Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Cle Elum Seven

Brrrrrrrrrr, it’s cold out here!

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Brrrrrrrrrrrr… it is cold today in central Washington! It is 47 degrees (according to my phone’s weather app) as I type this. Despite the sudden cooler temperatures, the chimpanzees have been enjoying their day outside. Jamie’s group has been on/off their new and improved Young’s Hill all day and Cy’s group has spent lots of time in their two greenhouses.

This morning during cleaning, I heard chimpanzee laughter coming from one of the front rooms. It’s normal for Burrito to be playing in the morning but it is always a guess as to who his play buddy is! Today, it was Negra. In my personal opinion, Negra play sessions are the best! So enjoy today’s video featuring a nice play session between Burrito and Negra, with Foxie in the background for moral support!

Now let’s play a game!

Here are two photos… can you guess whose lips these belong to?! Comment your guesses below and I will reveal the answers on Sunday’s blog!

Mystery Lips #1:

Mystery Lips #2:

Play Day Tuesday

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As caregiver Grace and I were cleaning Burrito’s playroom, I saw him and Missy engage in a fun play session. They were having such a fun time, the play session lasted a very long time. Every time I tried to pull away from recording to help Grace clean, they would engage in a different game that I had to record.

Here are some bonus photos as well!

Annie eating her breakfast chow biscuits while watching the construction crew work on Young’s Hill.

Gordo also watching the construction while sitting inside a Prima-Rocker in the Oakwood Greenhouse.

Then sitting in one of his favorite spots, the window ledge.

Mave waiting for lunch service to begin.

Negra still cozy in her nest as I said good morning to her when I got in.

Lucky being beautiful as always!

And this guy! I can only imagine what is going through his head.

Oh right! Playing! That’s what’s on his mind!

And don’t forget, Giving Day for Apes is right around the corner! Tuesday, October 11th to be exact! You can help us by donating on our page or by creating a fundraiser page of your own! Be sure to check out when the Power Hours are and other prizes on the 11th to try to make your contribution more impactful!

Lunchtime With the Cle Elum Seven

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Meals are always an exciting time of the day around here! The chimps get fresh fruits and vegetables for all three meals of the day, along with forages and food puzzles throughout the day and evening. Everyone has their favorites, of course, and today Caregiver Katelyn prepared tomatoes, mini sweet peppers, and avocados for lunch!

Join us for lunchtime with the Cle Elum Seven on this beautiful October day. 🙂

Terry, inspecting his own hand:

Terry, noticing me taking photos:

Negra during a meal last week:

Missy, watching Foxie play with Caregiver Katelyn:

Lucky hanging out with me earlier this morning:

A thread of Burrito photos, because he’s handsome and I couldn’t pick just one:

Community

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For our avid blog-readers, I am sure you have noticed how many of my blog posts are quite sappy or sentimental. Just like how you can count on Anthony’s blog posts for puns, I feel like mine are typically infused with sappiness.

And unfortunately, that is not going to stop today…

Something that really stands out to me here at CSNW is the feeling of community. It is a different level of community than other places I have been. It has been even more apparent to me over the past month.

With our recent fundraiser (HOOT!), our summer full of MANY chimpanzee birthdays, volunteer work parties to progress construction on Young’s Hill, I have been consistently blown away by the support from all of you. It is quite an indescribable feeling to know how many people out there stand behind what we do, from both near and far.

Just as an example, for Missy’s birthday in August, we loaded up our Amazon Wishlist with items we knew Missy would love for her big day, and over the span of probably a week, all of the party items had been bought. Our chimp house foyer was packed with tomato themed items up until her birthday.

Also, another example: yesterday was Day 1 of the volunteer work party on Young’s Hill. There was such a big turnout that yesterday’s tasks were finished in about 3.5 hours. It was amazing the progress that had been made by some generous volunteers who love the chimps! The hill isn’t ready for the chimps just yet, but we are steps closer and that is exciting!

“A true community is not just about being geographically close to someone or part of the same social web network. It’s about feeling connected and responsible for what happens.”

I found this quote today and it couldn’t be more true. We have supporters all over the world, with many who will never visit Cle Elum, Washington. Despite the distance, you continuously support the chimps and are crucial parts of their lives. Your support, in all of the ways possible you can give it, no matter how big or small, makes a huge difference for the sanctuary.

The staff, volunteers, donors, and anyone who has supported CSNW in the past or present all have something in common: we all love and adore the 16 chimps and want to see them thrive. We hope you feel apart of this community because we are grateful you’re here!

Terry:

Burrito:

Little Moments On A Sunday

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No matter what day it is or what is going on, there are always little moments in the chimp house that center you. Today’s video is a compilation of these little, precious moments. 🙂 Plus some photos, too!

Gordo in his box:

We also celebrated the lovely weather today with a forage on Young’s Hill! Everyone in Jamie’s group participated and enjoyed fresh corn, mini sweet peppers, and tomatoes.

Missy:

Jody:

Can you spot the Jamie?

Burrito:

Annie, left, and Missy, right:

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Simply Unbothered

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The Cle Elum Seven formed by Negra, Jamie, Burrito, Jody, Foxie, Annie and Missy have been neighbors to the newly formed group of nine chimpanzees for almost four months now. We have received questions about whether they react or not to the other group. The short answer is yes, the long answer is that it depends. I have been working as a caregiver at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest for about 15 months now and during this time I’ve noticed that some of the chimpanzees under our care react more than others when it comes to ruckus on the opposite group. Some members of the Cle Elum Seven get very invested when they hear something going on, while others continue their day like if it were business as usual.

A great example of this is what happened today at lunch time. We set up a forage in Young’s Hill for the seven that included corn, mini peppers, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, onions, and chow. With the idea of grabbing stills of them foraging for their favorite items, I brought the camera with me. Every single one of them was super excited to get out there, with Negra leading the way. About 3 minutes into the forage, the nine had a disagreement and the screaming on that side commenced. Jamie, Foxie, Annie, and Burrito dropped what they were doing to investigate. They went to the corner of the hill with the best view of the greenhouses and stood bipedally trying to figure out what was happening. As the screaming on the other side of the sanctuary continued, they eventually went inside to the greenhouse and playroom to peek from the windows and display at the other group. I realized that six of the seven chimps were inside and ignoring their meal. So where was Negra?

I walked outside and found her. Alone. On top of a platform, enjoying an ear of corn. She seemed completely unfazed by what she could hear happening in the distance. Cases like this make me wonder whether she thinks her group mates are fit enough to handle the issue without needing her assistance, or whether she simply put food first and decided to let the situation unfold. Whatever it was, she looked peaceful, at ease with her corn and chow, simply unbothered.

 

 

I spy…

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Today, caregiver Anthony took off additional panels to the Greenhouse for Jamie’s group. In addition to more air-flow through the Greenhouse (which is why Anthony did this), this allows Jamie’s group a new angle to sneak a peak at Cy’s group (which is always very exciting).

As you can see, chimpanzees don’t spy very discretely.

Burrito:

Can you spot Foxie?

The seven typically like to spy on their neighbors through the Playroom 1 windows. The Playroom 1 windows give them a decent view of the Oakwood Greenhouse as well as one of the Playrooms for Cy’s group. Can you spot Burrito? He likes to set up a barrel for himself so he has seating.

I think his arm propped up on the window sill is a nice touch.

Don’t worry, Cy’s group was pretty unbothered by their nosy neighbors.

Rayne relaxing in the cool front rooms:

In our recent call out for questions or ideas for the blog, some wondered if the chimps still pay attention to the “howdy door”.

All the time!

For those unfamiliar with the “howdy door”, you can watch a video about the door here. It is a door that separates the two sides of our building and our two chimpanzee groups. Any time there is drama on one side of the building, it is nearly a guarantee that at least one chimp will try to see if they can get a peak of the action through small cracks in the “howdy door”. It is also not uncommon for the chimps to target the “howdy door” during their displays.

Willy B and “Howdy Door”: