Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Portraits

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This morning I was lucky enough to be able to go around and capture some portraits. Portraits can be hard to get because the chimps are often moving around quite a bit or simply do not want there picture taken, as you will see at the end of Jamie’s photo series. Jamie threw her arm out and shook it to tell me she had had enough :). Fortunately, everyone else didn’t seem to mind me taking some pictures! So please enjoy!

Negra eating her eggplant at lunch:

Cy waiting for his breakfast chow:

Little Honey B, being Honey B:

Foxie and her doll:

Dora portrait series:

And of course Jamie:

Never Dull!

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It’s never a dull day when working with chimpanzees, each individual is so their own and also has their own agenda for the day! As you will see in the video, most days Gordo just wants to go on the Bray not giving his caregivers a second look, but on this day Gordo decided it was time to play chase with his caregiver from the chute to the Bray. While, Terry just wanted to give sweet kisses in the morning. I think we all know Honey B’s agenda is to derail the schedule for her caregivers as much as possible, as she should! But she also tries to carve out alone time with one of her close friends, Dora, which can often play into derailing her caregivers schedule, too. She is such a multitask-er :)!

Though somethings may “derail” our day, it’s also the fun part about our job. We don’t know what we are going to walk into, but what we do know is that everyday they are provided with as much choice as possible!

Gordo eating a pear series:

Bonus!!

Foxie playing a lazy game of poke the doll and maybe camera with me:

I just love her eyes in this one:

And a very snoozy Willy B! So snoozy I don’t think he even knew I took this photo:

The Holdouts

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We’ve given you a lot of Mora B footage as of late…

Are you tired of all the ridiculousness?  Are you sick of all the play faces?  The joy, the laughter, the shenanigans?

Are you sick and tired of Mora B?

Say it with me, folks.

HECK NO!!!

These girls just tickle us caregivers, even if they do create a longer cleaning schedule.

This clip does not include Mave, as she opted to stay in the chute while her sidekicks whooped it up in the front rooms.

So…how do we refer to a Honey B/Dora combo?  What say you?

Also, be sure your sound is on – you won’t want to miss all the laughter!

If you’d like to help supply the sanctuary with food, enrichment, medicines, supplies, and other necessities, please check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!

Best of Both Worlds

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Today has been a busy day, well for the humans anyways, for the chimps it has been very pleasant! It has finally cooled off a little and I think we are all thankful for a break from the hundred degree heat! The chimps spent their day playing, grooming, foraging, and a little hooting and hollering. In the video, you will find Dora and Honey B playing in their regularly-scheduled hookie session from their group to have a solo play session while we clean around them. On the other side of the chimp house, Jamie, Missy, and Negra had a very sweet grooming session before their lunch forage!

It wouldn’t be Wednesday without some bonus photos!

It must be Christmas in July because our foyer is full:

Sweet Annie bird:

Gordo grooming himself:

The greatest honor you can have is to receive a kiss from Negra:

If you’d like to help supply the sanctuary with food, enrichment, medicines, supplies, and other necessities, please check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!

A Meeting of the Girls Club

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I was lucky enough to stumble upon a meeting of the Girls Club last week, aka Mora B, aka Mave, Dora, and Honey B. I was walking around the sanctuary to give out some juice before heading to lunch myself when I found these 3 ladies lounging in the shade in the chute. Dora initiated play with me, so I sat down to enjoy the moment. She tapped the back of my hand with her (super cute) toes, let me knuckle rub her arm and back, and then I took my phone out so she could look at herself in my camera. While she was admiring herself, Honey B realized the camera was out and joined the party, which turned into playing with Dora while occasionally still watching themselves on the phone. I hope you enjoy watching all of this play out in today’s video, and be sure to stay until the end for a special guest appearance at Girls Club.

Three Years with the Lucky Six

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Today we celebrate three years since the Lucky Six arrived! I truly can not imagine life without them. Each one of these chimps brings so much life to this sanctuary. When I think about the day that they arrived, the day was so full of excitement. We had done it, we had reached our goal of expanding the building to take in more chimps to provide another chance of security and a life of choice. The Lucky Six have grown so much in their 3 years here. We have watched chimps like Gordo grow confidence and comfortably with things that are unfamiliar. We have watched the group of six become a group of nine, which has provided them with more social opportunity. Watching chimps like Dora become a social butterfly and Rayne being able to use one of her best strengths, her social savvyness, to help her group navigate and build friendships! We watched all of J.B.’s hard work paid off to build the Bray, their 2 acre outdoor habitat. To be able to watch Rayne walk outside like she had done this everyday of her life was certainly one of the many highlights of my career! I could go on and on about how amazing they are, but I think that when it comes down to it we are just so lucky to have them and we are all the better for knowing them!

Cy:

Gordo:

Terry:

Dora:

Rayne:

Lucky:

Mora B: Playing Hooky

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This week Mave, Honey B and Dora decided they would prefer not to shift with the rest of their group for cleaning and instead played hooky in the front rooms. where it was just the three of them. This is the not the first time you’ve heard about Honey B enticing her friends to skip out on shifting and hang out with her for a private play session and as you’ll see in today’s video, none of the girls had any regrets!