Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee retirement

Looking back

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I snapped these photos the other day of Jody nesting in the front rooms:

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and they reminded me of an early photo of Jody, taken in the same spot, in one of her first nests at the sanctuary shortly after the chimpanzees arrived here.

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I didn’t yet work at the sanctuary when the above photo was taken a little over five years ago, but I followed the blog closely as the chimps arrived from the lab and got settled into their new home. When I saw the first photos of them, I remember thinking how beautiful they were. Now looking back, they all look like ghosts to me. I couldn’t have imagined, seeing those first photos, what the chimps would become with a little good food, freedom, and love.

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Young’s Hill party forage

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I mentioned earlier on the blog that today is the second anniversary of the opening of Young’s Hill. Watch the video of their first day out here and check out the previous post for some photos of the chimps on that very emotional and moving day!

Today we wanted to celebrate the anniversary in the best way we know how for chimps—a big food forage! The chimps usually are served their meals (so we know that everyone is getting appropriate portions) but a few times a week we do put out a forage for them to do what chimps would do in the wild. In order to scatter the food around and make the forages last for awhile, we usually cut up the food into small chunks so it takes some time for them to find everything.

This time, we not only included a fruit salad of some chopped peaches, raspberries, and grapes, as well as baby carrots and green onions—but we also included WHOLE apples and tomatoes. The chimps were so excited as we headed out to spread the food around! Mixing things up like that keeps the chimps super enriched and happy.

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Everyone really loved all the whole apples and tomatoes! Jody was the first to get a hand (and mouth) full!

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Jamie collected at least four apples:

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Annie:

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Burrito searching for goodies:

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And then taking a quick rest:

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Foxie:

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Missy:

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Thank you so much to everyone who helped with Young’s Hill, and to everyone who has helped the Cle Elum Seven along this amazing and considerable journey!

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Jamie helps flush the drain

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Jamie is always trying to help us get our jobs done the right way. Sometimes she helps scrub the mesh fencing for us, other times she wipes the floor down. She monitors us while we clean, almost as if she is there to make sure we are doing it right!

Yesterday I caught her doing something new: holding down one of the water spigots. I’m not really sure why she was doing it, but it went on for quite awhile! Jamie wasn’t being very environmentally friendly… but she was helping us flush the drain.

In honor of Deb Wagman

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Today was sponsored by Charlie Neath in honor of Deb Wagman. Charlie shared, “I love Wagwoman and what she does!!!!”

Deb is a volunteer caregiver here at the sanctuary and comes all the way up from California every month to give her time to help care for the chimpanzees. She and her husband, Bruce, are passionate advocates for the rights and well being of all animals. They are long time supporters of CSNW and generously help us provide sanctuary for the chimpanzees in countless ways.

Charlie, thanks so much for honoring Deb and the chimpanzees! As you can see, Burrito is a fan of “Wagwoman” as well!

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Virtual tour of the chimp house

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All the time we refer to different places in the chimp house on the blog—you’ve probably seen us write about the front rooms, the playroom, the greenhouse, and of course Young’s Hill. I can imagine that it might not make a lot of sense for the majority of our blog readers who have never seen the inside of the sanctuary!

So with this in mind I put together a virtual tour. I am a very visual person, so this sort of thing would help me out a lot and I’m hoping it helps you all too! For an idea of how the normal day goes, read this blog about the daily routine.

I also thought to include a map of the chimp house. You’ll notice a lot of letters and numbers between the rooms—these are the different chimp doors. Since we never enter the enclosures at the same time as the chimpanzees, we have another person check the doors before we unlock for cleaning. It’s nice to have a label for each door when we report our checks to the staff caregiver who is unlocking.

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Chimp ID: Burrito

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This is Part 2 of our series of blog posts on chimpanzee identification. (For last week’s post on Annie’s distinguishing characteristics, click here.)

Burrito is the only male in the Cle Elum Seven, and he is probably the easiest chimp to identify. For one thing, he’s a guy:

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People often comment that Burrito is “fluffier” than the other chimpanzees, and that’s because his hair is often pilo erect (standing on end due to excitement):

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Unlike Annie, Burrito has lots of white coloration on his face:

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He’s missing the top of his right ear:

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And of course you can always tell Burrito by his charm:

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Happy Birthday, Jean!

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Today was sponsored by Carolyn Clarke in honor of Jean Sheldon and the Cle Elum Seven as a gift to Jean on her birthday! Carolyn and Jean, thank you both so much for caring about the chimpanzees and thinking of them today. We wish you the happiest of days, Jean!

And if you need any ideas on how to spend your day, Jody is definitely a lady who knows how to enjoy herself!

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