Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

csnw

Fall in love with Annie

by

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?!
 

Save

Remembering a friend

by

Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Nicki Walters in memory of her husband, Bill Walters. Nicki and Bill have been such good friends to the chimpanzees and we’re honored to celebrate Bill and the difference he made in life. In fact, we are privileged to celebrate the difference his life made here at the sanctuary every day. Nicki shared this special message about Bill:

“We lost Bill last year in July but not before he got to see in person the amazing Twister & the beloved Chimps playing on it. Missy was first up! It all started by sponsoring a day in honor of his Birthday, that ended up spreading to last more days. He loved animals and life and is very missed but knowing a tribute that benefits the magnificent 7 named after him with his nickname truly provides peace and happiness to all who loved him. This is a tradition that will continue on. He loved what all of you do, thank you for helping to give him so many bright spots on the dark days with your incredible posts and to all who made the Twister possible.”

Nicki, thank you so much for choosing to honor and celebrate Bill’s memory with the chimpanzees. All of us here at CSNW hold you and your loved ones in our thoughts and hearts.

I believe most of us have the desire to somehow say we were here, to mark our time and to know that our life made a difference – that we left the world a better place for having been here. The possibilities are as far-reaching and unique as each one of us. And I think all of us will leave having made differences we will never be aware of. But for seven chimpanzee people who live on a hillside outside a small town in eastern Washington, Bill and his loved ones made a difference which will continue to ripple throughout all their days forward.

The chimps’  first inspection of the Twister:

Missy, first to the top!

Bill and Nicki watch the unveiling:

Annie and Missy playing chase underneath:

Jamie keeping watch over her home from under her beloved crow’s nest:

Foxie and Dora on an adventure:

Burrito’s courage:

Jody:

Missy (top) and Annie (below):

Annie and Missy top of Twister

The Twister quickly became an important part of Jamie’s daily routine territory checks. Weather permitting, it’s the first place she heads each morning and the place she ends her day…or in many cases, her evening:

Jamie on Twister dusk

The Boss

by

Most of the chimpanzees here at the sanctuary are pretty “low-maintenance”. Give Foxie some dolls and she can entertain herself for hours. Jody’s thrilled with a huge pile of blankets. All Negra wants is some peace and quiet and a patch of sun.

But Jamie is not easy to please. It would be fair to say that all Jamie requires is the unceasing, devoted attention of her caregivers almost every moment of the day. She might demand more of us – more time, more attention – than the other six chimps combined.

It’s hard to imagine someone with a personality like Jamie’s surviving decades in a research lab, where she wasn’t in a position to demand anything of anyone. The chimps experienced a lot of firsts when they moved here: fresh air, sunshine, good food, warm blankets, friends. But I think for Jamie, the ability to make humans do things for her is just as important.

It’s our honor to be bossed around by her.

More snow adventures & thanks to volunteers!

by

Annie is continuing to show her newfound adventurous nature.

annie in snow

annie standing on snow

The other chimpanzees (well, most of them) were inspired to follow her out into the snowy expanse of Young’s Hill this afternoon.

The pair of photos below of Annie and Jody are my favorite! It’s so uplifting to see the chimpanzees support one another and share in adventures big and small:

jody and annie in snow

profiles of jody and annie

 

Foxie and Missy were 3rd and 4th out. The photo below is of Foxie giving Missy a quick hug before continuing along the path:

foxie hugging missy

 

Foxie didn’t have to go very far to find a snack:

foxie sitting with snow

 

Nor did Missy:

missy gathering snow

missy holding snow

 

Jody seemed to be in awe of the snow:

jody profile close-up

 

and dove right in for a taste:

jody eating snow

jody eating snow

 

Jamie came out after a few minutes and headed straight for a structure. She often takes the lead in adventures, but not today.

jamie sitting on structure

 

Though she did win points for her acrobatics once outside:

jamie tightrope

jamie swing

jamie swing 2

jamie swing 3

 

She also found some big chunks of snow to bring back into the building to savor:

jamie smell snow

jamie carry snow

 

Negra and Burrito didn’t follow these adventurers, but I did see Negra coming in later in the day, and I have no doubt Burrito at least reached an arm out to get a taste.

 

Before ending this post, I have to express our gratitude for volunteers and interns. This week we have really relied on you!

After being sick for a week herself, Katelyn has been the only healthy full time staff member this week. We’re very deliberate about staying away from the chimp house when we are feeling under the weather because we don’t want the chimpanzees to catch our bugs, so volunteers and interns have been life savers!

Today I’m much better but still not at 100%. I was able to don a mask and gloves to operate doors but luckily had an incredible crew of volunteers and Central Washington University interns who did the (literal) dirty work all day.

rachel

josephine

kyle

lars

 

Thank you to all of you who give your free time to the sanctuary – it makes a huge difference to all of the primates here!

 

Chimpanzee shenanigans

by

Today the chimps started out arguing and fighting and ripping and hooting, a little more than usual. But whatever family business they had to work out seems to have been resolved and they’ve spent the afternoon lounging about and engaging in a variety of goofy and endearing shenanigans.

Jamie has a routine of building a nest in one of the front rooms and napping/supervising the humans as we clean the playroom. Even while at rest, she usually has a project or a plan in progress…

and today she chose this:

Jamie is very creative and often likes to repurpose her enrichment:

(Happy Jamie flailing about):

Viola! From sock to ankle bandana:

Later in the afternoon, Foxie joined Jamie nesting in the playroom. Here is a good example of different nesting styles – Foxie doesn’t like to use blankets, whereas Jamie gets pretty creative:

With these two, it isn’t long before wrestling ensues:

And here it is folks, the ever-elusive Jamie play face!!:

Foxie is the one person who can really get Jamie to cut loose. But Jamie takes everything pretty seriously (she is the boss after all) so even when she is in full play mode, we don’t often catch a play face. So we need that in a closeup:

Foxie laughing as Jamie play bites her hand:

And last, but certainly not least, I leave you with this guy:

Save

Save

Are you a Negra or a Jody?

by

Winter evokes a variety of emotions, thoughts and interests in each of us. Some of us love nothing more than bundling up in a cozy nest wishing to hibernate until spring, and some of us love the adventure that cold weather and snow bring. I definitely fall somewhere in the middle.

I think it’s safe to guess where Negra falls:

And while Jody is definitely a lover of a extravagant nest and a leisurely day, she always seems to enjoy the adventures each season brings:

Save