Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee sanctuary

Happy Birthday, Erin!

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Today was sponsored by Maureen McHorney in honor of her daughter, Erin Yuhas, to wish her a Happy Birthday!

Erin is a long-time friend of the chimpanzees and she and her colleagues at Hartford Healthcare Medical Group Norwich recently got together to generously sponsor a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in celebration of World Chimpanzee Day, complete with heaps and piles of gifts.

Maureen, what a lovely way to celebrate Erin and her compassion heart! Thank you so much for making a difference in the chimpanzees’ lives in Erin’s honor and for giving us the chance to celebrate her with you!

Happy Birthday from all the primates at CSNW, Erin!! Have a beautiful day! Thank you for all the joy and love you help bring to the chimps’ days!

Jamie:

Honey B and Mave:

Willy B:

Annie and Missy:

Burrito:

Jody:

Foxie:

Batting A Thousand

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I was sure batting a thousand today in terms of not being able to get any decent photos. Though, that may have actually described today’s feel. Not that there’s anything is wrong with it or anything bad happened, but it was just quiet. Really quiet. Suspiciously quiet.

The only decent photo I was able to get was right after breakfast of Burrito and Foxie trying to spy on their neighbors.

Once cleaning was over, that was it. The ladies all decided to keep quiet and to themselves in the most difficult of spots around the sanctuary to get photos. As evident by Honey B here.

It’s enough to know who it is, but not enough to get a decent photo of.

There were, however, two strapping gentlemen who were within sight. As some of you know though, these two gentlemen can be extremely difficult to get photos of. Each for their own reasons.

In one of many failed attempts to get photos of the Group of Seven, Burrito insisted it was not photo time, but another play time. I had to opportunistically get whatever photos I could during our play session.

Wait for it….

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A very blurry kiss to the camera!

So I tried my luck on the other side, again, in one of many failed attempts to get photos of the Group of Three.

As you may know, Willy B usually likes to be very close to the camera and makes it difficult to take photos of him. But I gave it my best attempt.

First he allowed me to snap this photo.

I had to show him what I was able to capture. Apparently he liked it because…

Wait for it…

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He wanted to kiss it!

Again, like the prior Burrito kiss photo, he was super close and out of focus. I thought it was just interesting both of them had done the same thing by trying to kiss the camera.

And one last “model” shot of Willy B. Though close to the caging and camera.

UPDATE:

I was able to get some photos during dinner that tells a semi-interesting story.

First, I was able to capture sweet Annie enjoying her corn at dinner. (Make note of the piece of corn at her feet.)

Then seemingly out of nowhere, Missy comes by and swipes the corn that was at Annie’s feet.

Annie didn’t seem too worried about it. If you looked closely, you can see only the very top of the ear of corn was left.

But also…

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Annie spotted the cob Missy was given earlier for dinner. Coincidentally it was with roughly the same amount of corn kernels still left. So I guess that’s not really stealing. More like a long roundabout form of trading.

Tutorial: How to Clean an Enclosure

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The blog often shows the highlights of each day, but we don’t always show the less-glamorous aspects of our jobs. As caregivers, most of our work day is actually spent cleaning, securing, and maintaining the spaces that the chimpanzees live in.

Just confirming that an area is safe for humans to enter is a chore in itself, and then each enclosure requires daily attention so that the chimps can be healthy, comfortable, and entertained. On top of that, there are always dishes to scrub, toys to wash, puzzles to prepare, and paperwork to organize.

This evening, I chose to demonstrate our standard procedures for cleaning and sanitizing a chimpanzee enclosure so that you can all partake in the fun!

The Great Watermelon Haul on Foxie’s 44th Birthday

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This video above of Foxie’s 44th birthday celebration has a little something for everyone. Well, except we did not get any photos or video of Mave or Honey B enjoying their watermelon boats. They did enjoy them, rest assured.

In addition to the watermelon bowl forage, which was a tradition began many years ago by volunteers, we also served smoothies (normally a breakfast-only thing) at both lunch and dinner. Foxie was appropriately appreciative.

Foxie’s was the first birthday we celebrated when the chimpanzees arrived in 2008. We knew her exact birth date because she was born in a laboratory and we had scant records of her years as a biomedical test subject that included her birth date, place of birth, and the number they assigned to her and tattooed on her body.

Those days must feel very, very far behind her today as she celebrated her 12th birthday in sanctuary.

What a gift to have all of these chimpanzees in our lives and to be able to give them good days.

Raise your watermelon bowl to many more!!

Happy Birthday, Foxie!

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Our second generous gift of a day of sanctuary was sponsored by Foxie’s Pal, Jordan Bower, in honor of Foxie’s 44th birthday! Woot!

“Happy Birthday to the sweet, sweet Foxie Chimpanzee. Watching the kind of peacekeeper and friend she is, makes me a better person. I believe this Shakespeare quote fits her perfectly: ‘And though she be but little, she is fierce’. I hope her day is spent doing and snacking on all of the things she loves.”

Jordan, that is the perfect quote, and one we ourselves often use in regard to Foxie. Thank you so much for thinking of her today and helping to make her day even better. Foxie is such a special person and we couldn’t be more grateful to be celebrating her today.

Happy, happy birthday, beloved Foxie! You make all our lives better just by being your beautiful, magical, endearing, loving, pirouetting, joyful, sassy-pants self. We love you more than you will ever know.

Foxie and Troll:

Burrito and Foxie:

Jody and Foxie:

A favorite. Annie, Missy and Foxie:

Be sure to tune back in later today to see Foxie’s celebration!

Happy Birthday, Susana!

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Today we are fortunate to have two lovely humans sponsoring days of sanctuary in celebration of birthdays! Our first gift is from Susana Pataro:

“It is my wish to celebrate this special day with my beloved chimpanzee friends. I am in lockdown since March, but happy to see that they are thriving in Cle Elum and also have new friends. I want to share with them additional love and care to all the beautiful things they receive from you every day. I will be at home in Buenos Aires alone with my glass of champagne and my chocolate cake watching the chimps celebration!”

Happy Birthday, Susana! Thanks so much for such kindness in celebrating your own special day with the chimpanzees! As you share a birthday with Foxie, it’s a good day for a birthday! 🙂 She and her friends will be celebrating alongside you with her version of champagne and chocolate cake (smoothies and watermelon bowls) and all of us here are sending all the good thoughts to you for a really special day during a really unique time in life. Thank you for allowing us to celebrate with you and for adding to the chimpanzees’ lives!

Foxie and past celebrations:

Golden Rays of Sunshine

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This morning’s sun gave off the most incredible golden rays. When the chimpanzees were given access to Young’s Hill, it was no wonder why all of them rushed right out the door.

As Jamie went on her morning patrol of the day, Annie remained behind to watch the others explore the hill.

And who did Annie see? Why Queen Negra enjoying the sun with a doll of course!

And there is nothing better than a passerby game of tag with Burrito!

Foxie and her Orange Blossom doll also ventured outside.

But she eventually went inside to enjoy the cooler indoors.

Willy B also spent most his day lounging around on his favorite leopard print blanket. (Seriously, he loves this blanket! Thank you to one of our volunteers who donated it!)

As I write this and try to get a few more photos for today, I’m starting to realize staying indoors lounging around is the cool thing to do. Literally, the cooler thing to do.

Though the bigger news is that Jody was able to return to her group today! We are still monitoring her foot before she gets access to the outdoors area, but we are hoping that happens soon.