Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Different Interests

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The beauty of sanctuary here at CSNW is that every chimpanzee gets to explore their interests. Jamie has her boots and books, Foxie has her dolls, Mave has her Dora, Dora has her Mave, Honey B always has mischievous plans, and Cy has his magazines. Recently, Cy has found something else that has peaked his interest, romance and romcom movies. Cy is the leader of his group, but to us staff he really is a big softy. So it really didn’t surprise us when he seemed to love movies like The Notebook, Love Actually, Must Love Dogs, and Hitched. What did surprise us is that Cy will now request a movie before bed, to which we say, of course!  It’s very sweet, his caregivers will set a sleep timer for his movie, usually The Notebook, then Cy will make a nest in front room 7 and eventually fall asleep to his movie.

We also believe that Cy is a BIG Ryan Gosling fan. If you have any romcom DVDs gathering dust please feel free to send them to Cy! I am curious now- what everyone’s favorite RomCom?

Bonus photos! Rayne and Honey B are half sisters, can you tell?

It’s Love a Chimpanzee Day 2023

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Can you believe it’s Love a Chimpanzee Day again already?! Supporter Monica Best named April 23rd Love a Chimpanzee Day and has sponsored this day each year since 2010 for her chimpanzee friends at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, creating a calendar-worthy official holiday and another excuse to throw a party! That’s a lot of years of love that Monica has shared with the chimps.

With our birthdays so close together, Monica and I have once again teamed up by creating a joint fundraising page for GiveBIG, and we invite you to celebrate this day by checking out our page and making a contribution.

Donor Donna is matching up to $20,000 in funds raised through the end of GiveBIG on May 4th, so your donation now is doubled! HUGE thanks to donor Vicki for making a gift on our page that encouraged us to raise our initial goal!

Monica’s love of animals is not exclusive to chimpanzees – she’s also studied wolves and worked in dog and cat shelters. She’s had many feline and canine friends over the years and created Love a Chimpanzee Day on her birthday in honor of her cat Ozzie during a difficult and uncertain time when Monica was fighting cancer. She credits the sanctuary (especially Negra) with helping her in her years-long battle with the disease and the aftermath.

We are so incredibly grateful for Monica and all of her generosity. She’s been instrumental in the expansion of the sanctuary these last several years and in helping encourage others to give.

You can help us celebrate today and the on Monica and Diana’s GiveBig fundraising page or the sanctuary’s main GiveBig page.

Happy Love a Chimpanzee Day, everyone!!

Burrito loves Duran Duran
Monica is a fan of Duran Duran and we took this photo of Burrito during the 2011 Love a Chimpanzee Day!

Mischief Managed

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When I describe my job to people, I usually say “There is never a dull day.” Well today that was very true! Jamie decided to have a laid back day, no projects, just play and nesting. I felt so lucky to capture this play session of Jamie and Foxie, even if every once in a while Jamie would remind me to get lost! Burrito may not have been invited either, but don’t worry Foxie made sure he wasn’t left out! However, Honey B seemed like she had plans from the get-go this morning, as you will see in the video. We have what we call “privacy panels” between the playrooms and greenhouses. They were installed for when the groups were separated so they could have, you know, privacy. Even after the group became nine we left them up just in case, we didn’t want to jinx anything! Honey B decided this morning the greenhouse panels needed to go and so they did, at the hands of Honey B :). As a disclaimer- no chimps were hurt and we quickly closed off the greenhouse so that JB and his new handy man Adam could safely remove the rest of them.

Please enjoy this series of photos of Burrito in the sandbox:

Relationship Building

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Building relationships as the newest caregiver at CSNW is one of the most rewarding aspects of coming to work at a new (to me) sanctuary. Today I will talk about just a couple of my relationships in progress.

Starting with Burrito!

I think all the sanctuaries I’ve worked or interned at had one individual who welcomes new people with glee and invitations to play endless games of chase. I this it’s safe to say that Burrito is that person here at CSNW, his playful personality, love for walks and good natured mischief is definitely one of the the first things that made me immediately feel welcomed at CSNW and like I had come to the right place. It has been endless walks on Young’s Hill, where his favorite game is that of Misdirection – making me believe we are going downhill only to turn around and sprint back up, and of course I have no choice but to follow… not that I would have it any other way. Watching him run up hill while laughing is the best reward I can think of.

Next up, who else could it be but Jamie:

 

Jamie is definitely one of the more complicated personalities to get to know, she can be very strict in how she wants things done, am I learning. Individuals like Jamie tend to be some of my favorites to build relationships with no matter how long it takes. Lately I’ve been setting aside time most afternoons to find Jamie and see if she would like to hang out for a bit. She usually takes me up on it, possibly to keep an eye on me and study me more closely to learn my habits. So we have developed somewhat of a routine where I show up in the afternoon and she grooms me with a provided tool or one she finds herself. She seems to really enjoy grooming some of my tattoos, especially the one of my Bushbaby, and then she likes to inspect each of my fingers. For today this is good progress- Jamie decides what tomorrow will bring.

 

R&R

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After our busy “Heart Week,” today feels like we all get to take a big sigh of relief. We’re so thankful for our veterinary and staff team that made it possible… But also, thank goodness that’s over.

Since Terry was the last to have his exam yesterday, he is also the last one recovering from his anesthesia in the front rooms. Here he receives a check in with Dr. Erin who gave him the all clear to rejoin the group.

The spring sun and wind is going strong today. This makes the sheltered greenhouses the most ideal hangout spaces.

Dora transitions into nap mode:

Honey B:

Jody:

One thing I saw today, but was unable to photograph at the time, it seems that “grass season” has also begun. I caught Negra and Annie having a pre-breakfast grass snack on Young’s Hill this morning and it warmed my heart.

Here’s a throwback photo from a few years ago to remind us all of what the grass will soon look like out there:

On This Day in CSNW History: April 11, 2020

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Today we are going to take a look back and see what was happening in our history. On this day, three years ago, the world was just in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were adjusting to the pandemic lifestyle, figuring out the best way to shield the sanctuary residents from it, and taking care of three(!) medical issues that popped up.

That entire era was honestly just a blur to me. In fact, sometimes it even feels like I’m still in a blur since technically we are still living in a pandemic. But obviously a lot has happened since. We expanded by building two new playrooms and greenhouses, expanded Young’s Hill and created The Bray. We welcomed in some new staff while also saying goodbye to others. And most notably, we had six chimpanzees enter our lives who we now can’t ever imagine how we got along in life without ever knowing them. Like I said, it all seems like a blur sometimes.

One sentence that Diana wrote in the blog that does stand out to me though:

I know you are not here to get yet-another take on the current state of the strange and unprecedented (most over-used word for 2020?) times we are living in or to add to your own personal stress.”

If only she knew the word “unprecedented” would not be confined to the year 2020 and be used more as the years passed by.

Please enjoy some new photos from April 11, 2023!

Gordo sitting on the windowsill in the Oakwood Greenhouse

Honey B showing off a fashionable sock she made into a mitten

Negra, the queen of comfort!

Honey B’s mesmerizing stare during dinner

And be sure to register for the virtual visit to learn about the medical care Dr. Erin and Sofia provide to keep the chimps in tiptop shape! There are only four day left until the visit! So register today!

 

Quality Time

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The past couple mornings we have found Mave’s group spending a lot of quality time with one another before breakfast. For chimps, especially Terry’s group, it’s important to strengthen bonds. A great way to make a friendship stronger is by grooming. Recently, this group has been having their ups and downs like most chimp groups do, but when we have a few calm mornings or afternoons, watching them play or groom feels very nice to see. It is crazy to think that it has been almost a year since this group was officially put together. What they have accomplished as a group is truly something to celebrate!

There is more social work to be done in the next years to come for them, but let’s give them a round of applause for what they have accomplished so far!

Here are some bonus photos of Foxie’s group!

Foxie with one of her dolls:

Annie in the raceway:

Jamie in the portrait studio:

I love Jamie’s side-eye: