Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Happy Birthday, Jamie!!

October 31, 2017 by Katelyn

Ramona Isbell sponsored this special day of sanctuary in honor of our boss lady, Jamie, in celebration of her honorary 40th birthday! Or as it’s better known in the CSNW world, Jamieween! Ramona sent this message about her wonderful gift:

“Happy 40th Birthday Jamie! You and your friends have a blast of a day!! Love you, Ramona”

Jamie is one of the most intelligent, creative, willful, courageous people we know and we couldn’t have more admiration for her. With each passing year that we’re honored to know her, she surprises us with her beauty, strength, resiliency and adventurous and often mischievous – sometimes a little scary – spirit (hence, why we chose Halloween to celebrate her birthday!). You can learn more about Jamie here!

Ramona, thank you so very much for sponsoring today in honor of Jamie! It’s a celebration we look forward to all year long and we so appreciate your compassion and generosity in making Jamie’s day extra special for her and her chimp family!

Happy Jamieween, Jamie!! You are an incredibly special person and we love you so much! Here’s to a day and many years ahead of endless patrols around the hill (even in the pitch dark) for your adventurous soul (and of course, more cowboy boots than you or your caregivers could ever hope to wear on those adventures), projects and activities for your brilliant mind, and freedom and choice to express your amazing and creative heart. We love you, Jamie!!

Happy Jamieween Ramona and everyone!

For Patti and Doris Sims

October 31, 2017 by Katelyn

We have a very touching day of sanctuary to start this Jamieween day sponsored by Anne Roberson, Cheryl Baldwin and Debbie Watt in honor of one of our wonderful volunteer caregivers, Patti Sims, and in memory of Patti’s mother, Doris Sims. They shared this touching message about their lovely gift:

“We are making this donation to honor Patti Sims in memory of her mother, Doris Sims, who died on October 13th. We selected October 31st because it is Jamie’s 40th birthday and we thought that would mean a lot to Patti. She loves Jamie and all of the chimps so much.”

Anne, Cheryl and Debbie, what a lovely thing to do for Patti and the chimps. Thank you so much for honoring Doris in such a thoughtful and compassionate way.

Patti, we are all holding you in our hearts and thoughts and we’re so glad to be able to honor your mom with you today. You do so much to make a lasting difference in the lives of our fellow animals in the world and we hope this Jamieween brings lightness, comfort and some happy to your big, compassionate heart. Thanks for being part of our chimp family.

Patti, Lynn and the birthday lady, Jamie:

Jody and Missy:

A lavender haired troll

October 30, 2017 by Katelyn

The chimps have been enjoying another low-key beautiful autumn day and when they aren’t zooming around Young’s Hill, they are napping in a sun puddle somewhere. Many of the chimps chose to nest at the top of the sunny greenhouse for much of the day and among them we noticed a popular lavender-haired companion.

Annie:

Negra:

Good thing the chimps are resting up and enjoying these golden days because the chimp house is all a flurry with preparations for “Jamieween” tomorrow, Jamie’s 40th birthday! Pumpkins are roasting, gift bags are being stuffed and new cowboy boots are being shined. Happy Jamieween Eve everyone!!

T-Minus 2 Days

October 29, 2017 by Kelsi

The countdown to the spooktacular Jamieween has begun and we only have 2 more days left. The anticipation has been building and there are a lot of excited chimps and humans waiting for Tuesday to come. The chimps have been very active this morning and everyone has been exploring Young’s Hill. Unfortunately there were not many photo opportunities, but the chimps decided to save some energy for Jamieween and have been napping and grooming the rest of the afternoon.

Jamie walking the hill and staring out at the view (there were some cows in the field across the highway):

Burrito playing with one of our volunteer caregivers:

Negra:

Jody grooming herself:

There is still time to celebrate Jamie’s big day by becoming Chimp Pals with Jamie or any of her friends!

Burrito and Foxie

October 28, 2017 by Anna

In free-living populations of chimpanzees, male chimps are the dominant group leaders. At the sanctuary, this is not the case. While Burrito, the only male chimpanzee in the group, acts pretty tough when he chases the females around the playroom during his wild displays, he doesn’t really understand how to be a leader, and therefore doesn’t get the same respect in return. Most of his displays end when one of the girls has had enough, and starts leading the cavalry charge against him. Foxie is probably his best friend of the group and he looks to her for a lot of reassurance. Foxie is more than happy to be the calm presence in his life that he needs, but is also ready to put him in his place if he pushes her too far.