Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee sanctuary

Happy Anniversary, Adam!

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Raina Cincoski sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees and bovines in honor of her husband, Adam, with this lovely message:

“This day of sponsorship is for my husband Adam on our 21st wedding anniversary. Seeing his love of all things furry touched my heart decades ago and told me that I would be safe spending my life with this gentle and caring soul. He reminds me of a certain chimpanzee – handsome, strong, courageous and kind to the women in his life. Please share some photos of that fine Willy B for our special day.”

This is so sweet, Raina, thank you for including the chimpanzees in your and Adam’s special day and especially, in your celebration of kindness and good hearts! And thanks for the smiles you brought to our faces with your love for Willy B! And if Adam’s like Willy B, well, it’s gotta be rough putting up with all the screaming that happens every time he steps outside. 😉

Happy Anniversary, Adam and Raina! We hope you have the best day!

And now, without further delay…<3

Honey B and Willy B:

Giving Days and Days of Gifts

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Today’s theme: gifts, giving, and gifts given.

Before we get to today’s update, though, I want to remind everyone that Giving Day for Apes is this Tuesday! It’s not too late to set up your own fundraising page via the sanctuary’s Giving Day for Apes page (just click on the big “Fundraise” button to get started). To see pages that others have created, scroll down on our page and look under “Campaigns supporting this organization.” All donations made on any of those campaigns will go directly to the sanctuary and will be eligible for the cash prizes offered!

Of course, the special fundraisers aren’t the only times that our supporters make generous gifts to the sanctuary.

Earlier today, we posted the following message:

Mary Horton sponsored this special day of sanctuary for her mom and long-time friend of the chimpanzees, Vicki Fagerlee… Vicki, you make a lasting difference in the chimpanzees’ and cattle’s lives, helping us ensure their joy, well-being and comfort for all their days forward. We’re so grateful to have you as part of our chimp and bovine family. Happy Birthday, from all of us here at the sanctuary!

It may have been Vicki’s birthday today, but she has been the one buying gifts for the sanctuary lately. Last week, we received notice that someone purchased a new mirrorless digital camera from our Amazon Wish List. Shortly after, the device arrived at our front gate with all the accessories we need to keep taking photos for the blog. The new Canon RP is much newer, lighter, and versatile than the donated Canon Rebels we have been using, and it has many new features that we have yet to master. Today, I spent some time to tinker with the auto-focus settings, low-light capabilities, and preset modes, but it definitely feels like learning to take photographs all over again. This technology has advanced quite far over the last ten years, so we appreciate that Vicki is helping us to stay current. I can’t wait to see what content we can create with this generous gift, and I really can’t wait to share the final products with you all.

Annie
Foxie and Missy
Jody and Foxie
Burrito
Burrito

P.S. Even the newest cameras have a difficult time focusing on Burrito’s face when he plays chase and tickle like an absolute maniac. In this case, I think I focused on his tiny white nose hairs. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy Birthday, Vicki!

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Mary Horton sponsored this special day of sanctuary for her mom and long-time friend of the chimpanzees, Vicki Fagerlee, with this sweet message:

“Happy Birthday to a wonderful mom and gram who loves her kids and grandkids and chimps.”

Mary, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to celebrate Vicki with you all! We appreciate you including the chimpanzees in her special day.

Vicki, you make a lasting difference in the chimpanzees’ and cattle’s lives, helping us ensure their joy, well-being and comfort for all their days forward. We’re so grateful to have you as part of our chimp and bovine family. Happy Birthday, from all of us here at the sanctuary!

Sweet Mave:

Negra:

Honey, Betsy and Nutmeg:

Honey B:

Meredith:

Willy B:

Jamie:

Burrito, Annie, Jody, Missy and Jamie:

Tuesday is the Big Day + Feeling Good

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First, a reminder to all that Tuesday (just a few days away!) is Giving Day for Apes.

In addition to our main fundraising page, if any one person or group out there wants to create their own fundraising page to raise funds for the sanctuary, you can do that! It’s pretty easy. Just go to our Giving Day for Apes page and click on the big “Fundraise” button and it will walk you though the steps. To see pages that others have created, scroll down on our page and look under “Campaigns supporting this organization.” All donations made on any of those campaigns will go directly to the sanctuary and will be eligible for the cash prizes offered!

Did you go look? Okay, good, now here’s the blog for the day:

Yesterday during the video event with Senator Tom Udall hosted by Animal Protection of New Mexico, animal welfare scientist Dr. Katie Cronin said something that really struck me. She said that having an enrichment program is not about what you provide but rather about how the animals feel about it. This is obviously true and yet somehow profound because it is not historically the way enrichment programs have been talked about or evaluated.

Enrichment is all about engagement and finding things that interest the individuals in your care, so if you give some type of enrichment to an animal and they don’t engage with it all, well, it’s not enriching for them and that means new things should be tried and evaluated.

So, fast forward to today. Kelsi and I were cleaning the greenhouse and I looked up at an eye bolt that Anthony had put under the top platform of the structure last year sometime. I said outloud that we should hang something there, so Kelsi and I talked about it for a bit and she mentioned wanting to get another hay feeder like the one filled with lettuce that Mave and Honey B enjoyed so much recently.

That made a dim light bulb go off in my (above my?) head, and I got to work filling the hay feeder with layers of blankets and lettuce to hang from the aforementioned eye bolt. I admit that I thought I was being quite clever. I had to stand on a step stool to hang the feeder and thought to myself that this was going to be a great challenge for the group of seven.

After letting the group into the greenhouse, I anxiously turned the corner to spy on the chimpanzees to see if they were engaged with the hay feeder. I was presented with a very rewarding scene: Annie was on top of the platform lying down to reach the lettuce and Missy was down below standing as tall as she could to reach the enrichment.

I left, once again feeling very clever.

I returned just a few minutes later, and Missy had solved the puzzle her own way, beating me at any contest for cleverness.

Soon, Negra came out to the greenhouse from the playroom and discovered all she had to do was sit below and wait for the lettuce to fall down as Missy picked through the blankets.

Meanwhile on the other side of the building, Mave and Willy B enjoyed some enriching social time in the outdoor chute in between rain showers:

While Honey B performed magic tricks with some new scarves:

All in all, I would say today was enriching for both the chimpanzees and me, and now I hope for you too.

If you enjoy the blog, please do consider making a donation to our Giving Day for Apes page. To get the most bang for your buck, donate between 10-11am PT on Tuesday, October 13th, but any donation at any time helps! Thank you for helping enrich the lives of the chimpanzees!

Congratulations, Heather and Matt!

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Stephanie Voss sponsored this day of sanctuary in honor of Heather Voss with “Congratulations to Heather & Matt on their wedding day.”

What a joyful day for the chimpanzees to be included in, Stephanie, thank you!

Heather and Matt, may your special day be a joyful, hope-filled, beautiful celebration! Thank you for helping to ensure the chimpanzees’ lives are filled with love and joy for all their days forward. Congratulations from all of us at CSNW!

Missy:

Mave and Willy B:

Honey B and Mave:

Annie and Missy:

Happy Birthday, Michael!

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Arlene sponsored such a lovely day of sanctuary for her husband, Michael, today:

“I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband Michael. I love our life together. This world can get pretty crazy but I am so thankful to be in it with you by my side. You are my calm in the storm. You are my rock, very steady and reassuring. Everyone needs that kind of comfort. Love you.”

Arlene, thank you, to you and Michael, for always holding the chimpanzees in your hearts and including them in your lives. We’re so grateful for you both.

Happy Birthday, Michael! All of us here hope you have the best of days! We’re hoping Arlene made you a troll scarf to wear in celebration. 😉 October is definitely a good birthday month! Just ask boss lady extraordinaire, Jamie (that’s right, folks, Jamieween season is upon us!).

New Camera. Who Dis?

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Through the generosity of a donor, we received a new camera recently. Today was just a test run, but hopefully after a more thorough trial and error period, we will be able to provide you all with some amazing photos:

Jody in one of the front rooms.
Foxie going into the Greenhouse with a mouthful of water.
Jamie laying down in one of the windows of the Greenhouse.
Honey B unsure of the new camera.
Missy taking her lunch to go.
Annie enjoying some peace by herself in the Greenhouse.
Burrito interrupting the peace because he wanted to play and not want me to take photos of Annie.

Obviously after that last one, I obliged Burrito and played a game of chase and tug-o-war with him. I wasn’t able to get a photo of him with the new camera, but was able to snap this with my phone after he won our tug-o-war match.

And just as a little extra, here are some photos I took throughout the day of what everybody was up to (sans new camera):

Negra was found in a huge pink pile of blankets this morning when we arrived.

For the Group of 7, they received Boomer Balls tonight as their nighttime food puzzle. Jamie grabbed what she could and lined them on a bench before going to forage some after dinner lettuce. Everybody knew those Boomer Balls on the bench we hers and let them be while their owner was away.

Foxie, on the other hand, grabbed a couple herself and headed straight to the Greenhouse to enjoy them in peace and quiet.

For the Group of 3, we wanted to try something new tonight. After doing some research fro new ideas, one I came across called “Pineapple Tops.” It is similar to our Pine Cones, just with a different vessel.

Generally, when we try something new, we get a little nervous if they will like what we concocted.

In this case though, they loved them!

Willy B’s first step to this was to search through the leaves for peanut butter, seeds, and raisins.

Mave went straight for the sweet stuff: the left over pineapple at the bottom.

Honey B rushed to the Chute, so I wasn’t able to get photos of her, though I could just make out she went with a method similar to Willy B.

We are so grateful to all our supporters and followers. You all have helped us try to provided the best support we possibly could to these 10 unique individuals.

As you may have heard, Giving Day For Apes is coming up on October 13th! It is a yearly fundraiser drive among all the ape sanctuaries across the world to raise donations to maintain the best care we can provide. There are several events throughout the day that could help earn additional funding to expand, maintain the best care we can provide, as well as bring more chimpanzees home. We hope you will be able to help and donate what ever you can that day. For the Chimpanzees. For the Cattle. For Sanctuary.