Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Happy 48th Birthday Missy!

August 23, 2023 by Kelsi

Today we celebrated Missy turning 48 years young! Life with Missy is a very fun ride. She is a loyal friend to her very core, she would do anything for her family, she is adventurous, she is attentive, she is thoughtful to the ones she loves most, and also she is fast! As you can see from the video, Missy was not disappointed in her party. Watching Missy try to carry 7 giant tomatoes in her arms is an image that I hope we all cherish forever. Something that may not surprise any of you is that she also requested more tomatoes at dinner! I made a very long video, which has now left me here late at the chimp house. I will leave you with the extra long video and a few photos captured from today.

And our heartfelt thanks goes out to Paulette Wrisley, the second wonderful human to sponsor today in celebration of Missy and the amazing chimpanzee woman she is. We are so grateful to Paulette and Marcie for helping to make today special and for helping to ensure Missy could eat tomatoes to her heart’s content.

Missy on the Hill his morning:

Our vet Erin captured these beautiful photos of Annie and Missy!

Annie:

The Birthday girl:

Eventually Missy had enough of the camera and turned her back on all of us (very Missy):

Then and Now

August 21, 2023 by Grace

Hi, everyone!

I’m sure you’ve seen us talking a lot lately about our upcoming HOOT! Fundraising Soiree and Mission Gala. I think I can confidently say that it’s our biggest event each year and I’m proud to be on the team working to put it together for you. It’s a pretty wonderful group of passionate humans to work with that includes current and previous staff members, as well as volunteers.

One of the things I’ve been working on lately is some of the videos that will be playing at both the in-person and virtual event. This task has had me searching through photos, videos, and blogs from the very beginning of CSNW. From day one, we have made it a priority to be transparent and honest with you in our daily blog posts as we share our residents stories. This has led to a rather impressive blog archive- with the first post being from October 15, 2007 by our founder Keith LaChappelle. One of the most amazing things about this archive is that it shows, in real-time, what has been made possible by our supporters.

I have been involved with CSNW since I was a graduate student at Central Washington University in 2017. CSNW was founded in 2003 and the Cle Elum Seven arrived in 2008, so I know that my time here so far has been a short blip in the grand scheme of things. I still wasn’t prepared for how much looking back through those initial posts would hit me right in the feels. I wanted to take the opportunity to share a few of them with you- as a thank you, as a reminder of why we do what we do, and as an ask for the future.

On December 7, 2007 Keith posted a photo of the original kitchen addition:

Flash forward to 2023, the CSNW Chimp House currently looks like this (from the front):

And, with the two additions for Honey B, Willy B, and Mave and the Lucky Six, from the back it looks like this:

To see the growth of the sanctuary itself is special, because it symbolizes the home and care we can provide to our original and newest residents. These photos don’t even touch the other massive construction projects that have been completed- the renovation of Young’s Hill, for example, into the Young’s Hill / Bray side-by-side outdoor enclosure. Or, the addition of our little herd of cattle that joined the family in 2018.

What really hit me, though, were these photos.

Jamie, Negra, and Jody just after arriving at CSNW:

From then, to now- Jamie, Negra, and Jody (from March this year, before her passing):

These before / after photos don’t include Missy, Annie, Burrito and Foxie- not on purpose, but merely because I don’t wan’t to overwhelm with photos. If you have the time, though, I would highly recommend looking back through those initial posts.

Sometimes, I think it’s important to look back at how far we have come- especially when it comes to our residents. We have the absolute privilege of caring for and loving these souls, whether we are near or far, and with that privilege comes a lot of responsibility. This responsibility is day-to-day, with direct care, but it is also long-term. It would be a disservice to them to not look to the future and wonder how we can continually do better for them, as well as for others who still need sanctuary.

This is why events like HOOT! are so important- so that all of us who love and care for these individuals and causes can come together to support them.

So that we can look at how far we have come, as we also look to the future.

Thanks for going on this trip down memory lane with me. 🙂

Foxie & Her Disney Princesses

August 16, 2023 by Kelsi

As we have mentioned the past few days, it’s HOT, but we are almost through our excessive heat advisory! Foxie’s way to beat the heat is to eat cucumbers and play with her new Disney dolls. This morning we gave Foxie a few new dolls that were belated birthday gifts! Foxie’s eyes lit up when she saw the princesses, especially Mirabel from Encanto! Later, we handed her a Bruno doll she has never had before. Foxie was very curious about it!

Foxie’s girl gang:

Bruno- (sadly Bruno eventually lost his head…):

Foxie crunching into her cucumber:

I think we should do some bonus photos!

Sweet Lucky. A world without Lucky would be a travesty:

Jamie:

Dora resting before breakfast:

Honey B eating chow series:

Gordo 🙂

Moments Like This

August 9, 2023 by Kelsi

As caregivers, there is a lot going on all around us. We often catch quick glimpses of fun, sweet, or playful interactions between the chimps or even with caregivers. Today, I thought I would share just a few of the infinite special interactions we see throughout the day at the sanctuary or if we are lucky enough, get to be apart of.

Throughout the week, caregivers will often stumble upon a sweet grooming session, goofy play match, or someone being mischievous (aka Honey B). Last Saturday, something so funny and spectacular happened. It honestly might be one of my favorite moments with Honey B thus far, and there are a lot of favorite memories with Honey B. I was trying to to serve Willy B pudding, which was laced with meds, because well Willy B is a hard chimp to give meds to and pudding is usually a last stitch effort (a Hail Mary if you will). In attempt to increase my odds of Willy B taking his meds, I offered non-med pudding to everyone else so Willy B wouldn’t question his pudding (it worked like a charm). Sometimes if he knows we added meds to it, he will refuse. While I was offering Dora pudding, she swiped the spoon quickly and walked away. Honey B came over to me right as Dora walked away because it was her turn for pudding! I asked her if she could get the spoon from Dora because I had no other way to serve it. Honey B had no problem kindly taking the spoon from her friend Dora’s hand and returned it to me promptly so we could continue :).

There are so many amazing moments, I hope you enjoy the video 🙂

Bonus photos from Foxie’s party yesterday!

Jamie very proud of her collection of pineapples bowls:

Annie’s sweet face full of pineapple:

Missy enjoying her pineapple:

More bonus photos!

Missy watching her friends go out on Young’s Hill this morning:

Negra holding one of Foxie’s new dolls in her pelvic pocket:

Negra nesting this morning:

Foxie with her new orange blossom:

A Day for Foxie!

August 8, 2023 by Grace

Today was a busy, fun, crazy, happy day here at CSNW! We celebrated sweet and sassy Foxie’s 47th birthday- can you believe it?

She makes 47 look pretty darn great. 🙂

And we’d like to give our heartfelt thanks to Paulette Wrisley for sponsoring Foxie’s special day of celebration! It means so much to us to be able to honor Foxie, and each of the chimpanzees, for the amazingly special individuals they are.

We kicked off the celebrations with a delicious smoothie for the birthday girl, who loves smoothies and holds her own cup every morning. She got new dolls throughout the day, enjoyed a pre-party party, and then had a forage on Young’s Hill complete with Pineapple Bowls (!) full of yummy fruit, bok choy, cucumber, and cabbage. Despite the weather being quite warm, everyone went out on the Hill and was able to grab at least one pineapple bowl. Cy’s group also enjoyed pineapple bowls with lots of fresh goodies! Be sure to check out the video for more.

If you are new to following us, Foxie was born on August 8th, 1976 at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. According to our records her mother, Winny, passed away at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in 2013. Foxie was used in hepatitis vaccine research and as a breeder while living in the lab. She had four babies- all of whom were taken from her when they were very, very young. In the wild, chimpanzees rely heavily on their mothers for many years and live with them through their adolescence. The practice of taking infants from their mothers in laboratories has long-term harmful impacts on both the mother and the offspring- I, personally, cannot imagine this sort of trauma.

When she came to sanctuary, she adopted a doll within the first month here. This single doll has turned into quite a collection and she has one, if not two, babies with her all the time. She enjoys games of troll toss and will often give one of her caregivers a doll to ‘babysit’ for her. She lets us know when she’s ready to have them back by blowing raspberries in the loft of the playroom by the human kitchen. 🙂 When she really gets going and is playing chase with a caregiver, she is known to do these amazing spins across the floor from one end of the room to the other. Or she will climb up the caging and flip so she hangs upside down. After all she has been through, her resiliency and silly nature is truly awe-inspiring.

Foxie is a sweet, spunky, forgiving, and absolutely precious soul who I feel lucky to know. Happy birthday, Fox. <3

Photos from the day:

Foxie allowed a mini photo-shoot in the front rooms this morning:

Negra scored a pineapple bowl during the forage:

Jamie, looking as regal as ever:

Jamie, winning the ‘How-Many-Pineapples-Can-I-Carry-At-Once’ Award:

Annie looking very sweet during the pre-party party in their greenhouse:

And on the hill:

Burrito decided to enjoy his pineapple bowl on Young’s Hill:

Burrito also enjoyed the Gatorade pools:

Birthday girl enjoying her pineapple bowl on Young’s Hill:

And a fresh green onion:

Sheets & Giggles

August 2, 2023 by Kelsi

Thank you to everyone who donated new or gently used top bed sheets. I promise it has been non-stop play and nesting since they have arrived! This blog is a part II for all the fans who loved watching the chimps, mostly Honey B and Rayne, play with the sheets! For those who may have missed all the fun a few weeks ago, there is a blog about how fun sheets can be. Not all sheet fun was able to be captured over the weeks, but Honey B sure is enjoying them! I hope you get a few giggles out of this one. 🙂

Rayne nesting with a beautiful lavender sheet (might be her favorite):

Bonus photos! This morning as I let Foxie’s group out onto Young’s Hill and caregiver Jenna let Lucky’s group out onto the Bray, I was able to capture some photos from both sides.

Foxie was the first out to greet the day and found a little leftover forage along her way:

Lucky set out for the hammock this morning:

Eventually, she climbed up higher for a better view:

Gordo went out this morning too (maybe to get a glimpse of a tiny little chimp across the way):

After a little while he sat down and took in the view:

Jamie was very focus on listening to her noisy neighbors:

Later, I found one of my favorite versions of Jamie, upside down Jamie! Upside down Jamie is goofy and usually very playful (note the HOOT! Book in her pocket):