Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
If Negra is the Queen of the Cle Elum Seven, Jody is the Queen of Nest Building and Relaxation.
Jody is hands down the best nest builder I know. She is definitely an artist about it, and will often use as many as 20-30 blankets. We put out tons of new straw and alfalfa hay in the greenhouse yesterday, so Jody forewent the blankets and made herself an amazing nest right on the ground.
Today is day 3 of unseasonably gorgeous weather (high 70s!) here in Cle Elum. The chimpanzees have been out on Young’s Hill for a couple of hours now and show no signs of tiring of it. (As I write this, Jody is lying on her belly in a patch of shade munching on some grass.) Here are some photos from this afternoon:
Foxie has collected several of these wine vines to bring into the greenhouse with her:
Annie brought in a blanket she found on the hill for her nest in the greenhouse:
Burrito has been watching the goings-on from his new favorite hangout by the treat rock:
Love a Chimpanzee Day is a much-beloved CSNW holiday invented by longtime supporter Monica Best. Monica sponsors April 23rd each year in memory of her cat Ozzie and in celebration of these chimpanzees and all chimpanzees. This year, she also wants the holiday to honor Emma, Karen and Don Young’s dog who recently passed away. (April 23rd also happens to be Monica’s birthday – happy birthday, Monica!) We had our official celebration a few days early this year (check out the photos here), but we’re still going to be sure to love the chimps just a little extra today. We may be biased, but we can’t think of a more worthy holiday.
Today was Earth Day and thankfully it was an absolutely beautiful, almost summery, day for it! It’s been around 75 degrees this afternoon and very little wind (which we get a lot of around here!) so I gave the chimps Young’s Hill as early in the day as possible. We didn’t have a full-fledged party, but it’s pretty surreal to think that after decades of bars and concrete, finally the chimps truly got to celebrate Earth Day on the grass and with no bars overhead.
Missy and Annie spent some time sitting on the grass in the shade
Foxie climbed up high to enjoy the view
Jamie and volunteer caregiver Stephanie went for a little walk around the perimeter of the hill
And Burrito climbed up a climbing structure he hasn’t explored yet
It must feel so good to have blue skies overhead with no bars!
Annie and Missy love to play, whether it be rough-and-tumble wrestling, or like today—playing at the same time as resting. Annie certainly didn’t want Missy to go to sleep, and really, who’s to say you can’t play and lay down at the same time?
These pictures just remind me how awesome it is that the Cle Elum Seven now get to spend time with grass under their feet after decades of small barren cages. Even after 7 months, it is still so amazing to see them out there.
Sometimes Jody can be a tough gal to please. She will often communicate her displeasure with us by spitting mouthfuls of water in our faces or trying to poke us while we’re serving the chimps breakfast. (All of that is normal chimpanzee behavior and we never discourage it. We always want her and the other chimps to be free to express their chimpanzee-ness.)
There’s something about Jody’s face that I find so endearing, though. Even when she’s upset with me and doing her best to make my job as hard as possible, I can’t help but melt a little when I look at it.
