Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimps

On Rainy Days

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For most of the day it was pouring down rain at CSNW. To pass the time until the rain cleared the chimps tried to keep themselves busy with their favorite activities. Foxie played with her new dolls, Annie and Missy groomed, Negra and Jody napped, Jamie supervised volunteers and staff while they cleaned, and Burrito played with his scooter and a slinky. For lunch volunteers prepared green onions, roasted beets, and roasted potatoes. Nothing sounds better than warm food on a cold day. The rain finally cleared which meant it was time to put some boots on and walk. All in all we had a nice quiet rainy day at CSNW.

An exciting lunch:

Annie observing quietly in the cargo net:

Annie:

Jody:

Jody:

Jamie:

Jamie:

Negra:

 

Let the Festivities Begin!

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Today was a perfect fall day at the sanctuary. It was chilly, but still warm enough, the leaves have started to change, and the air smells crisp outside. Fall is a favorite for us here at CSNW, especially because Jamie-ween is just around the corner. So let the count down begin! Today, to celebrate the first day of October the chimps enjoyed a pumpkin seed and dried apple forage with some nice warm tea. Later for dinner there was a special homemade treat, applesauce (or better known as mashed up apples). Our day was spent walking around Young’s Hill, grooming, napping, and savoring the last bit of the garden.

Sunflowers from our garden:

Negra napping outside in the Green House:

Jamie:

Jody peering out into the garden:

Little bit later Missy and Jamie enjoyed some kale:

And handsome Burrito:

 

 

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The Chimps are Fine

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You may have heard that the Jolly Mountain Fire is not far from Cle Elum. Before I explain any further, know that the sanctuary is outside of the danger area.

So, if you are worried about the chimps, don’t be, but if you’d like to help them today anyway, please do check out the online auction that ends tonight at 8:00 p.m. PT – there’s some really great items, and you can donate directly towards our driveway funds via that auction.

There’s more on the fire below, but here are a few photos of Jody from today to show you how relaxed she is. This morning she found a plant-treasure on the hill and brought it in for some leisurely snacking:

Jody carrying weed

Jody laying with weed

Jody eating weed

So, that fire…

There are three “evacuation” levels – I (Ready), II (Set), and III (Go). Level I is a notice to be aware that there is a fire in your area, and the sanctuary is about a mile from even the Level I area.

All three levels expanded overnight, and several friends, donors, and volunteers of the sanctuary are in the Level II and III areas now. You can see a map here if you’re super curious. Level II does not necessarily lead to Level III and Level III does not necessarily mean the fire is in the immediate area. Still, it’s scary, and a lot of people are affected by this fire already, waiting to see what happens.

The good news is that the state of Washington has sent in reinforcements and here is the long list of agencies that were added this morning to protect the populated areas in the potential path of the fire: Kittitas County Fire District #7 (this is our local fire district who we love so much!), Kittitas County Fire Protection District #6, U.S. Forest Service crews, Washington State Department of Natural Resources crews, and engines from Spokane, Spokane Valley, Stevens County, Entiat, Grand Co., Snohomish, Everett, Shoreline, Duvall, Orcas Island, Gray’s Harbor, Vashon Island, Seattle, S. King County, King County, North High Line, Skykomish, Valley Regional, High Prairie, Benton, W. Benton, Mason Co., Kennewick, College Place, Walla Walla, Fife, Franklin, Mason Co., and more. There are planes and helicopters dropping water, and obviously they are mobilizing to fight the fire on the ground now that it coming out of the deep forest, which is inaccessible due to the potential danger.

There is an incident management team overseeing the big picture management of the fire, and, as you can see from that list, there are many agencies and individuals working together. They’ve been great at keeping the community up to date via social media and in person meetings, and the Kittitas County Sheriff’s office is working very closely with the team to notify people of evacuations and answer questions.

As this video from last week described, we have a fire defense plan at the sanctuary. It would be very, very difficult to evacuate the chimpanzees, so we have a plan to shelter them in place, which we have successfully implemented twice now. We are hopeful that we will not have to do that again with the Jolly Mountain Fire.

We are thinking about the entire community that is facing the threat of fire and other natural disasters, and we know that community includes supporters in other states as well. We are extremely thankful for all who are working to keep others safe.

 

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It’s Beets!

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The lunch forage on the hill today included quite a variety of vegetables, but the beets were a favorite. Bonus: they are easy to carry back to the greenhouse to enjoy.

Eating beets temporarily stains the chimps’ white freckles a lovely shade of pink, and cleaning up the day after a beet feast is always more colorful.

 

Annie:

 

Missy:

 

Jamie:

 

Jody:

 

Negra (with Missy in the background)

 

If you are wondering about the troll doll by Negra’s feet in the photo above, she actually took a shine to it today. It’s Foxie who loves the troll dolls, but once in a while Negra decides to carry one around!

 

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Morning Exploration

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On these summer mornings, when there’s still a slight coolness to the air and the sun is low in the sky, the chimpanzees often explore the outdoor habitat. They head out on their own, in pairs, or sometimes as a group, generally splitting off to do some private exploration. They go to the top of the towers to see if the landscape has changed, and they pick edible plants for an after-breakfast snack.

We don’t often get photos of this morning exploration because the humans are busy starting the cleaning for the day.

Today, however, we have a full house of volunteers! I took advantage of the help and went to the top of the observation tower to take a few photos while Deb, Lynn, Rachel, and Dusty scrubbed and disinfected the playroom.

I had to use the telephoto lens to identify the tiny specs of chimps in the distance and even that lens wasn’t able to zoom in very close with the chimps at the very top of the two-acre enclosure. They would sometimes disappear completely, hidden by the tall summer grass. I love watching them out on their own with no concern for the human activity in the building, just soaking in the day.

 

Missy and Annie:

missy and annie on tower

missy and annie on bridge

 

Missy:

missy holding structure

missy on mound

 

Missy and Annie heading back to the greenhouse:

missy and annie coming back to greenhouse

 

Jody foraging for prickly lettuce:

jody foraging

jody with weeds

 

Jamie doing her own thing:

jamie tightrope walking

 

Winter Adventures

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The sun came out this morning and the chimpanzees eagerly ventured outside for some snow.

I’m pretty sure that Jody was feeling the love from her new Chimpanzee Pals!

Jody

Jody

Jody

Thank you to everyone who is an existing or new Chimpanzee Pal and to everyone who has made a Share the Chimp Love donation so far!

 

Here’s Missy with Jody behind her:

Missy

 

And here’s Foxie with Annie behind her. The path through the snow makes it a single file adventure:

Foxie and Annie

Foxie & Annie

 

We understand that Dr. Elliott Sumers, whose birthday is tomorrow, and his family are experiencing their own winter adventures. We hope they had fun in the snow today too!

 

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Fall in love with Annie

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We are creating and sharing videos of all of the chimpanzees in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day!
 

Starting with beautiful Annie:
 

 

Learn more about how to participate in the Share the Chimp Love fundraising or how to become a Chimpanzee Pal.

 

And if the above video didn’t quite convince you to become Annie’s newest Pal, here are a few photos from today of Annie making the most of winter by enjoying the snow and icicles served indoors:

 

and the biggest snow forage imaginable (aka the outdoors right now):

 

Seriously, how could you NOT fall in love?!
 

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