Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Full Hearts

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Getting to know the new Lucky Six chimpanzees is an incredible experience. In some ways, it seems like they’ve been here much longer than one week. But it’s true that we barely know them. So each new observation, every moment spent with them, fills our hearts.

The thing is, it’s still the same with all of the other non-humans in our care. They are all such interesting and unique beings; we can never know everything there is to know about them, and we still delight in the little moments.

I’ve been reflecting on little moments lately because our dog Wilson, who I’ve written about on the blog before, passed away this week. He had numerous medical issues over the years, and far outlived anyone expectations. His end was sudden, but not surprising, and J.B. and I were both with him. Though his body, specifically his heart, was failing him, it never slowed him down or changed the goofy, lovable, big-headed, empathetic dog that he was. Our hearts are broken, but that’s because they were filled with so much love.

We’re surrounded by life at the sanctuary. Grief is a strange bargain we make, but it’s worth it to feel so much love.

 

Dora Chimpanzee
Dora watching herself eat dinner
The one and only Jamie. She tied this scarf on with purpose and wore it all afternoon.

 

Jody

 

Wilson

 

Grabbing Toes

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We are still in the midst of the heat wave. Thankfully, today is not in the hundreds, still hot, but there is a nice breeze going. With warm weather means lazy play sessions, even Burrito has slowed down just a touch. Today, while Sofia and I were finishing up cleaning the playroom we found Annie laying on the cool floor while Missy’s toes dangled down below. Annie was grabbing Missy’s toes, fingers, and giving her little pokes while Missy sat above her on a barrel. It was a lazy game for Annie and Missy, but it was all they could muster. When these two really play it might start out slow, but eventually it ends with them laughing, wrestling, and running around grabbing toes. As you will see in these photos we are all preserving our energy. Don’t worry though chimps and humans have had lots of fluids and Gatorade not to mention lots of fans and misters going too!

As I drove up the driveway to the chimp house this morning Happy Club popped into my mind. Some of you blog followers are familiar with it, but if you read Diana’s blog a while back. What jogged my memory was seeing 4 or the 6 new chimps watching me pull up the driveway. All of them in the greenhouse enjoying the warm summer breeze. It brought a smile to my face. So, I thought I would share a few happy things over the last week.

  1. Well, first of all I am so happy to have the Lucky 6 home! The fact that they are settling in so well also makes me overjoyed.
  2. Terry and Cy are absolute hams! I am truly smitten.
  3. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being in Rayne’s company. I was cleaning GH3 and she was in GH2. I sat with her for a while. She is very sweet.
  4. Missy dangling her foot in front of Annie as a taunt to play.
  5. Last week Negra requested that J.B., Diana, Anna, and I all dance for her. We immediately did as we were told. It makes me smile because that is what sanctuary is supposed to be, right? Negra tells us what she wants and then we do it :).
  6. Dora. Just seeing Dora makes me happy.

Burrito staying cool in his castle.

Gordo cooling off in his favorite spot.

Rayne popping in to say hi.

Honey B hanging out in her favorite spot, the chute.

Jamie melting into her nest.

This heat hasn’t slowed Terry down!


One Hot Day

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Today was the hottest day in our forecast reaching triple digits as the Pacific Northwest is currently trapped in a Heat Dome. As the temperature began to rise, caregivers were quick to offer the chimpanzees some solace in the this scorching weather. There were tons of icy treats, cool refreshing drinks, fans, and misters for the chimpanzees to enjoy.

Burrito, Jamie, and Jody enjoy a pool filled with Gatorade and ice inside their playroom.

Willy B also enjoyed ice in a Rock Around toy.

Mave (I personally think) had the best idea. Find the best place to lay down next to a sandbox (minus the sand) filled with Gaotrade and ice, take a few drinks, and lay the ice cubes on the floor next to you and enjoy at your leisure.

As we are still trying to get to know the new group of chimpanzees, we were curious what their decisions would be. For the most part, most of them have been spending a lot of time in their greenhouses usually grooming or napping.

Rayne and Gordo taking it easy in the shade.

Dora sitting in the shady spot right underneath the greenhouse platform.

Gordo on the same log amongst the bamboo with the stem from his breakfast bananas.

As the day began to come to an end, I was able to gather these last minute photos of how some of the chimpanzees were dealing with the last minute heat.

Negra ate her portion of dinner bell peppers inside.

Willy B, Honey B, and Mave spent the rest of the afternoon in a grooming party inside.

Can you spot everyone in this photo?

And Dora enjoying her evening food puzzle, a Kong, inside one of her playrooms.

As a bonus, a photo from yesterday I was able to get of Terry with fistfuls of beets and carrots.

And as one final bonus, a photo of Lucky (left) and Dora (right) exploring their greenhouse on the day they arrived here.

Comin’ in HOT

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Hey everyone! It’s been a long week so far.

For one thing, the scorching heat is  r e l e n t l e s s .

Today brought record-setting temperatures to Oregon and Washington. Tomorrow will have more of the same. For comparison, it’s hotter than Guy Fieri’s wardrobe over here.

For actual quantitative reference, tomorrow’s forecast shows Cle Elum being 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than it’s ever been in the state of Florida (109F).

That’s correct. Our town nestled among the snow-capped Central Cascades will have higher temperatures than they’ve EVER HAD on ANY DATE in FLORIDA. It will also be hotter than it’s ever been in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and at least fifteen other U.S. states and territories. Tomorrow would be the hottest day ever in Washington… if we hadn’t already broken that record today.

To cope, our staff has been closely monitoring the doors and windows, cranking all the electric fans, and consuming a steady stream of popsicles, sports drinks, and good ol’ fashioned water. As all the smart people say, hydrate to dominate, baby!

Despite the sweltering heat, we’re excited to report that all SIXTEEN chimpanzee residents are doing well, staying hydrated, and keeping cool. Of course, those sixteen residents include the six newest arrivals: Cy, Dora, Gordo, Lucky, Rayne and Terry.

This group of adult chimps has been called “The Lucky Six” during the campaign to send them to sanctuary, but we’ll also likely refer to them as “Cy’s Group” since he seems to be their undisputed chief. While our own medical and caregiving records have less mutable designations for each group (e.g., Group C), it will be nice to have an informal and familiar way to specify which group we’re talking about.

We’re still getting to know the six chimps in Cy’s group, but it’s already evident that they all have unique personalities and complex social dynamics. As is tradition, we’ll be shining a virtual spotlight on each individual over the next few months so that you can all get to know them as well. In case you missed it, Kelsi announced their arrival and posted a few portraits on Saturday, and Katelyn followed up with more photographs in yesterday’s post (which was dedicated to those who cared and advocated for the six newcomers at their previous home). For now, we’ll continue to share what we can on the blog when we’re not busy taking care of chimps!

For today’s blog, I threw together a video using clips that our staff have recorded over the past few days. We look forward to sharing more in the near future, so please stay tuned and be patient! The new guys are amazing and we can’t wait to tell you more about them!

They’re Here! They’re Here!

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Today was a wild and crazy day, but they are here. They are home! Words can not describe how excited we are to get to know Cy, Terry, Gordo, Lucky, Rayne, and Dora’s personalities more. For right now they are settling in well. I have to warn you, Cy is going to steal your heart, well Terry too. And maybe Lucky. Oh, Rayne and Gordo! Well, and then there is Dora. She might steal your heart too. We are so exhausted so us humans are going to go home and sleep!  We will share more tomorrow :).

Lucky was the first to go into the playroom. She so brave and after exploring Playroom 3 she ran straight out into Green House 3.

Rayne <3

Terry <3

Going Head to Head & Toe to Toe

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What a wonderful day, especially for Burrito. To no surprise he was playing all day! If he wasn’t making his caregiver’s run until they almost passed out from heat exhaustion then he was playing with other chimps and even a giant stuffed unicorn. There is some video of him playing with the unicorn, but the clip was hard to fit in with all the amazing other play sessions going on. However, I feel I need to describe to you what happened. It was amazing! Caregiver Chad was outside fixing a few holes on the rattle snake fence when he noticed Burrito dragging a giant stuffed unicorn onto Young’s Hill. He was even throwing it up into the air (that part was not caught on camera). Burrito then dragged the unicorn back to the raceway and eventually into the greenhouse. Which led into a lazy wrestling game with Foxie. Later, we found Burrito playing with Jamie. They had their heads together, breathy panting (chimp laughing), and grabbing each other’s toes. All in all it was a good day, but Burrito had a great day.

We have been very busy getting ready for the arrival of Cy, Lucky, Gordo, Dora, Rayne, and Terry and it’s coming up quickly! We have added more stuff to the Wish List in preparation of the 6 new chimps. We are hoping to get some new chairs. They have been really helpful for Honey B, Willy B, and Mave in the new greenhouses. But, the chimps use the chairs everyday. Jamie loves them for sitting and grooming her favorite pair of boots, many like to lay on them, and sometimes they use the chairs as tables to put their food on.