Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee

Happy One Year Anniversary from Monica!

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If you’ve been following the sanctuary for any length of time, you’ve definitely heard the name Monica Best. She’s a generous donor who loves to encourage other generous donors by setting challenge pledges whenever we have a fundraising initiative. She played a large role in the expansion construction that’s happening right now. The sanctuary wouldn’t be what it is today without her support.

Of course she didn’t want the significant one-year anniversary of the arrival of Mave, Willy B, and Honey B pass without her sponsor-a-day acknowledgement and donation.

Monica has personally been through a lot these last several years and the chimpanzees and blog have provided some solace during tough times. I know many of you can identify with that.

I have been thinking a lot about the role of hope in our lives, both related to trying to help chimpanzees and getting through to the other side of difficult times, which is something we are all grappling with right now.

I found a quote that reminds me of Monica for a few reasons, and I thought it appropriate to share on this day that she has sponsored which was full of hope one year ago as the van pulled up to the sanctuary with three chimpanzees we barely knew:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

― Emily Dickinson

To put it mildly, not everything has gone according to plan this last year, but so much of the hope for the new lives of Willy B, Honey B, and Mave has already been realized as we have watched them play, explore, and relax in their new sanctuary home.

There are more chimpanzees at Wildlife Waystation who we must hold hope for as we collectively work to help them.

The construction crew is currently toiling away at the continued expansion so that we can welcome another group of chimpanzees to the sanctuary with Mave, Willy B, and Honey B supervising their labor that will also provide those three with more space.

Watching that scene this morning, and knowing it is possible because of Monica’s support and the support of so many of you out there, I found myself full of hope for the future, despite the current moment of unpredictability.

Happy arrival anniversary! Thank you, Monica, for sponsoring today and for inspiring hope.

Can you believe it?!

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Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of Willy B, Mave and Honey B’s arrival from their former home at Wildlife Waystation in California! Can you believe it?? Sometimes it feels like they’ve always been here, part of our family, and other times it feels as though they’ve only recently arrived. But one thing is certain, they continue to delight and surprise us daily. We are so honored to care for them, to get to know these three amazing people more and more with each passing day and provide them with as much love, comfort, joy and adventure as we can dream up. We’re just so honored that they call Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest home and are part of our chimpanzee family. And we cannot thank you all enough for making their lives here possible, and the lives of those still to come!

To those who directly cared and advocated for Willy B, Mave and Honey B during their time at Wildlife Waystation, and who continue to care for the chimpanzees still there awaiting their new sanctuary homes, thank you, we think of you every day.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the celebration!

Chad saved the day by graciously sharing these photos.

Mave, being her wonderful self:

Honey B rocking FOUR headband/waistbands and ready to play chase! Look at her!

Willy B working on new to them enrichment of a raisin board:

In memory of Joan

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Thyra and David Rutter of Arte for Elephants sponsored this day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees “In loving memory of Joan Lichterman – unstoppable warrior for all creatures of the earth.” 

Thank you so much for choosing to honor Joan’s legacy by making a difference in the chimpanzees’ lives, Thyra and David. We truly appreciate you thinking of them all in this way. May your day be filled with comforting, joyful and inspiring memories of Joan.

Learn more about Arte for Elephants and the wonderful work they do here.

Negra:

Summery Sundays

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It was a scorcher today. With temperatures nearing the triple digits, everybody decided to take it easy today. Well, most of the day.

When we check the weather reports and find it’s going to be a hot one, the staff usually tries to complete our safety checks as soon as possible so the chimpanzees can go onto Young’s Hill before the sun goes into full effect.

Jody was the first one on the hill this morning, and she was super excited to be out there.

Look how piloerect she was.

She was so pilo, Annie thought something was wrong and went out to give her reassurance. But Jody was just really excited to be on the hill.

Though this may seem like an intimidating photo, Annie usually walks bipedally when she is on the hill and is a normal behavior for her. You can tell it was a peaceful interaction by identifying Jody’s relaxed lower lip.

Besides that brief period of excitement in the morning, the sun showed it’s force and everybody thought it was best to take it easy.

Willy B took a nap on his leopard print blanket.

While Mave decided the bench above him was the best spot.

The cattle even came by for their daily drink from the trough with Honey leading the way.

And I had to share this one because it looks like an album cover to a pop group. (L to R: Nutmeg, Honey, Betsy. Meredith was right behind them.)

At least some people were busy. The bumble bees were in full force, pollinating the vegetable and fruit plants growing in out vegetable garden.

One very specific plant in the garden the were near was our tomato plants, which are starting to bud.

I know this isn’t the case, but I like to believe they somehow know next week is Missy’s birthday! One can believe, can’t they?

I will leave you with the end of Jody’s Sunday with photos of her nesting.

Bonus photo of her when she moved her nest into another front room with Burrito.

I hope you all have a marvelous Monday tomorrow and great week!

Willy B on Repeat and Highlights of the Day

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The video above is a pretty good follow-up to the snippet of Willy B that I shared within this video a few weeks ago.

I took the footage for today’s video last week, but didn’t want to usurp Foxie’s birthday so I saved it for today.

For a glimpse of actual happenings today, visit our Instagram page, and behold some highlights below from the breakfast forage on Young’s Hill.

Missy slacklining on fire hose

 

Missy dismounting from the fire hose, showing off the benefit of opposable toes.

 

Jamie was just scratching her face in that image above, but I like how it looks like she might be saying, “oh, geez, Missy”

Jody once again dominated the willow forage:

and Negra seemed to be just fine with our secret lettuce-for-breakfast-outside weight loss plan aimed to slim her down a bit:

Happy Birthday, Ben!

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Laura Bradshaw sponsored this day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in celebration of Ben Bradshaw on his birthday and shared this lovely message about her gift:

“Ben loves the wonderful residents of CSNW because the fabulous people there have done an amazing job of helping all of us get to know them. Without meeting them in person, we feel ourselves lift whenever we see their faces, or feet, or other random body parts. Thank you for allowing the CSNW critters to be a part of Ben’s birthday celebration.”

Laura and Ben, thank you for your kind words, we’re so happy knowing the chimpanzees bring so much joy to your lives, especially during these unprecedented times. And we’re thrilled that you chose to include them in Ben’s celebration! Thank you for making a difference in theirs lives with your generous hearts.

Happiest of days to you, Ben, from all of us here at CSNW!

Mave!

Burrito:

Willy in his tub:

Miss Honey B:

Jody:

Back to normal

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Last week, as he was leaving work for the day, Anthony noticed that Betsy was no longer with her group. It’s unusual for anyone in this herd to be alone, but even more so for Betsy. Diana and I joined Anthony to check on her and all three of us could see that she was favoring her front right leg. Her family had gone on their last trip of the day for water and she was unable to follow them.

So we each grabbed an end and carried her across the pasture to the stock tank. Just kidding.

Caring for chimpanzees is incredibly difficult, but cattle present some of their own challenges as well. In this case, we had to move the water to her, along with some hay and a mineral block, so that she didn’t have to try to walk. Dr. Erin immediately came out to evaluate her. I sometimes wonder if in the history of the profession a veterinarian has ever eaten an entire dinner with their family.

While I’m sure Betsy was grateful for the dinner service, Nutmeg was the real winner. That guy loves the tractor.

Dr. Erin decided that it was likely a minor sprain and that with rest and some pain meds she should recover soon. Did you know that cows can take one of the same pain medications we give the chimps? Except Betsy’s dose is 49 pills. Imagine what it would be for Nutmeg.

For a few days, Betsy and her family stayed in the south pasture. While she was up and grazing, she hadn’t walked more than a dozen yards or so from where Anthony had spotted her that first evening. But on the fourth morning, the cows were nowhere to be found. Not in the south pasture, not at the stock tank. If Betsy were feeling better, I knew exactly where she would go: To the stream that runs through the middle of the sanctuary.

Who wants to drink water from a tank when you can drink water fresh from a mountain spring?

We’ve been pretty fortunate so far when it comes to the cows’ health. Our biggest challenges have been keeping weight on Betsy while keeping weight off of her son. Thankfully this was nothing more than a brief scare and the cattle are now back to their normal routine.

Mostly normal routine, I should say. Because Betsy and the gang have some new neighbors. I’ve been meaning to meet them so I went out this morning to say hello.

Apparently Nutmeg has taken an interest in them, but when I walked out to the south pasture this morning the cows were keeping their distance. Betsy and Nutmeg were alternating between grooming and play fighting. They knocked their heads together, butting and bunting for dominance.

But Nutmeg isn’t interested in dominance. He just wants to groom his mom. As does every 2,000-lb Jersey steer, I would assume.

Before long, Betsy turned her attention toward me.

If you are going to visit the cows, be prepared to stay a while…and get thoroughly cleaned.