Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee sanctuary

Where the Wild Honey B’s Are

by

We often jokingly refer to the chimpanzees as Pacific Northwest chimps due to their love of our often quintessential cloudy, on the cool side days. Though such weather is much less common here on the eastern side of Washington state, we relish our stormy springs. Well, most of us. Okay, maybe just me and the chimpanzees. 😉 Having been born and raised in the foggy coastal redwoods, I understand the chimps’ joy completely. And despite the rainy morning, the chimpanzees didn’t hesitate to rush out to Young’s Hill, hair standing on end with excitement, still clutching their breakfast, to head off on a walk or just enjoy their pineapple outdoors:

Burrito:

Missy and Jody conferring about their neighbors:

Missy wasted no time heading off to run around the perimeter in the rain, chow bag in mouth. She kept stopping to see who was joining her and finally took off at full zoom on her own:

Foxie and her apples:

Cuuuute!:

Burrito is not a fan of walking in the grass or walking in the rain. I mean, tall, wet grass?? Ugh. But he braved it all to come along on a walk with Jamie and Missy and I. Why on earth he took the route full of tall, wet grass vs. the cleared path, only he knows. But he’s just the most endearing guy, sneer face and all:

Burrito, Jamie and Missy:

Nutmeg, Betsy, Honey and Meredith chose to take cover under the Ponderosas in the rain and seemed to think the chimps were kooky for being out in it:

Burrito as it began raining in earnest:

Meanwhile, there’s Honey B. As an enrichment item for the big celebration on Saturday for Queen Negra’s birthday and the chimps’ twelve year anniversary in sanctuary, a knit crown was tossed in the mix of party stuff. The Queen didn’t take an interest in it, but who do you think we found sporting it around her neck today?! Of course! Honey B! Creative person that she is. It’s a little hard to make out as she had been ripping and running and zooming, but it really reminds me of the crown Max in “Where the Wild Things Are” wears.

Here she is enjoying a snack while sitting on her new birthday skateboard:

The After-Party

by

Chad and I were just watching Honey B sitting on a pile of enrichment as a dragon would perch upon piles of stolen treasure. Chad remarked “Honey B is the kind of person who would leave their Halloween decorations up for months afterwards.” He’s right.

With all of the celebrating we’ve been doing lately, we’re standing beside her decision to preserve her hoard. Heck, we’ll even help her out.

This past week, we celebrated Honey B’s first birthday as a resident of CSNW (her 31st overall). Then, we briefly paused to celebrate Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day with some vegan pizza and a group walk around Young’s Hill with the chimps. Finally, the festivities culminated in yesterday’s massive birthday bash to celebrate Negra’s 47th year on Earth (and her 12th as a fully-retired sanctuary resident).

In addition to reflecting on the twelve years since the chimps arrived, we’ve also been absolutely thrilled with the success of our virtual online event, the Queen’s Brunch, through which we will continue to provide for chimpanzees. If you’re inclined to bid on any remaining items or simply make a donation, the event is still going on! In light of everything that has gone on this year, we are blown away by how amazing our supporters have been. This most recent outpouring of contributions, along with all of the assistance we had received previously, has been incredible. Thank you.

Today’s blog features a video of Honey B looking proudly content amid the piles of craft paper, plastic toys and fleece blankets that are left over from her epic birthday party. As J.B. mentioned on Friday, Honey B was reluctant to leave her spread of enrichment items so the crew decided to put everything back as soon as they were done cleaning the floors. We continued that tradition today, and will probably continue to do so until Honey B is ready for some new experiences. For now, though, we’re enjoying the after-party as much as she is.

Happy birthday, dude.

Happy Birthday to our Queen Negra!

by

To know Negra is a true honor. She is unapologetically herself. To know who you are is a very important life skill. To have the ability to express yourself is also very important. Negra’s life has not been easy. However, Negra is a chimp who knows how she likes things and what she wants. Negra knows she loves pine-coco juice, lettuce, and chow. Negra as many of us know is the queen of comfort, she loves to make people dance for her, and when she wants to play she is not afraid to initiate it. When she feels like it, she gives the best kisses. Negra also gets to make those choices. She gets to choose where and how to make her nest, if she wants to go out on Young’s Hill, and she gets to express herself how she chooses. If Negra feels annoyed with her caregivers she can show her feelings, and trust us Negra is not afraid of holding back :).

June 13th, 2008 changed many lives. Most importantly everyday for 12 years seven chimps’ lives have gotten better each and everyday. And seven chimps became ten chimps. While our family may be growing, our visions and goals as a sanctuary have not. As Leslie Knope once asked in a TV show called Parks and Rec, “Are you better off now than you were a year ago?”. The answer is ABSOLUTELY and Negra is the perfect example of that. Happy Birthday to our Queen Negra. You are so very special to us.

If you missed the The Queen’s Brunch today you can still donate on our auction page. There are still a few second chance items left. Don’t miss out!

The Queen laying on her throne.

We had a huge forage out on Young’s Hill for lunch. Jody had arms full of cattails and a mouth full of roses. She also scored a big chunk of coconut. However, Jody got a little distracted near Negra. Negra looked over and to her dismay there was an abandoned coconut! Negra looked to be the happiest person in the world!

Negra with the coconut.

Missy zipped around the whole forage. I literally never saw her walking.

Jamie with arms and a foot full of lettuce.

Bubba enjoying his peppers.

Negra loving her lettuce too.

We hope you all had as much fun with the virtual auction and brunch as we did! I will leave you with these two images of Negra.

In honor of Queen Negra!

by

We’re so fortunate to have a second sponsor of a day on this very special day of celebration! Long-time friend and chimp family member, Kathleen Corby, sends this heart-lifting message about her gift:

“Happy 47th birthday to my dear Negra. This is one of my favorite days of the year. A day to honor and celebrate the one and only HRH, Queen Negra. I will be celebrating with you, munching on my StroopWaffels, sipping yummy pineapple spritzers with my special straw, wearing my CSNW pin, and popping my party cracker so I too can wear a crown and be Queen for a day with you. Oh what fun we will share during your Live (yippee!!) Queen’s Brunch celebration! May nut bags rain from the sky. Happy birthday Negra, I love you so. And Happy 12 Years of Sanctuary to everyone at CSNW. So much to be grateful for today. Let the celebrations begin…..”

Thank you so much, Kathleen, for sponsoring our Queen’s (and her family’s!) incredible day of celebration and for being right there with us all every step of the way. We’re so grateful to have you as part of our chimp family. <3

It’s finally here! The Queen’s Brunch! Be sure to tune into our live event on Facebook today at 11:00 AM PST to join in the festivities!

Happy Birthday, Negra! You are more loved than you may ever know.

In honor of Denise and Richard

by

Janet Mattox is sponsoring a day of sanctuary today for the chimpanzees and bovines: “In honor of my wonderful friends Denise and Richard Edelson. Denise introduced me to the chimpsnw.org blog, and it has brought me so much pleasure, especially welcome just now when the news is bleak. Thank you, everyone, cows, chimps, and humans!”

Denise and Richard, thank you for your support and sharing your love of the chimpanzees! This makes a huge difference in their lives.

And Janet, thank you so much for celebrating Denise and Richard and the shared joy the chimps and the bovines have brought to your life! To all our lives. 🙂

Today is a pretty big deal here at the sanctuary as we honor the ten chimpanzees and four bovines who call this their home. It’s the 12 year anniversary of the arrival of Jamie, Jody, Annie, Missy, Burrito, Foxie and Negra, whose honorary 47th birthday we’re also celebrating today! And you can join in all this amazingness with our first ever virtual event, The Queen’s Brunch (live via FaceBook at 11:00 AM PST)!

Negra:

Willy B:

Honey B and Mave:

Jody:

Meredith, Honey, Nutmeg and Betsy:

Jamie, Foxie, Missy, Annie and Burrito:

Hi, I’m Mave!

by

Mave has been in such a fantastic mood lately. She has been grooming a lot with Honey B and Willy B. She has been very playful, playing chase with caregivers, full contact wrestling with her roommates, spinning around on the floor, even climbing the caging so she can to meet the caregivers at eye-level to show off her amazing play face and presenting her belly. I didn’t have the camera on me at the time, and Katelyn and I weren’t able to pull our phones out quick enough to catch it yesterday. So here’s a photo from a couple weeks ago during one of our play sessions. You would just have to image her with that face, but high on the caging to meet eye-to-eye before jumping down and engaging in another game of chase.

One other sign Mave is getting into a playful mood is with her fashion choice. When she is playful, she usually plays with a sock or puts it on as Kelsi mentioned in Mave’s birthday blog. Recently, she has been loving these fruit themed socks we have in our enrichment inventory.

Mave with a strawberry sock.
Mave with the grape sock.

And today, she decided the banana sock was today’s choice after a rousing game of chase.

Once her sock was on, the game of chase continued.

There are only two other fruit sock variations left I have not been able to catch a photo of her with: grapefruit and pineapple. I have seen her wear or at least interact with them, just haven’t been able to capture them on camera.

Speaking of two different variations, have you seen the Mave shirt available on the Queen’s Brunch Online Auction? There is a brown version and a blue version. I am super thrilled with how these designs came out and can’t wait to get mine.

Be sure to register for the Queen’s Brunch to ensure you receive updates on items added to the auction.

Mave and Honey B grooming in their pink car fort.

Happy Birthday, Donna!

by

A day of sanctuary was sponsored for the chimpanzees by Donna Dinsmore who shared this sweet note: “This is my birthday and I would love to have the chimps celebrate it with me!”

Donna, thank you so much! We so appreciate your inspiring and generous heart and the lasting difference you’ve help make in the chimpanzees lives. All of us here hope you have the happiest of birthdays!

Miss Jamie:

Burrito:

Jody:

Mave and Honey B: