Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee sanctuary

Today is in honor of “Best Buddies”

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by an anonymous supporter on his wife’s birthday in honor of “Best Buddies.” To our anonymous supporters, thank you so much! This is such a lovely sponsorship and in celebrating your best buddy, you honor the chimpanzees and those they hold dear, making it possible for them to experience life as they deserve. And we are immensely grateful for that. All of us here at the sanctuary wish you both a day of joy, comfort and love as you celebrate! And Happy Birthday!

Best buddies come in many forms and are not exclusive to human relationships. Whether on the go, at rest, or even having a disagreement, Annie and Missy are never far from one another’s side:

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Missy chase Annie

Missy Annie running behind

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The many faces of Annie

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Annie is like that naturally beautiful girl who takes everyone’s breath away, but has no idea how pretty she is. You know the ones, they are all the more special because they are so dear and down to earth and the first ones to pull a face or make others smile. Annie isn’t always keen on having her photo taken, though she has become much more comfortable with it over the years (much like she is with things in general) and she will often engage by making playful gestures during her photo shoots. Half way down this series of photos of the lovely Annie you will notice a seemingly mischievous look in her eye and then…bam, she does a “lip flip”!

Chimpanzees are extremely expressive in vocalization, body posture and facial expressions, all of which they use to communicate with each other. A lip flip is a facial expression chimpanzees sometimes exhibit and will often appear in times of stress or anxiety, but will just as often appear for reasons more associated with individual stereotypical behavior (a repetitive behavior brought on by captivity) and for seemingly no apparent reason. Foxie does this frequently and while it’s sometimes during times of stress, it’s more often when she’s just sitting quietly and hanging out. Annie used to flip her lip often when she felt anxious, such as when there was an argument going on in the group. We don’t see her do it very much anymore, and while we can’t know what she was thinking today, given how relaxed and playful she was being she seemed to just be practicing her repertoire of faces. And every one of them a beaut!

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Boat Bumper Ball Antics

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One of the first nearly chimp-proof enrichment items the chimpanzees had after arriving to the sanctuary was a “boat bumper” donated by long-time supporter Kathy Benson, who found it at a garage sale.

Below is a photo of Annie (yawning) holding the toy. This was taken in July of 2008, less than a month after the chimpanzees arrived.

Annie with boat bumper

 

Recently, I searched on amazon for the same thing, remembering how much fun it had been for the chimps all those years ago. It turns out the big ones are fairly expensive, and I didn’t know if it would last as long, so I opted to get a small version and see how things went…

 

I do like how portable this version is –

MIssy carrying boat bumper

but given Jamie and Missy’s keen interest in “opening” the ball, I’m not sure how long it will last. What do you think?

Happy Birthday, Brooke!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Shani Sillence in honor of her goddaughter, Brooke Fiddian, on her 13th birthday! Shani shared this lovely message about today:

“Today is Brooke‘s 13th birthday and I wanted to get her something special. She has a great love for animals and loves everything to do with helping them. I know she will especially love the Chimpanzees at the sanctuary.”

Shani, thank you so much for sponsoring today in honor of Brooke! We are so touched that you thought of the chimpanzees when wanting to celebrate Brooke and her special day!

Brooke, you sound like such an amazing person and we are thrilled to celebrate your birthday with you! Thank you so much for seeing how special animals are and for sharing your day with the chimps – you’ve helped to make their lives better.

We also understand that you and your family recently moved to the United States from Australia! All of us here at the sanctuary send you the warmest of welcomes, both to your new home and to our sanctuary family! Big changes and new places can be exciting and scary all at the same time. These chimpanzees are some of the bravest people I know and they inspire us every day with their courage. Maybe as you get to know them they might offer some inspiration on enjoying all the new things life can bring while holding on to family, friends, and all that brings you love, comfort and happiness.

From all of us here at CSNW, Happy Birthday, Brooke! We hope you have a beautiful day!

Annie, Foxie and Troll:

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Foxie and Dora exploring new territory:

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And since Burrito just celebrated his 33rd birthday, he would probably want to remind you to party by eating your favorite foods. All day. 🙂

Burrito with chow in mouth

Contagion

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Excitement spreads fast in a chimpanzee group. All it takes is for one chimp to get excited or upset, and the whole group is on fire before you know what happened. The chimps respond to each other’s vocalizations even when they’re not in the same room. If someone starts pant hooting in the playroom, you can bet that someone will answer with a pant hoot of their own from the greenhouse. It makes sense that it would benefit a chimpanzee – maybe especially a captive chimpanzee – to be responsive to others’ emotions and moods. I know that if I lived in an enclosure with whirling dervish Burrito, I’d be on guard at the first sign that he was getting worked up.

Today shortly after we let the chimps back into the playroom after cleaning, there was a very brief and mild scuffle. You’ll see how quickly Jamie and Annie respond.

Mr. B’s birthday buffet

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Today we are celebrating our guy, Burrito’s, 33rd birthday! And if you are celebrating Burrito that means you are also celebrating food. We serve the chimpanzees three meals a day by hand and/or forage in addition to a smaller forage, occasional snacks and food puzzles which consist of things like fresh vegetables, seeds and nuts. But today we decided to spread the meal service out and serve something every hour, all day long! Needless to say, Burrito has been enjoying his birthday.

Burrito has been so happy and playful today and has been anxiously watching for what comes next. We started the day off with gift boxes full of nuts and primate chow in the greenhouse as a breakfast appetizer. Anna got this photo of the birthday fella looking particularly sweet, watching through the playroom room window as we set them out:

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After breakfast was served, Burrito took over Jamie’s usual spot atop the barrel in the front rooms and watched us clean the playroom as he awaited the third course of the day. Let me tell you, this adorable guy made it pretty hard to get any work done.

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After the playroom was cleaned, we put out a forage of more nuts in gift boxes and smoothie in tiny cups. Burrito was so excited I had to wait for him to calm down and stop shaking the door leading into the playroom so I could open it. You can see in the photo below how excited he is by his pilo-erect hair (standing on end).

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And though this one is blurry, I love that it captures Burrito’s excitement during the forage – pilo-erect hair and flying across the playroom in mid-air. (It also may give you an idea of why we didn’t have much luck getting party photos – this guy was on the move!):

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Next up was roasted sweet potatoes warm from the oven. Here is caregiver-in-training, Ally, serving the birthday guy:

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After lunch we passed out whole apples which everyone was super excited about and as I type, Burrito is excitedly watching Anna as she prepares one of his very favorites, spaghetti with tomato and pepper sauce, for part of his birthday dinner forage. We still have a couple servings to go and all of the chimps’ seem to have caught on to the theme for the day and have been posted near the kitchen window to see what’s next.

In all the excitement Burrito has been a bit of a wild man, sowing his 33 years of wild oats much of the day and frequently riling up all the girls. But I think it’s safe to say they are all enjoying the day’s celebration of Burrito and food!

Happy Birthday, Burrito!! We love you so much, Bub!!

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Happy Birthday, Manuela!

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Today’s day of sanctuary is sponsored by Manuela Santacreu! Manuela is celebrating her birthday today and shared this lovely message:

“My birthday will be even more beautiful if I know that I am contributing to the happiness of these seven superb chimpanzees! For my 40th birthday, I spent a month in the Congo with chimpanzees while with Help International. I really hope to see Foxie and friends for my 50th! Best French regards!”

Manuela, thank you so much for sharing your special day with the chimpanzees and for choosing to celebrate your life by making a difference in their lives! We truly appreciate your support and hope you are able to visit the sanctuary one day. Have a beautiful day full of all that makes your heart happy, and from all of us here at CSNW, we wish you the happiest of birthdays!

Foxie and her beloved Dora:

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