Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Big Day on the Bray

June 28, 2023 by Kelsi

Today was a big stepping stone for all the residents at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. We felt that all the chimps on both sides of the building were ready to be out in their respective outdoor areas at the same time. For those who may not be familiar, Foxie’s group has a two acre outdoor habitat called Young’s Hill and Rayne’s group has a newly built outdoor habitat called The Bray. These areas are two separate spaces where the chimps can go outside as they please all day and when they look up there are no bars above their heads. We had been alternating access until Rayne’s group seemed comfortable outside and had a good understanding of the double electric fence. Until today!! In unknown situations we often plan in case something turns into an emergency, but we really just anticipate that there may be a lot of yelling back and forth or displaying and we just hoped for the most anticlimactic scenario, which luckily for us, it was sooo anticlimactic. Both groups were so calm and seemed to act like they have been doing this all along. What were we so worried about?! However, just because it was calm didn’t mean they didn’t interact or notice each other!

Gordo seemed to be mesmerized by Foxie, obviously, look at her! He was a little pilo and couldn’t take his eyes off her. And that cute little Foxie was just confidently strutting her stuff around Young’s Hill. Foxie was so brave, not a hair standing on end, she was even going for a perimeter walk on her own for a bit which Gordo seemed to be kind of following her from the Bray. We weren’t sure Willy B was even paying attention enough to notice Jamie’s group had access to Young’s Hill, but maybe 7 to 10 minutes later he spotted Jamie and was mesmerized, just like Gordo! Willy B was even venturing out onto the grass to get a better look, but Jamie was playing it cool and pretending she didn’t notice. Honestly, it was great to see both groups out foraging and not reacting to each other! Obviously, every day will be different with different reactions, but this was a great way to start!

Gordo watching the neighbors, specifically Foxie from afar:

Willy B realizing Jamie is on Young’s Hill:

Jamie foraging on Young’s Hill and pretending not to notice Willy B:

Terry and Rayne foraging on the Bray and spying on Jamie’s group:

Rayne:

Terry on Esher for a better view:

Cy could not be bothered, he was just enjoying the forage:

I will leave you with Bubba <3:

If You Give Burrito a Skateboard…

June 25, 2023 by Grace

We talk a lot on the blog about sweet and silly Burrito and all the antics he gets into! Whether it’s playing chase all day, taking us on runs around the hill, or running around with a slinky around his back foot- he often seems to have a bottomless reserve of energy.

Burrito on Negra’s Cabin during today’s lunch forage:

His silly personality and constant energy often makes me forget that he is technically considered geriatric. Burrito was born on January 6th, 1983 in a laboratory where he was used in hepatitis B vaccine research at just one year of age. He was then moved to the Buckshire Corporation where he was kept as a ‘house chimp’ before being leased out to an animal act. A year later, he returned to the laboratory.

His life has not been easy in any way, nor has it been the life he deserved to live in the wild with his family- yet we can rely on him to always make us smile. Even with something as small as a skateboard. Amazing, isn’t he?

Two quick reminders! We have been nominated for the 2023 Best In the PNW Contest. 🙂 Voting goes through the end of the month and you can vote once every day! Please take a moment and vote for us by clicking the link here, if you feel so inclined. CSNW is listed under Services -> Nonprofits.

We are also still working to reach our $30k fundraising goal for this month, as a generous donor pledged to match donations made in June up to $30k in honor of all the big June milestones! We are so close, but haven’t reached it yet- please consider making a donation today to help us reach this goal.

BONUS PHOTOS:

Gordo enjoying time on The Bray this morning:

Rayne also enjoying the morning sunshine on The Bray:

Jamie foraging for strawberries during today’s lunch forage:

Complexity

June 21, 2023 by Kelsi

There is no one quite like Jamie. Like us, she is a complex individual. She is incredibly smart and also known to be earnest, inflexible, a tad bit controlling, and strong-willed (which there is nothing wrong with). Jamie, on her own terms, can also be a jokester, silly, thoughtful, and sweet. All of these characteristics that describe Jamie vary day-to-day or even hour-by-hour. You never know what Jamie you are going to get. I am sure that is something we can all relate to.

Yesterday, Jamie was in an amazing mood. She was being so sweet to her caregivers- breathy panting and excited to greet people, grooming their boots, and giving what we call, “smooshy face” (pressing her face to the mesh and usually will offer a kiss if you extend the back of your wrist). It would be completely unrealistic for us to expect this kind of mood from her all the time, which is why it makes it all the more special when Jamie decides to bless us with her sweet “smooshy face”.

To be honest, I love every side of Jamie. Whether she is keeping us here until 10 o’clock at night on Young’s Hill, playing keep away with Foxie’s dolls, threatening to throw poop at her caregivers, throwing poop at her caregivers, or asking (maybe insisting) to put on her favorite boot to join her on a walk around the Hill, Jamie is pretty frickin’ cool!

This morning, as I let Jamie’s group out onto Young’s Hill, Jamie stayed back. I thought this was a little peculiar until she began to gesture to our small-raised garden bed. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t anything blooming yet. Right when I told her I didn’t see anything, Jamie gestured towards the black current bush, next to the garden. Ohhh, duh! Jamie is so observant, I didn’t even notice it had fruited yet! Though the berries were not quite ripe, I gave her a few.

At breakfast, the smoothies were pretty thick because of the chia seeds and blueberries. Since Jamie likes to hold her cup when drinking smoothies, she was having some difficulties getting it out. I offered her a spoon to use as a tool. When she was not using the spoon, she would hold it with her foot until she needed to use it again. I am not sure why, but it gave me a little chuckle and she seemed very thankful for the tool because we take smoothies very seriously around here.

Don’t forget to vote for us in The Seattle Times, 2023 Best in the PNW Contest! You can vote once every day through June 30th by clicking the link below. CSNW is listed under the Services and Nonprofit category.

Switching Things Up

June 20, 2023 by Kelsi

This morning, we decided to switch things up! In our “normal” schedule for sharing outdoor access, Jamie’s group goes out onto Young’s Hill from the time we show up to work until after lunch time (that is if Jamie allows us to close the Hill then). Once we have permission from Jamie and do a head count to ensure everyone is off Young’s Hill, we then allow Cy’s group access onto the Bray. This is a short term schedule until both Cy’s group gets more comfortable with the Bray and Jamie’s group gets more comfortable seeing the group of nine out there. However, the Hill and the Bray are two completely separate areas.

We wanted to experiment trying morning time Bray access for Cy’s group to see if a change in schedule would peak interest in other individuals who haven’t gone out yet. Though Mave, Dora, and Honey B didn’t go out, it was great enrichment for Jamie’s group! I am sure we will try this a few more times, as well as other ideas along the way. But really I think that they just need time. Once Cy’s group was off the Bray we did an early lunch forage for Jamie’s group, which everyone seemed to enjoy, especially Negra!

We have exciting news! We’ve been nominated in The Seattle Times, 2023 Best in the PNW Contest! Help us win this contest by voting today! You can vote once every day through June 30th by clicking here. CSNW is listed under the Services and Nonprofit category.

Negra did pretty well! She got a whole eggplant, sweet potato, and an endive and went straight back to the greenhouse to get cozy in her nest!

Foxie and her blue haired baby:

Burrito and Missy enjoying their forage together:

Missy and Foxie eating tomatoes:

Annie:

Burrito with a whole kohlrabi:

We put out a nut forage on the Bray for a little extra motivation. Willy B was very motivated!

Rayne was also able to score some nuts:

Look at this handsome Cy Guy:

Don’t forget to vote for us!

The Morning After Jubilee

June 14, 2023 by Kelsi

After yesterdays festivities, today has been pretty low-key for everyone. I think both chimps and humans are exhausted from such an awesome day of nonstop partying! If you didn’t see yesterdays blog, STOP EVERYTHING you are doing and look now! And if you missed Diana talking about Negra’s story, be sure to check that out too! Don’t forget that until the end of June all donations will be doubled until we reach $30,000. Follow this link to learn more about how you can help us reach our goal!

Cy on the Bray:

Lucky hanging out by the hammock:

Gordo heading back from exploring:

Willy B:

Guess who!

It’s Rayne!

How did we get so lucky to have such a sweet and kind soul like Terry?! It has been so fun to watch Terry grow in just the few years he has been at CSNW and watch him make new friends. I am not sure if we share this often, but he is quietly good friends with Honey B (maybe don’t tell Honey B). I often will see them on the cameras grooming or hanging out in the same area together. She even grooms with him from time to time! And I don’t know if I have ever met a gentler chimp than him. What I am trying to say is that Terry is just such a nice guy with a really good heart <3.

Defending the Title

June 7, 2023 by Kelsi

While Anna and I deep cleaned Playroom 1, we heard some laughing (breathy panting) coming from Front Room 4. We knew our usual suspect would be Burrito, which was true, but we assumed he would be playing with Jamie or Foxie. To our surprise, when we peered over it was Burrito and Negra playing! As many of you may know, Negra can get rough when she decides to wrestle and let me tell you, it may have turned into a game of Foxie and Burrito vs. Negra, but she was holding her own and Negra was NOT going easy on them. In all the years that I have been working at CSNW, it was been such an honor to watch Negra get to decide what she wants to do every day. Negra gets to make choices- going on Young’s Hill to forage for grass, napping all day if she desires, playing with Burrito, or even the choice of interacting with humans (besides meals and medical intervention, of course). It’s kind of crazy to think that our 15th anniversary of the Cle Elum Seven arriving to CSNW is just around the corner (6 days to be exact) and with that we will be celebrating our dear friend Negra’s 50th birthday! Let’s not forget our very sweet friend Terry shares the same birthday as Negra and is turning 33! This coming week is going to be a trifecta jubilee!

Speaking of the Trifecta Jubilee, we have some exciting news to share! Because we are hitting big milestones this year, we are also hoping to reach big fundraising goals! An anonymous donor has pledged $30,000 matching donations through the month of June! All donations given now until the end of June will be doubled until we reach $30,000. Follow the link to learn more about how you can help us reach our goal!

As we celebrate the Trifecta Jubilee, don’t forget to sign up for the special opportunity to, Sit Down with the Co-Directors, on Saturday, June 10th at 2 pm. Join J.B. and Diana as they discuss the joys of running a sanctuary and working with chimps, the difficult aspects of working with chimps in captivity, and any of your burning questions you might have for them! J.B. and Diana have dedicated their lives to these chimps and are truly incredible people to work for, it’s an honor to get to work along side them. So I hope you all take advantage of this amazing opportunity! 🙂

I wanted to take a moment to say that I think we all wish that in celebrating, Jody would have been with us on June 13th, we will leave room for acknowledgement for her absence on that day, but Jody was able to have 15 amazing years in sanctuary, which is more than we could have hoped for! We know that Jody would have wanted us to have a giant party for Negra filled with all of Negra’s favorite foods, like Hawaiian rolls, which of course will be on the menu!

Neggie this morning greeting us with sweet kisses: