Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee sanctuary

Happy Birthday, Jim!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored for the chimpanzees by Jim Thompson! Jim is a long-time Chimpanzee Pal with Burrito and wanted to celebrate his special day by gifting B and his chimp family with their own special day!

Jim, we can’t thank you enough for your continued support of Burrito! Your gifts have helped make it possible for Burrito to expand his boundaries, inside and out, and we so appreciate you including him in your celebration! All of us here at CSNW wish you the happiest of birthdays! And Burrito would probably hope that your day is filled with more good food than you could possibly eat. (Although, I’m not sure he would believe there is such as thing as more food than one could possibly eat). 🙂

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Burrito with chow in mouth

Burrito, All Wrapped Up

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In many ways, Burrito is a typical male chimpanzee. He can be blustery and macho. His loud, boisterous displays often involve him swatting the girls as he charges by them, hair standing on end.

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Still, there is something innocent about him. After living for decades in lab cages with extremely limited contact with others of his species, he has encountered many obstacles on the road to understanding chimp behavior. It seems that he genuinely cannot imagine why the girls would get angry with him when he acts out against them during displays. After hitting someone and inciting their wrath, he has been seen running to that individual for a hug of reassurance – asking for reassurance, not giving it.

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When the other chimps give him submissive greetings, instead of receiving them graciously, he squeezes his eyes shut and looks the other way. Whatever he is feeling in these moments looks a lot like social anxiety.

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Considering how uncomfortable he can sometimes be around the other chimps, it is always inspiring to see him try. And he does try. Joining the others in a grooming session or accompanying Jamie on a perimeter walk will probably always give him a little anxiety, but he is determined to keep pushing his own boundaries.

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Happy Birthday, Erin!

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This day of sanctuary has two sponsors! The first is from Tim and Shelley Connelly in honor of their daughter, Erin Connelly. They shared this message about today:

“In celebration of her birthday and in honor of our daughter Erin, who is pursuing a Masters degree in Primatology at CWU and is a volunteer at the sanctuary. Following her dream!”

Tim and Shelley, thank you so much for supporting Erin in such a compassionate way and choosing to make a difference in the chimps’ lives in her honor! We are so fortunate to have many amazing student interns and volunteers helping care for the chimps who come to us through Central Washington University and are happy to be able to share the chimps’ lives with them.

Erin, thank you for all your hard work for the chimpanzees! From all of us here at CSNW we wish you the happiest birthday!!

Foxie:

Foxie side glance

Happy Birthday, Marsha!

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Bruce Wagman in honor of Marsha Perelman on her birthday! Bruce and Marsha are both amazing friends to not only the chimpanzees, but to animals everywhere, and we’re thrilled to celebrate Marsha’s special day here today! Bruce shared this wonderful message about today:

“About ten or more years ago, through the most random of coincidences involving asbestos, I was introduced to Marsha.  Over the course of time since then, she has been a client, a teacher, a student, a partner, and most important of all, a dear friend.  And she has been an invaluable supporter of the Cle Elum Seven and other chimpanzees, in more ways than anyone can count, but in essence, by giving them her heart (while keeping big chunks of it for her dogs).  All sorts of animals are so lucky Marsha’s heart was born.  As an example of Marsha’s heart in play:  When I told Marsha about the lives of the CSNW chimps before they got to their Cle Elum bliss, her immediate response was, “I just want to go there and meet them and tell them I’m sorry.”  No need, Marsha.  Your actions have made that clear.  Happy Birthday to a true companion along the road to make up for what has been done to the world’s superior species.”

Many thanks to you, Bruce, for sponsoring such a special day in honor of Marsha! We are so full of gratitude to have humans such as yourselves sharing your incredible hearts in the world and for all you both do to make the lives of not only these seven very special chimpanzees better in every way possible, but for the countless other amazing beings whose lives you’ve made a difference in.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Marsha, we hope your day is full of all the love, joy and comfort you provide to so many others! Thank you so much for being part of our chimp family. And hoots of happiness to you from these seven beautiful chimp people:

Annie:

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Burrito:

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Foxie:

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Jamie:

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Jody:

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Missy:

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Negra:

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Garden anticipation!

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When caregivers so much as glance towards the garden growing outside the walls of the playroom, there is always a chimpanzee or two keeping a watch to make sure they aren’t missing out on something.  Today was no different, as volunteers Denice and Yuri tackled the weeding in the garden beds, I caught several members of the Cle Elum 7 spying from various vantage points.

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My favorite photo of this morning was of Jody peeking around the corner of the raceway to Young’s Hill so she can see just exactly what’s happening to her vegetable patch:
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It’s not really a big surprise to see so many watchful eyes on the garden when it’s already starting to produce!
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Intangible expansions

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I’d like to say that I no longer think of the decades the chimpanzees spent living as biomedical research subjects in open slat cages the size of a bathroom stall, the last couple of years which were in a windowless basement. But I do. I’d like to forget the images of my friends’ familiar eyes peering out from between the bars that their familiar hands clung to. But I can’t. I wish I couldn’t picture them having spent their days – their years – with no enrichment, nothing to nest with, no room to rip and run and climb, unable to engage in natural chimpanzee behaviors and family relationships, or just be free to be themselves, however that looked. But these thoughts, and most importantly the chimps’ histories, are inversely proportional to the growth and expansion they demonstrate with each passing day, season, and year.

We are fast approaching the anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to their sanctuary home eight years ago, on June 13th. Eight years! And yet every single time I see them foraging on the hill, climbing new structures and taking in unobstructed views, pushing their own comfort levels with such courage, grace and dignity, it takes my breath away. No matter how many times I see all these moments in each of their lives, it never for one second feels less than wondrous and breathtaking.

And this morning, one of now countless particularly beautiful mornings the chimpanzees have had here, was no different. As they foraged for breakfast al fresco on Young’s Hill, as they traversed seemingly every inch of every structure, their hair shining in the sun and blowing in the breeze, moving as a family, each step through the electrifying green grass another step further from their histories, my friends’ familiar eyes cast to the expanse of sky and valley and mountain beyond, I watched, my heart on tiptoe.

Jamie:

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Burrito and Jamie:

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Burrito:

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Foxie and Annie:

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Foxie and France Dora:

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Annie:

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Annie and Missy:

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Missy:

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Jamie taking in her new viewpoint from the new structure, Twister:

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And then moving on to check out the view from Jamie’s Tower:

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And not to worry, Jody and Negra were both at the far reaches of Young’s Hill foraging for breakfast with a side of wild greens right along with their family, but unfortunately my photos of those two beautiful ladies didn’t turn out.

The Queen of late night

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While Burrito and Annie utilized their bipedal skills to navigate the growing grass on Young’s Hill in the hopes of finding a missed piece of forage, or a new patch of wild greens sprouting up…

Burrito:

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Annie:

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Jamie, of course, opted for something a little higher up.

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And in other news, if you’ve been following the blog for awhile you’re probably aware that as the weather grows nicer boss lady, Jamie, often keeps us out late walking around the perimeter of Young’s Hill with her. After the chimps are served dinner at 4:30 they typically start heading inside to collect their evening food puzzle and make their nests for the night (unless you’re Jamie). The humans’ day ends at 5:30 after the chimps are all safe inside and mostly asleep. But if anyone (again, Jamie) wants to stay out late, we stay until they are ready to come inside. But who do you think stayed out past bedtime this evening?…

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Yep, that’s Negra!! Sitting on her current favorite mound at the very top of Young’s Hill happily eating prickly lettuce! No matter the evening sky is growing darker with the threat of a storm coming, the Queen is in no hurry to come in. So it looks like we have a second boss lady in town. But that’s what sanctuary is all about. And this is probably a rare job where one’s heart grows a little bigger every time your bosses make you work late.

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