Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee

Foxie and Jamie’s epic play session

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When Foxie first came to the sanctuary, she was pretty shy. It was clear she did not want any of the toys, blankets and other objects that we gave the chimpanzees every day. Then, she adopted a troll doll, which we named Trixie.

That’s when the troll soap opera began. At first, Foxie was very protective of her dolls and did not want anyone else to touch them. She’s come a long way.

In the video below, she is teasing Jamie with a game of keep-away. Foxie still has her limits, though, when it comes to her prized possessions. And perhaps Jamie has softened up a bit when it comes to Foxie and her dolls.

It’s a longer video than normal, but it will make a bad day good and a good day better, so take a break for a few minutes and watch it.

Annie’s waist warmer

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Last Saturday, while playing with Missy, Annie put a bright pink fleece head warmer around her neck and wore it like that for 2 days. On Monday, her “neck warmer” became a “waist warmer”. It is now day 5 of waist warming! Pretty fashion-forward!

Annie's waist warmer
Annie's waist warmer

the banana

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In case you don’t click through to the fundraising page, below is a visual of our 2nd Anniversary Fundraising progress. Can you tell I’m excited about this today? I really think we can do this!

In addition to all of the things you can buy and ways you can donate I mentioned in the previous post, there are even more ways you can give. Today is volunteer Kim’s birthday. She’s set up a birthday wish through Facebook that you can donate to and wish her a happy birthday.

And I’m turning 37 tomorrow (yikes!). I’ve also set up a birthday wish through Facebook. I really want those windows as a birthday gift for me, Jody and Negra!

Fundraising Update – OMG! $10,000 in 1 week

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This week was really incredible in terms of donations towards our 2nd Anniversary Fundraising. We received a $5,000 grant from the Tony Stewart Foundation (share this page with all of your race-loving friends) and over $5,000 in individual donations!! This means  we have only $17,332 to raise by June 13th to reach our ultimate goal of $45,000 and three more chimp-proof windows. We are getting so close! Don’t slow down now!

There are two new supporter fundraising pages:

Jeani Goodrich (no relation to me) has a Firstgiving page set up. With every $25 donation, she’ll send you something special, starting with wood-burned pins made by Diane Frederick of Fredericks Firegraphics (see the Foxie pin to the left.)

Donate now to get your pick of chimpanzee for the pin.

Cindy Marks has set up an Etsy store to sell handmade  bracelets with the chimps’ names on them. All net proceeds will go to the sanctuary. Each bracelet includes a picture card of the chimpanzee you select. Most bracelets include African wedding beads to honor their heritage.

She has created a very sweet BFF Missy and Annie bracelet (see photo at left) with intertwined strands representing Annie and Missy’s devotion to each other.

Shop now and check back often for new designs!

And don’t forget these other ways that you can donate to the sanctuary while supporting those who are raising funds:

You can also make a direct donation to the sanctuary. 45 days to go…. we can reach our goal with your help! Thank you, everyone!

Personalized gifts from friends

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We have so many supporters that have been sending us so many wonderful things for the chimps. Among this long list of individuals are Diane and Syd Marcus. They have sent us countless gifts over the last 2 years, and last week, they sent a huge box of personalized presents for each of the chimps, including an amazing pair of (vegan!) cowgirl boots for Jamie, a beaded necklace for Burrito, a scarf for Annie, a troll doll for Foxie, a new pair of socks for Missy, nuts for Negra, and cereal for Jody. The chimps definitely knew something was up! Jamie, as always, was beside herself when she spotted the boots and Foxie dropped all 5 trolls that she had with her in exchange for her brand new troll, who she promptly took outside for some private time. It was a good day… Thanks so much, Diane and Syd!

Foxie admiring new troll

Missy and Annie with new necklace

Jody and Missy play

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As we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, Jody doesn’t play too often. But every once in a while, we’ll catch her playing with someone, which is a real treat. Even then though, it’s often a very mellow kind of play… Today, however, Missy got her going, resulting in a full-fledged play session. Notice how Jamie tries to steal their thunder towards the end… very “Jamie-like”, if you ask me. 🙂

Windows

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Wondering what windows we will replace if we reach our ultimate fundraising goal? Thanks to LUSH and generous blog readers, we have the funds to replace three windows. We want to replace six total.

Here is the “garden-side” of the playroom. On this side, we would replace two on top and one on the bottom.

wall of windows

This will allow Negra to have a much clearer view. Wondering what the view looks like? See below. There’s actually a lot going on out there between the horses and cattle in the pasture, the road,  and the train occasionally going by:

And here is the outdoor area side of the playroom, upstairs. Right now, these three windows have caging plus a glass window and then plexiglass on the other side of the glass window, which obscures a lot of light and makes it very difficult to see through. Replacing these with chimp-proof glass would let a lot more light into the playroom and would allow chimpanzees or caregivers in the playroom to interact with chimpanzees who are in the outdoor area. It would be really cool, in other words.

In case you need any more convincing, here’s what a window looks like with the caging:

and here’s what it looks like without:

We can do this! Keep checking the fundraising progress and thanks so much for everyone who is working hard to help us reach the ultimate goal!