The chimpanzees eat mostly fresh fruits and veggies at the sanctuary. For the most part, they like what we like, but they do have a higher tolerance for certain flavors.
chimpanzee sanctuary
Congratulations Erin and Kammee!
This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Samantha McBirney in celebration of the marriage of Erin Delsol and Kammee Mam! Samantha shared this sweet message:
“Today is the day Erin and Kammee tie the knot! My husband and I are regretfully unable to attend their beautiful wedding in Mexico, but if it weren’t for these two, I never would have discovered this sanctuary. We hope you’re having the most perfect day! We’re all (chimps included) celebrating you back here in the states!”
Samantha, thank you so much for this compassionate gift honoring Erin and Kammee’s big day and their love for the chimpanzees!
Erin and Kammee, you guys are the best for including the chimps in your special day and we are so happy to be celebrating with you! We are sending you all the good thoughts for a beautiful day and life ahead together.
Here are some oldies but goodies, classic Annie and Missy moments full of love, goofiness and celebration:
A selection
Each day, caregivers put out carefully selected enrichment items into the enclosures for the chimpanzees to enjoy. Objects like clothing, crayons, magazines, paper, and kids toys are placed around to try and peak the chimps’ interests (or sometimes to just give them something to throw). There are two types of enrichment items that are an absolute requirement for each enclosure: Foxie’s dolls and Jamie’s boots. No area at the sanctuary is fully enriched without at least one cowboy boot and a Dora or troll doll.
In memory of Bryan Riner
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by The Riner family in memory of Bryan Riner. Bryan had great love and respect for the chimpanzees and his family has graciously continued to share that compassion in his honor. His wife, daughter and son shared this message about today:
“In memory of Bryan Riner, a wonderful, compassionate husband and father who respected all beings (especially the Cle Elum 7), from Judy, Marin, and Dax.”
Judy, Marin and Dax, thank you so much for your long-time friendship of the chimpanzees and for including them in your memories and celebration of Bryan. Our thoughts are with you all today and we will be thinking of Bryan and all the good his wonderful spirit continues to do in the world.
Missy, in all her glorious “Missy-ness”:
Into the wild green yonder
The grass is so tall now the chimps literally step into it and disappear at times. I don’t think I will ever do anything less than treasure those moments as glimpses into the wild that will always live in their hearts:
Hidden Burrito:
Jody:
Jody and Burrito:
Jody foraged a gorgeous wild bouquet to bring back and enjoy in the greenhouse (notice her sneer face because bugs were biting her):
Here she is swatting them away:
Foxie was on an adventure with two tiny twin trolls which fell off her back so she stopped to put them back where they belong:
And a bonus Annie photo, because well, who doesn’t need to see a bonus Annie photo?
Happy Summer Solstice!
We have a wonderful surprise day of sanctuary today sponsored by Dylan Most, who just wanted to give a little love to the chimps and celebrate the first day of summer!
Dylan, what a lovely gift! Thank you so much for thinking of the chimps and all of us here at the sanctuary. It’s hard to believe it’s summer! But the easeful, peaceful and joyful days are welcome by us all and it’s so wonderful to see the chimps relishing it all. We are grateful to your kind heart for helping to make theirs lives as beautiful as possible.
Be it your summer or winter, all of us are wishing all of you a beautiful solstice! And happy summer to all our northern hemisphere folks!
Jody:
Foxie:
Negra:
Annie:
Jamie:
Missy:
Burrito:
We wish we were as cool as Missy
Missy is beautiful, kind, joyful, goofy, serious, independent, self-assured, and the most loyal of friends you could hope for; she’ll back you up no questions asked. Well, if you’re a chimp friend that is. When the humans have been deemed to have “wronged” one of her family members she is often the first to let us know and she will hurl her tiny self onto the caging in front of you with shocking force while repeatedly kicking it and threat barking in your face with all her might.
One of my favorite memories of Missy is a time when I was trying to serve her something and Jamie decided she didn’t want that to happen and let me know by hitting the caging and threat barking at me. Given that Jamie is the dominant chimp in this society, it’s her right to do so. Even though Missy had her hand out in anticipation, she immediately backed Jamie up and joined in threat barking at me, seemingly incensed that I had tried to do something so egregious. The second Jamie walked away though, Missy immediately asked for the item again (and gestured to be quick about it!) until Jamie caught sight of us and the whole scene played out again. Missy is brilliant at chimpanzee politics.
On nights that Jamie chooses to have the door to Young’s Hill remain open she will often seemingly employ Missy to guard the door while she goes inside to retrieve something she wants. Missy doesn’t usually have any interest in the door remaining open or not and is typically ready for bed, but don’t think you are going to close that door with her standing guard in the boss’s absence.
Honestly, Missy’s a bit of a thug. And we couldn’t love her more.
In other news, one of our volunteers, Jake, discovered the hit of the summer to come! It’s hot today and we were lamenting not having any ice to run through the chimps’ snow cone machine. The chimps have access to water all day, but we occasionally offer ice snacks to help keep them cool and hydrated. So Jake brilliantly decided to experiment with running frozen grapes and a touch of strawberries through the machine and it was an immense hit with chimps and humans alike! They literally melt in your mouth. Go immediately and buy yourselves snow cone machines and grapes to freeze!
Behold:
