Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

climb

When She’s Not Constantly Moving….

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When one’s mission in life is to stay in motion, to go from point A to point B, running as fast as one can, climbing everything in sight, exploring new structures and tightrope walking (well, in this case it’s fire hose walking), it can be hard to get good closeup pictures. Do you know which chimpanzee I am describing? I’ll give you a hint, she was one of the chimps featured in yesterday’s blog.

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If you guessed Missy, then you are right!!

Be sure to stay tuned for the Jamieween celebration (Jamie’s birthday and Halloween combined) happening tomorrow!

Journey to recovery

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Each day the Cle Elum Seven continue on their journey to recovery from their former lives in the laboratory. In some ways, it’s hard to believe they’ve been at the sanctuary for over eight years now. Thinking back to the early days and years (and looking at photos from that time), it really hits home how far each of them has come on their own journey. As the days blend together into years, we have witnessed their individual transformations as they break through the shells of their former selves and continue to test the boundaries of what is comfortable to them.

Take Burrito for instance. Even as recent as a few years ago, he really preferred to stay on the ground to forage and explore, unlike Missy, who climbed everything in sight. But more often these days, he can be found climbing and spending time on top of the highest structures scattered throughout Young’s Hill.

Just this morning, he climbed to the top of this structure, walked out on the beam, sat for a minute looking at his surroundings before climbing back down. He’s not quite as graceful a climber as Missy, but he’s getting there.

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The chimps’ transformations are only happening because they’ve been given the opportunity to live the rest of their lives in sanctuary. They’ve each been given a chance at a new life, one in which they so much deserve. And it’s only been possible, because a whole world of people (including you), have taken each of them into your hearts. Because of you, Negra now feels comfortable to venture to the top of Young’s Hill to forage, alone. Because of you, Jamie and Foxie have an endless supply of boots and dolls to call their own; Annie feels safe and secure enough to spend time alone enjoying her surroundings. Because of you, Missy can run (let’s face it, it’s more of a full-on sprint), leap, balance and climb to her hearts content. Jody has blankets aplenty to build elaborate nests with. And finally Burrito. You’ve given Burrito the time he needed to feel secure enough to climb to new heights this year. More and more, we’re seeing him on top of the various structures scattered throughout Young’s Hill; something his former self spent very little time doing.

Wild Chimpanzees

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Don’t tell Missy and Annie that they fall into the “elderly” category for chimpanzees. Just watch today’s video!

All of the chimps REALLY enjoyed the cooler weather this morning and were out and about. I took about four zillion photos, but when I was going through them, I realized I needed to highlight the video clips of Annie and Missy’s Olympic-worthy antics.

What goes up must come down

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If you ever climbed trees as a kid, you might remember that going up is the easy part…

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…getting back down is an entirely different challenge.

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Foxie seemed unprepared for the latter when she climbed to the roof of Carlene’s Tower with her Dora doll to check out the view. It took her a few minutes to formulate a plan and work up the courage to get herself and Dora back down safely.

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I found myself holding my breath as she made a few different attempts to lower herself to the platform below.

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But she is a chimpanzee after all, so both she and Dora returned from their sightseeing excursion without incident.

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The view from the top

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It’s not uncommon to find Missy on one of the towers at the top of Young’s Hill, just taking in the view.

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Jody tagged along with Missy on one of her little adventures this afternoon.

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On the way back down, Jody made sure to grab a snack to bring back to the greenhouse.

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When we got to the bottom of the hill, I got what I’m pretty sure is the world’s only photo of a chimpanzee watching an elk watching the UPS man (you may have to look closely to find Ellie in the middle).

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Waiting for the rain

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After a hot, dry, and smoky summer, there’s a chance we will finally get some rain this week. Though we didn’t get any today, the clouds were a nice change of pace and the chimps took advantage of the cooler weather to spend more time outside climbing and foraging.

Annie:

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Jamie:

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Missy in the foreground, Foxie in the background:

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Burrito, Jamie, and Foxie:

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Burrito:

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Foxie keeping an eye on the cows:

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Jody harvesting bamboo:

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Jody with a wadge:

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Negra and Jody foraging during lunch:

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Jody:

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Foxie and Dora’s friend:

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If you haven’t done it yet, go check out our online auction, which began today at noon. Things are going fast, but there’s still plenty of bidding left!

Looking for adventure

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Missy was stuck in high gear today.

She tried joining Jamie on her walks but the walks were too slow, so she ran.

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Eventually she gave up on Jamie altogether and just starting running around the hill by herself in the rain.

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When the sun came out, all of the other chimps emerged from the greenhouse to spend time on the hill. She tried enticing Foxie to play by stealing one of her dolls, but Foxie wasn’t rambunctious enough.

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She tried getting Jody to chase her, but Jody couldn’t keep up.

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Missy is like an electron, orbiting around the other chimps as if they were standing still. But once and a while, she comes to a stop and starts looking around…

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…looking for something that will give her an adrenaline fix.

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And when she finds it, she can hardly contain her excitement.

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Look at that smile on her face.

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