Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee sanctuary

Consistency in Change

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How many times have you heard the old adage that the more things change the more they stay the same? I’m not sure if it holds up, but it seems to ring true here in the chimp house.

When I was here last it was 2019 and driving up a few months ago for my first shift was jaw dropping. The sanctuary has always been beautiful, tucked away in the mountains around Cle Elum, and it has retained that beauty. Now, though, it is home to 9 additional chimpanzees and the sanctuary has grown so much. When I came to CSNW for my first ever intern shift, with fellow caregiver Chad, we had our volunteer orientation in a trailer outside of the kitchen. Where I am sitting now to write this blog did not exist – or, rather, it was outdoor space between the kitchen and the trailer. Now there is a lobby, a full bathroom (!), a clinic, and the new additions for chimpanzee space.

This photo is from the archives of my phone photos – a long ago trip around Young’s Hill, with the Cle Elum 7, in 2019 (don’t worry – my blog photos will get better, promise). If you squint you can see the original building plus Phase 1, since construction began a few months before I left.

A quick search through archived photos also produced this gem – Desert Fox, the O.G. clinic and meeting space. This is where we had our initial volunteer orientation and it will always be one of my first memories of CSNW.

 

This photo (thanks, Anthony!) has been used in previous blog posts, but it really lets you see how much has changed. After Phase 1, Phase 2 and 3 were added. It truly is amazing to see how the sanctuary has changed and to witness the positive impact of such a big change.

I think that’s what it comes down to- pulling up to the sanctuary now after a few years away, it’s hard to ignore how much of everything around me is new. For a while it was intimidating, until it started to settle in that what makes CSNW so special has remained through it all. Thank goodness some things never change.

Bonus Photo: Jamie enjoying her loot of mini peppers from the Easter forage yesterday.

Much to Celebrate Today

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After a week of snowy conditions, there was the break in the weather where it was sunny and warm enough to celebrate today.

When Missy’s group were first given access to Young’s Hill this morning, everybody went out and explored the Hill. In fact, Negra was the first one out, if you can believe it or not! As the chimpanzees scattered across their outdoor enclosure, I saw Missy at the very top on the furthest structure surveying her domain.

Later on in the day, the weather still held out for a forage outside. Today was filled with paper eggs containing nuts, carrots, sweet potatoes, mini bell peppers, and hard boiled eggs for all!

Here is one of the paper eggs as seen in Willy B’s enclosure for reference (of course they celebrated too!):

Initially we caregivers thought Jamie’s group would run out onto the hill, grab what they could, and head back to their greenhouse since a slight, chilly breeze began to pick up. We were wrong! Every single one of them stayed out for quite some time, enjoying their forage.

Jamie:

Jody:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Annie:

Missy:

Negra:

On the other side of the Chimp House, both Willy B’s group and Cy’s group also enjoyed their set up.

Cy:

Terry:

Rayne:

Willy B:

Mave:

Honey B:

For those who celebrate, we wish you a:

Happy Easter!

Chag Pesach sameach!

Ramadan Mubarak!

Goodbyes and Hellos

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Last week, staff member and longtime friend to all at the sanctuary, Sam wrote her last blog post.  Sadly, that means she is moving away from Washington for her next adventure. I will miss Sam for her easy going yet mischievous personality, welcoming nature and huge heart.  Everyone who knows Sam naturally loves her and she becomes a perfect fit for every team she joins. For the staff and the chimpanzees/cattle at CSNW, this isn’t really goodbye, it’s see you later!

Sam and Cy:

Sam racing Jamie:

Sam, pictured with her scarecrow doppelgänger and her cat Gracie’s doppelgänger (expertly played by my daughter Luna):

This blog post isn’t all bittersweet goodbyes though. As we wish Sam well, we also got to welcome our newest staff member Grace last month! Grace is a former graduate student intern that returns to us with her own wealth of knowledge and experience (more on that when she introduces herself on her first blog). Grace has been very busy getting acquainted and re-acquainted with the sanctuary residents, all while learning the ropes or our daily routine.

Cy and his welcoming stare:

Jamie gives Grace and her new boots a proper inspection:

Welcome Grace and best wishes to Sam!

Negra Hibernates

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April has surprised us with a lot of snow. Personally, I think we paid our dues back in January, but here we are. Negra saw her shadow and decided 2 more weeks of winter and went back into hibernation.

Negra breakfast in the front rooms:

 

Bonus photos!

Rayne sitting comfortably on firehose:

Cy day dreaming:

The Mondays

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Do you all know that bit from Office Space about “The Mondays”?

(Here’s a link for those of you who have never seen the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AB9zPfXqQQ.)

I’ve been thinking of that scene a lot today.

To be clear, I have a neutral opinion on Mondays. For that matter, I don’t hold grudges against any arbitrarily-named days of the week. Still, I can’t help but feel like the chimps have been grappling with a case of “The Mondays” for a few days now. This morning began with more of the chimpanzee drama that J.B. recently described in Friday’s blog post: Grooming. Although everyone seemed to be contributing to the chaos in one way or another, Terry remained at the center of the maelstrom which continued to churn up the social waters throughout the day.

To paraphrase one of J.B.’s passages: chimps simply cannot keep going “full throttle” for long before someone calms down and starts putting the pieces back together again. In today’s case, the chimps eventually stopped screaming long enough to catch their breath. Within minutes, they had begun to groom each other in a collective act of reconciliation that lasted for quite some time. Chimps may have physical altercations more frequently than free-living humans do, but their ability to put that animosity behind them and quickly reach a bipartisan solution makes up for it.

I didn’t manage to record much of the action with a camera, but I did take some photos during the peaceful moments between the storms.

Cy looking down at caregivers through the overhead caging
J.B. adding to the wall murals in the new front rooms
Rayne grooming Cy
Rayne
Terry reaching through the caging to inquisitively touch a caregiver’s boots.

 

Siblings and the Sounds of Sanctuary

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Today is National Siblings Day! A day in which we honor our siblings! So today we are going to celebrate the siblings who who live here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest!

The siblings here are Honey B, Cy, Lucky, and Rayne, as well as Gordo and Dora!

Cy and Lucky share the same mother and father, Sally and Herbie (respectively).

It is almost apparent they are full siblings since they look very identical to each other:

Along with being full siblings, Cy and Lucky are also related to Rayne and Honey B. They all share the same father: Herbie.

Cy, Rayne, and Lucky:

Honey B:

At certain angles and in the right lighting, you can somewhat see the resemblance between them all. As we know, Honey B’s mother is Missy, and Rayne’s mother was named Thelma.

The other half sibling pair who reside here are Gordo and Dora:

Both of them have the same father: Les. Gordo’s mother was named Andrea and Dora’s mother was Stella. Though these two do not share many physical traits, this pair love to play with each other and be around each other.

Gordo:

Dora:

We wish all the siblings out there a Happy Siblings Day!

As a bonus, attached to this blog are sounds from around the sanctuary. These sounds can be heard on any given day. On the days I am not in the Chimp House, I miss them dearly. It’s almost like an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) to me. That is when a stimuli (sound or visual) triggers the brain to produce low-grade euphoria, or good feeling. It’s why some of us get goosebumps when we hear a particular song that is associated to happy event, or when we see an old photo of good times. To me it’s currently the sounds of the Chimp House.

I hope you enjoy.

And one final bonus photo of Lucky!

National Burrito Day!

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Today is National Burrito day!!! I wanted to shower everyone today with Burrito photos but he had other ideas. I went on two walks around Youngs Hill with Burrito and Jamie before 11AM. Burrito was in from the get-go but Jamie had special requests. She required me to wear one size smaller boots, and also requested that I drive the Gator both times. During those walks Burrito took the opportunity to climb the Twister structure to try and get a better look at the construction happening outside the perimeter of the hill. Once he came back in, he spent most of the day asking caregivers to play chase with him and wanting to play through the mesh while actively running away from the camera. Totally understandable because it has been a beautiful day out, perfect to keep everyone very active and moving.

Burrito eating an avocado during lunch

Burrito climbing the Twister structure during one of our walks around the hill

A play and groom session between Burrito and Caregiver Chad

On the other side of the Chimp House, the chimps in both Honey B’s and Rayne’s group spent most of the day in their green houses enjoying the nice day.

Willy B

Honey B looking as flawless as always

Gordo

Lucky