Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee rescue

Happy One Year Anniversary from Monica!

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If you’ve been following the sanctuary for any length of time, you’ve definitely heard the name Monica Best. She’s a generous donor who loves to encourage other generous donors by setting challenge pledges whenever we have a fundraising initiative. She played a large role in the expansion construction that’s happening right now. The sanctuary wouldn’t be what it is today without her support.

Of course she didn’t want the significant one-year anniversary of the arrival of Mave, Willy B, and Honey B pass without her sponsor-a-day acknowledgement and donation.

Monica has personally been through a lot these last several years and the chimpanzees and blog have provided some solace during tough times. I know many of you can identify with that.

I have been thinking a lot about the role of hope in our lives, both related to trying to help chimpanzees and getting through to the other side of difficult times, which is something we are all grappling with right now.

I found a quote that reminds me of Monica for a few reasons, and I thought it appropriate to share on this day that she has sponsored which was full of hope one year ago as the van pulled up to the sanctuary with three chimpanzees we barely knew:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

― Emily Dickinson

To put it mildly, not everything has gone according to plan this last year, but so much of the hope for the new lives of Willy B, Honey B, and Mave has already been realized as we have watched them play, explore, and relax in their new sanctuary home.

There are more chimpanzees at Wildlife Waystation who we must hold hope for as we collectively work to help them.

The construction crew is currently toiling away at the continued expansion so that we can welcome another group of chimpanzees to the sanctuary with Mave, Willy B, and Honey B supervising their labor that will also provide those three with more space.

Watching that scene this morning, and knowing it is possible because of Monica’s support and the support of so many of you out there, I found myself full of hope for the future, despite the current moment of unpredictability.

Happy arrival anniversary! Thank you, Monica, for sponsoring today and for inspiring hope.

Summery Sundays

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It was a scorcher today. With temperatures nearing the triple digits, everybody decided to take it easy today. Well, most of the day.

When we check the weather reports and find it’s going to be a hot one, the staff usually tries to complete our safety checks as soon as possible so the chimpanzees can go onto Young’s Hill before the sun goes into full effect.

Jody was the first one on the hill this morning, and she was super excited to be out there.

Look how piloerect she was.

She was so pilo, Annie thought something was wrong and went out to give her reassurance. But Jody was just really excited to be on the hill.

Though this may seem like an intimidating photo, Annie usually walks bipedally when she is on the hill and is a normal behavior for her. You can tell it was a peaceful interaction by identifying Jody’s relaxed lower lip.

Besides that brief period of excitement in the morning, the sun showed it’s force and everybody thought it was best to take it easy.

Willy B took a nap on his leopard print blanket.

While Mave decided the bench above him was the best spot.

The cattle even came by for their daily drink from the trough with Honey leading the way.

And I had to share this one because it looks like an album cover to a pop group. (L to R: Nutmeg, Honey, Betsy. Meredith was right behind them.)

At least some people were busy. The bumble bees were in full force, pollinating the vegetable and fruit plants growing in out vegetable garden.

One very specific plant in the garden the were near was our tomato plants, which are starting to bud.

I know this isn’t the case, but I like to believe they somehow know next week is Missy’s birthday! One can believe, can’t they?

I will leave you with the end of Jody’s Sunday with photos of her nesting.

Bonus photo of her when she moved her nest into another front room with Burrito.

I hope you all have a marvelous Monday tomorrow and great week!

Willy B on Repeat and Highlights of the Day

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The video above is a pretty good follow-up to the snippet of Willy B that I shared within this video a few weeks ago.

I took the footage for today’s video last week, but didn’t want to usurp Foxie’s birthday so I saved it for today.

For a glimpse of actual happenings today, visit our Instagram page, and behold some highlights below from the breakfast forage on Young’s Hill.

Missy slacklining on fire hose

 

Missy dismounting from the fire hose, showing off the benefit of opposable toes.

 

Jamie was just scratching her face in that image above, but I like how it looks like she might be saying, “oh, geez, Missy”

Jody once again dominated the willow forage:

and Negra seemed to be just fine with our secret lettuce-for-breakfast-outside weight loss plan aimed to slim her down a bit:

Day of Portraits

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Unlike yesterday, the chimpanzees were very lively today and I was able to grab some better photos!

The chimpanzees were given access to Young’s Hill just a couple minutes before breakfast. But five minutes was too long for Jody. She was the first one out and immediately began foraging for some local plant life that grows on the hill.

Jody must have also anticipated Negra waiting for her. She initially brought two back, but ended up with one, and Negra with the other.

Later on in the day, I found Foxie out in the Greenhouse.

Though this one is a little blurry, I still like the pose in it and would consider it a crime not to share anyway.

Also unlike yesterday, I was able to finally capture Willy B in all his handsome glory. I had to be quick though because after hearing the shutter of the camera, he raced to the caging to see his portrait.

Batting A Thousand

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I was sure batting a thousand today in terms of not being able to get any decent photos. Though, that may have actually described today’s feel. Not that there’s anything is wrong with it or anything bad happened, but it was just quiet. Really quiet. Suspiciously quiet.

The only decent photo I was able to get was right after breakfast of Burrito and Foxie trying to spy on their neighbors.

Once cleaning was over, that was it. The ladies all decided to keep quiet and to themselves in the most difficult of spots around the sanctuary to get photos. As evident by Honey B here.

It’s enough to know who it is, but not enough to get a decent photo of.

There were, however, two strapping gentlemen who were within sight. As some of you know though, these two gentlemen can be extremely difficult to get photos of. Each for their own reasons.

In one of many failed attempts to get photos of the Group of Seven, Burrito insisted it was not photo time, but another play time. I had to opportunistically get whatever photos I could during our play session.

Wait for it….

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A very blurry kiss to the camera!

So I tried my luck on the other side, again, in one of many failed attempts to get photos of the Group of Three.

As you may know, Willy B usually likes to be very close to the camera and makes it difficult to take photos of him. But I gave it my best attempt.

First he allowed me to snap this photo.

I had to show him what I was able to capture. Apparently he liked it because…

Wait for it…

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He wanted to kiss it!

Again, like the prior Burrito kiss photo, he was super close and out of focus. I thought it was just interesting both of them had done the same thing by trying to kiss the camera.

And one last “model” shot of Willy B. Though close to the caging and camera.

UPDATE:

I was able to get some photos during dinner that tells a semi-interesting story.

First, I was able to capture sweet Annie enjoying her corn at dinner. (Make note of the piece of corn at her feet.)

Then seemingly out of nowhere, Missy comes by and swipes the corn that was at Annie’s feet.

Annie didn’t seem too worried about it. If you looked closely, you can see only the very top of the ear of corn was left.

But also…

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Annie spotted the cob Missy was given earlier for dinner. Coincidentally it was with roughly the same amount of corn kernels still left. So I guess that’s not really stealing. More like a long roundabout form of trading.

Tutorial: How to Clean an Enclosure

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The blog often shows the highlights of each day, but we don’t always show the less-glamorous aspects of our jobs. As caregivers, most of our work day is actually spent cleaning, securing, and maintaining the spaces that the chimpanzees live in.

Just confirming that an area is safe for humans to enter is a chore in itself, and then each enclosure requires daily attention so that the chimps can be healthy, comfortable, and entertained. On top of that, there are always dishes to scrub, toys to wash, puzzles to prepare, and paperwork to organize.

This evening, I chose to demonstrate our standard procedures for cleaning and sanitizing a chimpanzee enclosure so that you can all partake in the fun!

The Great Watermelon Haul on Foxie’s 44th Birthday

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This video above of Foxie’s 44th birthday celebration has a little something for everyone. Well, except we did not get any photos or video of Mave or Honey B enjoying their watermelon boats. They did enjoy them, rest assured.

In addition to the watermelon bowl forage, which was a tradition began many years ago by volunteers, we also served smoothies (normally a breakfast-only thing) at both lunch and dinner. Foxie was appropriately appreciative.

Foxie’s was the first birthday we celebrated when the chimpanzees arrived in 2008. We knew her exact birth date because she was born in a laboratory and we had scant records of her years as a biomedical test subject that included her birth date, place of birth, and the number they assigned to her and tattooed on her body.

Those days must feel very, very far behind her today as she celebrated her 12th birthday in sanctuary.

What a gift to have all of these chimpanzees in our lives and to be able to give them good days.

Raise your watermelon bowl to many more!!