Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
From the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams: “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
Here’s a troll doll who is in the process of becoming real, thanks to the love of one Foxie Chimpanzee:
Today’s day of sanctuary was also sponsored by Juliana Olmstead, along with family and friends, in celebration of her boyfriend, John Barbagallo, on his birthday! Juliana organized a fundraiser for John through Crowd Rise in which all proceeds will be donated to the chimpanzees! Juliana shared this message about today:
“John Barbagallo’s friends and family are sponsoring this day in honor of his 40th birthday. John has been passionate about animal rescue for many years, and his birthday wish was to make a contribution to this amazing sanctuary.”
Juliana, and John’s friends and family, thank you so much! This is such a fantastic idea and we are so touched that you all would come together to do something so special for John and the chimpanzees.
John, thank you so much for your compassion and dedication to the amazing animal beings we share the earth with. We so appreciate you sharing your own special day with the chimpanzees and all of you making a difference in their lives. All of the primates here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest wish you a happy birthday full of pant-hoots and food grunts. Just channel your inner Burrito if you need help with the latter:
It takes a lot of trust for two chimpanzees to play together. Many play behaviors are variations on fighting behaviors – chasing, wrestling, stealing, slapping, hitting, etc. – and as play gets more aggressive, it’s easy to misunderstand your partner’s intentions. When the chimps first arrived at the sanctuary, Foxie and Annie would occasionally attempt to play, and it almost always ended up as a fight. They just didn’t have enough trust in one another.
Things sure have changed.
I wouldn’t say that Foxie and Annie are best friends now, but they certainly have come to understand each other more and they even engage in rough and tumble play from time to time without it erupting into a conflict. This morning, Foxie even allowed Annie to playfully steal (and dismember!) one of her Dora dolls. That’s when you know you are a member of Foxie’s inner circle.
While Jamie and I walked around Young’s Hill yesterday, Missy decided to make her way across the hill via the highest points of the climbing structures. I think she traversed every climbing structure the chimps have on the hill, taking in the view from each spot. Walking is boring, if you’re Missy.
As Jamie and I reached the top of Young’s Hill, Missy raced pass to the next climbing structure and we were greeted by Foxie, Dora and troll, who were on their way over to check out what was happening on the neighbor’s property. Foxie spent most of the morning sitting on the very top of the new structure. Balancing precariously (from my perspective, not hers) on the railing to be precise. She spent over an hour all on her own, seemingly taking in the view in every direction from the highest lookout on the hill.
Back to Missy, who took Jamie’s and Carlene’s Towers across the top of the hill. My heart will never tire of watching the chimpanzees as they take in the views from the hill. My heart swells thinking of the courage they’ve found to climb to such heights and sit peacefully in solitude. Can you just imagine the awe they must feel after having survived over 30 years in cages the size of bathroom stalls to now find themselves with the freedom to run, roam, and climb to their hearts’ content? The awe they must feel when taking in such a vast landscape after having lived in a windowless basement?
You can just see Missy’s head at the bottom of the ladder as she looks toward Jamie and I at the bottom of the hill. At this point Missy ran full speed all the way down the hill and back to the greenhouse. But then, why walk when you can fly?
Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for the support and love you so generously share with the chimpanzees. And thanks to all of you who were able to participate and make our amazing auction as amazing as it was. It’s each of you that make this life of awe, wonder and hope possible for the chimps.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Summer Biddin’ online-only auction! Those who donated items, made cash donations for Summer Lovin‘, and bid, bid, and then bid some more (even if you didn’t win), came together to raise $27,000 for the chimpanzees – and that was with an initial goal of raising $14,000!!
You all inspire me so much! It makes me happy to know that there are people out there who put their hearts into helping the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and are so good at having fun while doing it!
Just after the chimpanzees had eaten lunch, I wondered into the greenhouse to find Annie, Negra and Missy napping on this cool afternoon. I had a mission to take photos of Annie because she and Foxie are my final “first impressions” blog candidates. Annie was doing some interesting yoga-like stretches that I wanted to photograph, but Missy had other ideas. She brought a small piece of stick over to me and pressed her shoulder against the caging for some grooming. She used the twig she had found to groom herself and I found a small tool to gently groom the arm she had presented. Meanwhile Annie was doing more yoga moves that I wanted to catch with my camera so I decided to try and split my time between grooming Missy and photographing her good friend Annie. Missy wasn’t sold on this decision. She moved over to Annie and received a much more attentive grooming. This was an excellent choice. While Annie may be low in the group’s hierarchy, she is high on the friendship scale.
Annie (right) grooms Missy (on the left).
Gentle Annie
We had a slight sprinkle of rain and a breeze as we put out the forage on Young’s Hill this afternoon. This seemed like appropriate weather for Negra to venture out and collect some tomato slices.
She quickly returned to the greenhouse where she enjoyed her bounty under an orange fleece blanket. This photo and the weather remind me that fall is just around the corner.
Negra reminds me of comfort. She has favorite foods, sleeping spots, and outdoor temperatures. An early morning ritual that caregivers enjoy with Negra is the wrist kiss and grass request. When temperatures are warm, we will usually find her sleeping under a blanket on the top platform in the greenhouse. She will usually greet us with a gentle kiss on the wrist (her prehensile lips extend outside the caging) and then immediately clap her hands. I learned early on that this was an appeal for a couple fresh sprigs of grass that are growing just beyond the chimpanzee’s reach. “Queen” Negra will munch on the grass and go back to bed where she waits in her nest for us to present her with an offering of peanuts. We have hopes that she will accept the offering and shift into the building so we can close off the greenhouse for cleaning. Negra knows what she likes and she sticks to it.
