Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee rescue

Happy 32nd Birthday, Cy!

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It’s Cy’s 32nd birthday!

His group arrived less than a year ago, so it’s the first birthday that he has celebrated at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Birthday Fairy Paulette Wrisley helped to make Cy’s celebration even more special by sponsoring a day of sanctuary in his honor. Thank you for remembering so many birthdays, Paulette!

Cy had a fabulous birthday today that included a library theme. Big thanks to Carpenter Memorial Library in Cle Elum for not only donating magazines and books to add to the celebration, but also for giving Cy an honorary library card!

Katelyn coined the term “magazineworm” to describe Cy, and he was certainly happy to have his passion recognized on his birthday:

Enjoy these close-up photos of Cy that Kelsi took during some quiet time today:

No celebration at the sanctuary is complete without a feast. On the lunch menu today were cherry tomatoes and lettuce as a forage and corn (a Cy favorite!) plus giant spring onions and passion fruit.

Jamie was the only chimpanzee out of the sixteen who demonstrated a passion for the passion fruit right away.

All of the other chimpanzees seemed pretty skeptical of this new fruit, but we did see Rayne and Dora collecting the discarded ones later.

Speaking of Rayne and Dora, Rayne really took to this Farmer’s Market book:

And here are some bonus photos of Dora close up, with different color tones:

Days like Today

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After taking in several days of great weather, we are back to winter conditions. What started off as rain, quickly turned into snow, with it supposed to last throughout the afternoon and into the night. With a day like today, the chimpanzees are spending most of the day in their nests on the upper story, where it is nearly impossible to get any photos. But who can blame them. It’s the perfect day to just cozy up and nap.

I was able to get some sporadic photos here and there though.

Terry greeting me in the morning.
Jody resting in the front rooms in her nest.
Mave came down for a few minutes before going back up to her nest.
Cy enjoying the latest gossip magazine.
Honey B with her turnips during lunch.
Honey B! (That’s a tomato seed on her lip.)

Happy Birthday Willy B and All the March Birthdays

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What a day of celebration! It’s Mardi Gras, spring is literally on the horizon, there are parties to be had, vegan beignets to eat…

Firstly, it’s Willy B’s 32nd birthday! And it seems each of the chimpanzee’s or bovine’s birthdays wouldn’t quite be the same without their friend and self-appointed birthday fairy godmother extraordinaire, Paulette Wrisley, sponsoring a day of sanctuary in their honor! (Our second generous sponsorship of the day!).

Paulette, thank you so much for your incredible generosity and loving heart for all who call the sanctuary home. We truly appreciate you helping to make Willy B’s special day, extra so.

To celebrate Willy B’s birthday and Fat Tuesday, Dr Erin baked some sugar-free vegan beignets with ground up dry coconut “powdered sugar.”

These were a hit!

It was very difficult to get photos of the birthday boy enjoying his with his powdered lips, but I was able to get one of Annie who also enjoyed the beignets!

Also on the menu for the birthday boy were mangoes.

Willy B also enjoyed one of his favorite food puzzles: Frisbee Puzzles.

And as Willy B’s party is winding down, we also want to wish Happy March Birthdays to all of you celebrating this month! Not only do you share your birthday season with big guy, Willy B, but also even bigger guy, Cy, who is turning 32 on March 12th.

As always, even when it sometimes feels most difficult, we get to be reminded there is also resilience and hope, beauty and imagination. (Note to selves: The chimpanzees are really good at showing us how this can look. And much to our grateful hearts, so are you).

Here are some additional photos from today!

Honey B enjoying her lunch.

Mango lips
Enjoying her chow and eggplant

Terry also enjoying his lunch.

Here for the Show

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Burrito spends a lot of his time spying on the neighbors, especially when said neighbors are in the Chute, which is close to his playroom’s windows. But he can even get glimpses of other chimps when they are in Lupine playroom.

What was catching his attention this afternoon was a lot of displaying from both of the other groups.

You probably know Cy by now as more of the quiet bookish type, but he’s also a large male chimpanzee who is more than capable of putting on an impressive display:

It’s not clear if Burrito wishes he were in the mix or is merely entertained/enriched by focusing on the goings-on of the other groups.

He’s certainly not the only one.

Missy was also keeping a close eye on things this afternoon, bounding up and down as a greeting when she glimpsed Terry in the Chute.

While we won’t be doing any introductions with Burrito’s group in the near future, it’s clear just having neighbors has added a very enriching element to their lives.

A Lucky Combination

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We continued with introductions today with Cy, Lucky, Willy B, and Mave. In the beginning, Willy B and Cy had to get out some displays… a lot of displays. It took them about 20 minutes to calm down and start grooming between the mesh. We gave them a few minutes before we opened the door. Any combination that includes Lucky and Mave is one of my personal favorites. Mave and Lucky get along really well and genuinely seem to enjoy each other’s quiet company grooming each other. Even when the boys are displaying before the door opens, Lucky and Mave usually seeks reassurance from each other regardless of who else in a part of the introduction.

Lucky and Mave

Willy B and Lucky aren’t the greatest of acquaintances. In fact, Willy B usually antagonizes Lucky during most of their meetings. But there are some windows of calm between the two.

Mave, Lucky, and Willy B

Then the “bromance” between Willy B and Cy continues. After they got their displays out of their system, they spent the rest of the afternoon grooming and playing. We could hear their laughs through out the whole Chimp House.

Willy B and Cy grooming

As a bonus, please enjoy these photos I took around the Chimp House today.

Overall, today’s meeting was very positive.

Dora

Cy

Rayne

Annie

Lucky

A celebration from the heart: Cherish the chimpanzees this Valentine’s Day

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Today the chimp house was full of celebratory festivities, and the cattle were frolicking in their pasture on this unusually spring-like February day.

Gordo reaching for a box full of goodies.
The boxes included blood oranges, strawberries, raspberries, and heart-shaped banana oat pancakes, as well as sparkling cider with raspberries.
Enjoying his bounty!

Spring weather always puts me into planning mode. As we’ve mentioned before, we have a very busy summer ahead as we complete new outdoor habitats for the chimpanzees. We’ll also be introducing the cattle to a new area of the property, so there are adventures ahead for everyone!

Betsy, Nutmeg, Honey, and Meredith!

In the past, we’ve had fundraising drives on Valentine’s Day. This year, instead, I wanted you to join me in planning mode. You can give with your heart today while also planning for the future by including CSNW in your estate plan.

With our well-into-maturity chimpanzees, you may wonder what our plans our for the long-term future of the sanctuary.

If you signed up to receive the link to the recording of the conversation I had with Jen Feuerstein about merging groups of chimpanzees (and you made it all the way to the end of that recording!), you know that we are thinking hard and carefully about the next steps for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Whether than means rescuing more chimpanzees or rescuing smaller species of primates, there is a lot ahead for this sanctuary, well beyond my life, I hope.

Creating an estate plan is definitely an action that comes from the heart, for your loved ones and their future. And it can make a generational impact on the organizations important to you. When you create your will, you’re ensuring the future of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and helping to provide future residents the promise of a sanctuary home.

This free online tool helps you create your will in just 20 minutes so you can secure the future for the human people and the chimpanzee people you love. If you have any non-probate assets not included in your will, you can use this secure tool to designate beneficiaries for those assets and make your plans.

Thank you for making this Valentine’s Day so special.

Annie enjoying the banana oat pancake!

If you’ve already included us in your plans, please fill out this form to let us know; I want to thank you for your kindness!

Other financially clever and more immediate ways to provide hope, love, and home include giving from your IRA or donating your appreciated assets.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the ways that you give your hearts to the chimpanzees and the bovines too.

Dora enjoying here box of goodies!
Willy B grabbing as much as he can in Riverview.
Cy with armfuls of goodie bags!

More Love for Rayne

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Rayne has charmed many supporters since arriving at the sanctuary last June, including Monica Best, who is another person who is sponsoring today’s day of sanctuary in honor of Rayne’s birthday! Thank you, Monica!

There is no doubt that Rayne is someone to be admired. We knew that Rayne was a strong individual, considered the female leader of her group (with Cy being the male leader) by those who cared for her at Wildlife Waystation. When she first arrived, she was a little slow to show her silly side, but once she settled into her new home and decided she could trust us, Rayne really warmed up to all of her caregivers. She greets us with friendly breathy pants and will play great games of chase throughout the building. She likes boxes, scarves, slinkys and smoothies, all of which she is enjoying in abundance today.

Today is the first birthday Rayne is celebrating at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. We think she makes 32 look pretty great.