Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzees

What A Day Pt. II

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Today was another day! Yesterday, Cy, Lucky, Willy B, and Honey B met all together and even had a sleepover together. Overall, the sleepover went well. So today we decide to let Rayne and Mave partake the meetings. There were some ups and downs with the six(!) chimpanzees. We ultimately decided to just let them meet at the mesh for today. I wasn’t able to get enough photos or footage to piece together a video of today’s meetings… however… caregiver Sam was ever so gracious enough to allow me to share the video she was working on of the meetings that took place on Sunday!

Along with Sam’s video, please enjoy some of the photos I was able to take before introductions. I was not able to choose between some, so I had some other caregivers help chose which ones to use, but the consensus was to post two of each.

Though virtually the same, small little nuances make each photo different!

Jamie enjoying today’s browse of rose hips:

Picking at the rose hips
Enjoying the rose hips

Mave in her Greenhouse:

A straight shot of Mave looking at the camera
The addition of the lip bite

And one final photo of Lucky!

Give Them Smoulder

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I think we can all agree that Willy B is one handsome chimp, Jody might even use the word hunk! This morning we changed up the routine and let Willy B’s group out onto the Courtyard first. Willy B seemed pretty excited because he went straight to door W which leads right out to the Courtyard and waited for me to give him access. Willy B spent the whole morning out there! The sun was so warm, he decided to lay down on the boardwalk and bask in it. While relaxing on the boardwalk I snapped a few photos of Willy B, I mean look at him! He has this almost smouldering or brooding look.

 

Stopped to Smell the Roses

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Today was a busy day! It took us a little longer than usual to clean because as J.B. mentioned a few days ago, somebody (I won’t mention any names) held out in allowing us to close off areas so we could clean them. Though we were eventually able to close them off to clean later throughout the day, we had a staff meeting once cleaning was done for the day. As Caregiver Kelsi has mentioned in the past, days when their are staff meetings can be hectic. So the equation of a hold out and staff meeting, my plans for a well developed blog about enrichment have gone out the window for today. But never fear, here are some photos I started to take throughout the day as I was plotting my original blog theme.

Jody returning from her morning patrol with a handful of rose hips before breakfast.
Jamie with her own branch of rose hips she collected during today’s browse. We started to include rose hips in the browse rotation because Jamie’s group really seems to like them and there are plenty growing around the sanctuary for all to enjoy. You can see a photo of Rayne with some from a few days ago here!
And last but not least! Honey B!

Isn’t Sanctuary Life Grape?

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A million thanks to all Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest supporters that participated yesterday in our HOOT! For The Holidays virtual celebration to welcome the Lucky Six. We are all so grateful for the generous donations and bids because we surpassed our goal by plenty and more, assuring future plans to develop. Sanctuary life for these amazing 16 chimpanzees could not be possible without all of you amazing souls. We hope that learning more about the Lucky Six and their past brought everyone a bit closer to them.

To continue the celebration we harvested some grapes directly from our small vineyard and gave some to the chimps as an afternoon snack. Everyone was very excited about fresh grapes!

I walked to the green house and noticed this chimp lineup. Caregiver Katelyn had many sets of eyes looking at her while she harvested grapes from the vineyard.

Caregiver Katelyn serving Missy some grapes fresh from the vine.

Negra all cozy this morning in the green house. Thanks to everyone that has donated blankets, they certainly appreciate it!

Foxie coming in from Young’s Hill after enjoying a beautiful sunny day.

Gordo resting high up on the green house platform after a scrumptious lunch.

Mave looking into the camera while enjoying the breeze in the outdoor chute.

Rayne looking down from a platform in the green house with a wooden toy in her mouth.

HOOT! is tonight!

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Here we are, skipping another in-person event due to the pandemic. In-person events are a lot of work, but there’s an unmistakable energy that happens when you get a group of people together in one space with a common mission and a drive to give.

The crucial funds raised are of course the main focus, but that sense of a shared purpose–the hope and the love–is what is the most encouraging aspect of an event.

The sanctuary is incredibly fortunate to have you, supporters and champions of the chimpanzees. With this blog, we are exposed to that energy, albeit in an online context, every day.

Preparing for tonight’s second virtual HOOT! gala has been filled with moments of nostalgia. Some of the people who you will see and hear from tonight during the event are from the early days of the sanctuary. Even some of the auction items have been unearthed from years ago (like the Troll Mania book created for our 2011 event).

The staff went way back to our childhoods for some of the auction items, with each of us choosing a favorite children’s book (see auction items #10-20).

The pandemic has often been described as a collective pause. Of course the sanctuary doesn’t have the option to pause, and the last year has been one of the busiest times in our history. There hasn’t been a lot of time to reflect.

Tonight, though, as we watch the virtual event in our respective homes, together in spirit, we have the chance to reflect on what we have accomplished as a group, each with our individualized efforts, to provide a home for chimpanzees who had no where else to go.

Humans failed these chimpanzees, but now our collective humanity has saved them. It’s a giving back that will always be incomplete, but that doesn’t make it any less worth the effort.

To all of the staff, board members, volunteers, donors, followers, and supporters, thank you for being here for them. Let’s celebrate together all that we’ve accomplished and the continued hope for the future.

Bid on auction items through Sunday on the auction site and watch the event on Facebook and YouTube live streaming starting at 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We’ll be with you!

Cy and Honey B Meet Again

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As Chad mentioned yesterday, it was a busy day and today was no different. Introductions continue, today we were able to have Cy and Honey B meet again! We can almost guarantee when we try to separate chimps to do introductions that Cy is the first to offer his help. While this is helpful, we also want Mave, Willy B, and Honey B to meet other individuals. However, it is important for everyone to establish strong relationships with each other, so meeting multiple times is good. So far Honey B is kicking butt at making friends! As you will see in the video, Cy and Honey B have a lot of fun together, it is rough play, but the both of them have a good time!

Do not forget to bid on our amazing auction items. If you haven’t looked at the art pieces yet, they will take your breath away! I personally have my eye on the Nutmeg watercolor. Join us on Saturday at 6pm for virtual HOOT!

Cy greeting us good morning in the Green House.

Lucky wrapped in a LOT of paper.

What A Day

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Whew! What a day! When we arrive in the morning, we never know what kind of day it will be. This is why we expect most scenarios that can arise and try to be prepared for them.

After we got done cleaning all the enclosures, we were prepared to start the introduction process for today. As we are continuing planning and preparing for each introduction, we decided it was time to try a two-on-two introduction. One thing to keep in mind is that just because certain combinations of one-on-ones go well doesn’t necessarily mean things will automatically fall into place when you combine certain dyads together. So today Cy and Lucky met with Willy B and Mave. When they first met through the mesh caging, there was the expected displaying and screaming. When things calmed down and they were showing signs of wanting to be together, we let them into the same areas with each other. When the doors opened, they greeted each other with some grooming. But it was short lived. Similar to humans, when you are starting to get to know another person, you’re also getting to know their body language and how to translate their intentions. There was some miscommunication between Cy and Mave. Cy seemed like he wanted to play, and Mave misinterpreted it wrong. There was a lot of screaming from all parties and a non-injurious scuffle. We were able to separate everybody from being in the same area, though they still could have contact through the mesh. After an event like this, it’s also important that amends can be made. As we were discussing our plans to reunite them with their respective groups, we found all four of them grooming and playing with each other through the mesh. We allowed them to continue their interactions to ensure there were no hurt feelings between them until dinner time.

(Front to back) Mave and Willy B (left side) groom with Cy and Lucky (right side).

Though this meeting wasn’t the best outcome, it also wasn’t the worst. There were glimmers of hope mixed within the chaos. And amends were seemingly made as it took a little bit of convincing at dinner to have Mave and Willy B leave Cy and Lucky at the mesh caging. Most of this is what we expected might happen and were prepared for it.

So with the kind of day it was, I wasn’t able to get very many photos. But thankfully, Kelsi and Sam allowed me to use some of the photos they were able to get from throughout the day to share.

Kelsi was able to get this photo of Lucky lounging on the firehose after her meeting with Mave and Willy B today.
Sam was able to get this photo of Burrito today during a break between one of their play sessions.
And one I was able to take of Cy eating a sweet potato yesterday during lunch.

We want to thank you all for the support you have given us throughout this process and throughout the years.

For those you have followed for a while, then you know that our annual gala is upon us! Similar to last year, Hoot! will be held as an online auction! There are some amazing items up for bid, with bidding live now! Be sure to check out some of these items and don’t forget to tune in this Saturday at 6PM PST for the live event! We hope to see you there!