Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Annie made a cozy nest this morning in the greenhouse. She was so content there, she had no interest in going out on the hill while other chimps were headed out. Instead, she watched them explore from the comfort of her bed.
But after she abandoned her nest, Jamie decided it was the perfect place to take a nap.
Today is Annie’s honorary 38th birthday and we celebrated in style. Since we don’t have actual birth dates for Annie and some of the other chimpanzees, we asked some supporters to select meaningful days to celebrate the chimps. September 10th was selected by Margaret and Karen (two of the Cle Elum Seven’s most devoted and lovely friends) in honor of their anniversary. Additionally, Marcia Douthwaite, a longtime friend of Annie’s, sponsored today in honor of Annie’s birthday. We’re so touched that Annie has the love and support of so many special people on her big day.
We set up Annie’s party in the greenhouse this morning with gift bags full of new toys from Robbi and Dick and amazing homemade papier mache balls from supporters Kim and Lee, which we filled with shredded paper, peanuts, and crabapples from Executive Director Sarah’s backyard tree. The chimps also foraged for tangerines, kiwis, and chow (Burrito’s favorite).
The birthday girl enjoyed handfuls of chow:
Negra liked the crabapples:
Missy checked out a gift bag:
Burrito and Jody:
Jamie loved the papier mache balls:
Jody likes to inspect new toys intimately:
This red cloth block seemed to interest several folks.
Jody:
Negra:
Jamie (also with a new boot):
We also “planted” some veggies on Young’s Hill for the chimps to harvest. The carrots are courtesy of Keith, Felicity, and friends and the onions are straight from the chimps’ garden. We’re having some strong, cool winds in Cle Elum today, so the chimps all ran out to gather the veggies as soon as the door to Young’s Hill was opened, and then quickly returned with their haul to the warmth of the greenhouse.
Annie:
Jamie:
Jody:
Negra:
Sincere thanks to everyone who made today special for Annie and the rest of the gang!
The chimps have been super mellow today- lots of nesting, grooming, and general quiet time. Elizabeth snapped a couple of really great pictures of Foxie and Negra resting on the catwalk in the playroom this morning. I love seeing the chimps so relaxed and peaceful.
Foxie:
Negra often lets her lips droop to one side when she’s relaxing. It’s almost like she’s so relaxed, she just lets gravity do the work.
Today we put out a watermelon forage on Young’s Hill to accompany the chimpanzees’ breakfast.
Burrito, collecting some forage:
If you look closely in the next picture, you can see the bright green grass in the background starting to come back from the part of the hill that was burnt in the fire. It’s along the irrigation line, so that’s why it’s a solid stripe of green grass.
This is Jody, sitting by a post in the shade while munching on watermelon pieces:
And my personal favorite—Missy with a mouthful of watermelon:
This morning when I walked into the chimp area, everyone was super quiet (usually it’s a little noisy first thing in the morning) and I saw Negra sleeping in her favorite spot on the catwalk beside the window. The nest she was lying in was huge—way bigger than any nest I’ve seen before! It made me smile so much, just knowing how comfortable and content Negra looked. I took a short moment while everything was still and greeted Negra by reaching my arm out and nodding my head. She gave me a quick head nod in return and then shifted in her nest a little bit. A couple minutes later, the other chimps started to get up and it became the usual noisy morning, but Negra stayed in bed. This is typically how it goes—while everyone else is eagerly watching the humans prepare breakfast and get ready for the day, Negra sleeps in until we are about to serve. But today especially, her nest was so expansive and comfy looking, I thought she might stay in bed all day! But as soon as she saw the peanuts we were serving as a breakfast appetizer, she quickly jumped out of bed and headed to join the rest of the chimps in the greenhouse. The pictures we got of her nest were a little dark, and I did my best to brighten them up but I apologize for the poor lighting due to the sun in the window! The first picture shows just how big the nest was (24 big, fluffy blankets in all) and the second is a close-up of our Queen’s beautiful face.
Negra simply enjoying her big nest this morning started making me think about how awesome it is that she can do that now, after 30+ years in a lab. I thought about it all during cleaning, and as soon as I had a chance I went to our blog to find an entry from before the chimps ever arrived—one about Negra trying to make a nest with scraps of newspaper in the lab she was in before coming to CSNW. It was written almost exactly 5 months before the Cle Elum Seven arrived at their forever sanctuary home. It’s here if you want to read it, but be prepared to get teary-eyed. As Diana says in the post, “Negra deserves to be forever free from the fear of life as a laboratory subject. She deserves to have choices in her life. She deserves to have room to walk, run and climb. She deserves to have access to the outdoors. She deserves a daily supply of a wide variety of food. And she deserves lots and lots of blankets so she can finally make the bed that will truly make her feel content.”
I am so happy that her new sanctuary life has given her the opportunity to build a bed that Diana thought she might enjoy. It’s days like today that make me realize how amazing and resilient chimps are, after all they’ve been through that they can still find joy and contentment in life. It’s admirable.
We want to thank a few more generous people who sponsored days for the chimpanzees in the wake of the Taylor Bridge fire: Dianne Todd, Kimber Leblicq (CSNW’s Board Secretary), Alison Chapot, Annie Norris, and Jackie Downey. We can’t thank you all enough for helping to keep us afloat during the last few crazy weeks. Your thoughtfulness did not go unnoticed (even if we’re a little late to acknowledge it!).
Among other things, your support has kept Annie supplied with carrots:
Eric Jensen and Eric Johnson won an Emmy for their story about the chimps’ release onto Young’s Hill last year, and we were happy to have them back today to film a story about the Taylor Bridge Fire and our recovery. Tune in tonight at 5pm to KOMO 4 if you’re local to the Seattle area, or check KomoNews.com later this evening for the full story. We’ll post the link when we have it.
And while you’re waiting, wouldn’t you just love to know what Foxie was thinking when I snapped this picture earlier today? We often get asked to interpret what the chimps might be thinking, and that’s generally an impossible task. But whenever I see Foxie looking at her troll dolls, especially a new one, I’m struck by how intense the connection seems.
