a habit of getting mouthfuls of water and holding it for awhile. Annie sometimes uses the water later to wash her face, and Foxie tends to just take her time to slurp. Today they happened to both have mouthfuls of water, while in the playroom, and while looking at each other. They look like they’re having some kind of stand off.

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Then Annie started to groom Foxie (they still had their mouths full) briefly.

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And Foxie looked through some enrichment, testing out the trolls that were in front of her.

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Portraits Added to Online Auction

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I’ve just added a few more awesome items to the Summer Biddin’ Online Auction!

I couldn’t let it go without having a portrait of each of the chimpanzees available for bidding on, could I? The photos are being printed on metal, which gives them a really neat luminescent quality that I know everyone will love.

So, don’t delay in getting your bids in on the below items and all the other items too, and don’t forget to give a little towards the Summer Lovin’ party too!

Bidding ends at 7:00pm PT unless an item goes in to a Bid War. Be sure to watch – it’s going to be fun to see which items continue to get bids after the closing time!

Thanks to everyone who made the Summer Biddin’ Online Auction possible and to everyone who is participating! The chimpanzees really appreciate your support!

last minute auction items

All About Foxie

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Foxie, as you probably know, is quite the charmer. She is apparently also muse to several artists. Did you notice the Foxie theme in the Summer Biddin’ online auction? Take a look at the photo below that launched a thousand (ok, more like three) paintings:

foxie muse

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Original Foxie textured acrylic painting by Sandra Casti available in the Summer Biddin’ online auction: www.chimps.afrogs.org
Foxie watercolor in mat by Lynn Cornnish
Original Foxie watercolor in mat by Lynn Cornish available in the Summer Biddin’ online auction: www.chimpsnw.afrogs.org

 

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Print of Foxie from original painting by Laura Heggs available in the Summer Biddin’ online auction: www.chimpsnw.afrogs.org

 

In addition to those three Foxie-inspired art pieces, the below two pieces are also available for your bids!

Foxie Close-up
Foxie Close-up original watercolor in mat by Lynn Cornish available in the Summer Biddin’ online auction: www.chimpsnw.afrogs.org
This photo will go to the winning bidder printed on 16" x 16" metal by Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
This photo will go to the winning bidder printed on 16″ x 16″ metal by Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. www.chimpsnw.afrogs.org

 

And if that’s not enough Foxie for you (how could anyone have too much Foxie?), here are a few photos taken today, when Foxie was out with the gang foraging for lunch during a light shower. If you look closely, you can see the rain:

 

Foxie walking

Foxie in the grass

Foxie eating

Foxie by hammock

Happy bidding, everyone! The online auction ends Monday at 7:00pm PT

Chimpanzee Photography Experience & Online Auction Opening Soon

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I mentioned the other day that some 2013 HOOT! auction bidders had cashed in their photography experience at the sanctuary that they won at the gala.

Right now, we are gearing up for our Summer Biddin’ online auction. While we don’t have a photography session, we do have a really amazing and unique experience to bid on: a Backstage Pass to the Sanctuary!

Bidding for all items opens Thursday morning, and items are still being added, but you can and should (right now) check out how you can help us throw a spectacular Summer Lovin’ Party for the chimpanzees and get some perks for yourself in the process.

Back to Saturday. Martha and Susie were the first winning bidders for the photography session. They had a great time at the sanctuary learning some new photography skills from photographers Karen Ducey and Dean Rutz. They set up photography camp on the observation deck and learned the ropes of the professional equipment that Karen and Dean generously loaned.

Martha and Susie taking aim

Martha and Susie practicing

Martha and Susie happy

And they got some really amazing photos!! Below are just a few.

Annie:

Annie on young's hill

Foxie:

Foxie pull up

Foxie on platform

 

And birthday-girl Missy, looking like her athletic self:

Missy on fire hose

 

Not only was it Missy’s birthday on the day they visited, it was also Martha’s! Karen was kind enough to bring a birthday cake, which of course we adorned with some CSNW style:

Martha's bday cake

 

Martha and Susie also took a walk with J.B. around the hill with Jamie of course following on the inside of the fence. Ellie the elk was hanging around the property and joined them too:

Ellie, J.B., Martha, Susie

 

You just never know what adventures await at the sanctuary, especially on a party day, which is why you should get ready to bid on the unique Backstage Pass experience and help us throw a great end-of-summer party! You don’t have to wait until Thursday to make your Summer Lovin’ party donation – do it today!