Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

dora

Dora the Acrobat!

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It was a busy day today, in the chimp house.  I didn’t have any blog content, and I was worried.

Jenna and Dora to the rescue!

Jenna spied with her eagle eye, a little Dora chimpanzee person whooping it up in the playroom, while her family napped all around her!

How cute is she??

And, don’t forget!  Giving Day for Apes is just around the corner on Tuesday, October 8th. We need your help to reach our fundraising goal and every dollar goes to the care of our deserving residents.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Mave’s Day of Berries & Dora!

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Today is Mave’s 35th Birthday! We celebrated Mave with paper boats full of berries topped with vegan whipped cream and of course a banner of Dora, her favorite person! Mave is one extraordinary chimpanzee. We have always described Mave as a laid back gal, she can be known as the peace keeper, and she is also know to be a little more of a serious chimp at times. For the most part, I think her friends find her to be a calming presence, however Gordo might not agree. Mave can also be described as very loyal to the individuals she holds most dear. Mave had lived in a small group for a long time. We can’t say for sure that the group of 3 (Mave, Honey B, and Willy B) necessarily chose each other, but they most definitely are loyal and have a bond with one another. However, during the introductions process, one of the highlights for me was watching Mave grow in her friendships and have more choice in building different relationships. Mave and Dora chose each other and it was the coolest thing to watch because Dora was also known to be reserved and a little more in her own world before introductions. I think that Mora or even Mora B has really helped Mave come out of her shell and that everyone’s quality of life was enhanced. We observe Mave laugh more, play more, and do things that make her get our of her comfort zone, like venturing out into the Bray! Life is just better with Mora!

Cheers to the very beautiful and magnificent Mave:

Mora:

The Simple Things

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Sometimes some of the best things in life are the simplest. I recently bought a heavy duty crate for my dog because he is a little destructive sometimes when alone. It was a little expensive, which is sad for me BUT there’s always an upside! The boxes the crate came in were massive so I knew the perfect solution: bring the boxes to the chimps..

Lucky enjoy her private accommodations:

Until….

And later Cy used the boxes as a fort to create a private reading space for himself:

Don’t forget to tune in for a discussion of episode four of Chimp Crazy!
Tonight at 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. ET the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest are having our 4th discussion about the docuseries Chimp Crazy. We’ll be discussing the fourth and final episode of the series (Fantasy Island), and we have a very special guest who will be joining us – Ana Paula Taveres, CEO of Save the Chimps! Ana Paula will be able to tell us all about Tonka’s new life in sanctuary! Register to join the discussion by zoom.
And be sure to check out our wishlists!

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!