Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Happy Father’s Day, Robert!

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Sharon Langone is sponsoring this day “in honour of my Dad, Robert Kelly! Happy Father’s Day, Dad!”

Thank you for celebrating the chimpanzees and your Dad on this special day, Sharon! We so appreciate you thinking of the chimps in this way.

Happy Father’s Day, Robert! The two chimpanzee men at the sanctuary, Burrito and Willy B, aren’t fathers, but we suspect they might have some suggestions on how to celebrate today:

Willy B taking in the great outdoors:

Being doted on by family and friends:

Napping in a sun puddle:

And Burrito, well, if you know Burrito you’ll know he thinks no day would possibly be complete without an abundance of #1) Food:

And #2) Being wild and laughing a lot:

Different ways of getting around

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This post was originally about family. I was writing it in my head throughout the day. I was going to talk about how the chimpanzees at the sanctuary are really a lot like other families because they did not choose to be together, but they had to figure out their relationships and find the things they liked about each other.

More words, hopefully an interesting insight, blah, blah, blah.

Then I watched the video clips that I had taken and I was fascinated just by the way the different chimpanzees in the clips moved.

If you’ve ever been hanging out at a race to cheer on a friend or relative running, I’m sure you were surprised by the variation in the way that human beings move their bodies when they are running. There are a few people who look natural and graceful while running, but most of us are a bit on the awkward side of things when it comes to speedy locomotion. I think the same can be said for chimpanzees.

We primates will not be mistaken for cheetahs anytime soon, but we do okay getting from one place to another, and sometimes, like Missy and Burrito and Jody and Foxie in the video above, we can have fun doing it.

Bonus photo of Annie’s sporty look today:

In memory of Ashley

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Today, Cynthia McCloskey sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in memory of Ashley McCloskey:

“This day marks six months of missing Ashley. Ashley loved animals and we’d like to honor her memory today by sponsoring a day for the chimpanzees. She would love this, doing something for animals in her name. We love you and miss you Ashley! Hope all the chimps have a great day today. We love following their stories.”

Cynthia, we’re so sorry for your loss. Our hearts are touched by your choosing to honor Ashley in this way for the chimpanzees, thank you. We hope some of the comfort and joy you’ve helped provide the chimps surrounds you and all of Ashley’s loved ones as you hold her in your hearts today, and always.

Annie and Missy grooming one another:

Missy and Annie:

Annie:

The challenge of photography

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Taking photos of chimpanzees in captivity can be a challenge. For human and chimpanzee safety, caregivers never go in the enclosures with the chimps. Since we can’t share the same space as the chimps, staff take all the blog photos and videos through a mesh or wire barrier that separates us from the chimpanzees and vice versa.

We get a pretty common question when first time followers see photos like this of Jamie next to the caging:

Fortunately, Diana wrote an easy to reference blog a couple of years ago to answer the question “Why are the Chimps in Cages?”

Sometimes the mesh makes a nice but unintentional little halo around your photo subject, but usually it just makes it hard to focus the camera on the subject.
Mave:

An added challenge to taking photos of the chimps is the chimps themselves…

We might see special moments like Burrito carrying a Dora doll in his mouth and sitting in a well-lit window. We run to get the camera, then of course, as he sees us coming, he demands a game of chase rather than a photo shoot.

Or we might be taking photos of Missy grooming in the greenhouse…

And know that Jamie is waiting for us to groom with her instead:

Tools and poky chimp fingers can make photo taking risky:

And the new 3 are often too close to the camera because they love looking at screens. So sometimes it’s safer to point and shoot without looking in the view finder and see what the camera focuses on.

Please enjoy these photos I’ve titled ” Willy B: Up close and oddly focused”:

Pre-Lunch Naps

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After cleaning the enclosures today, I set off on my journey to find the chimpanzees and ask to take photos of those who were willing. On a normal day, they would be scattered about between their different areas. However, today was a little different.

With the weather bouncing back and forth between light rain and sunshine, it has brought the perfect conditions for napping. Throughout the entire day, it wasn’t too difficult to find any of the chimpanzees. A majority of them were found on the top platform in the Greenhouse, the perfect napping spot.

Annie gave me a quick glance over when I walked up, before rolling over to continue her nap.
Jody grabbed some blankets to ensure maximum comfort for her lounging around.
Even Jamie took most of the day off to lounge around. Even the Boss needs at least one day off from monitoring those pesky humans.

Though it seemed there was nothing that could ever convince any of them to get out of their perfectly cozy spots, lunch arrived and they all sprang up. On today’s menu was carrots, onions, and tomatoes.

Jody savored every bite of her carrot.
Burrito had some minor difficulties juggling his food.
But once he got it, he was in Noms-ville.

Most of the chimpanzees are now tucked away for the night in their nests. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Will it be another lazy day, or one filled with adventure.

Bonus photo of Annie enjoying her slices of dinner orange.

Happy Birthday, Julie!

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Many thanks to Karen Olson who is sponsoring this day of sanctuary in honor of her sister, Julie Olson:

“Happy Birthday to the best sister anyone could ever have!”

As you may recall, we recently celebrated Karen’s birthday which was sponsored by Julie! It’s an incredibly uplifting and hopeful thing when we get to see those of you who are family and friends choose to celebrate one another by coming together to contribute to the chimpanzees’ lives, their well-being and happiness. To count them as part of your family.

Happy Birthday, Julie! We’re so grateful to you and Karen for all you’ve done, and continue to do, to ensure the chimpanzees and cattle have days full to the brim with the best we can possibly provide them. All of us here at CSNW send you wishes for the happiest of days!

Missy and Annie: