Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Lately we’ve been getting large bags of paper donated to us by one of our local stores, Jerrol’s, who we get supplies from and have a wish list through. So yesterday we had a paper party for Cy’s group of 9 and put some of their lunch forage in the paper for them to search for and they had a blast, especially Lucky!
Bonus photos of Lucky in a state of bliss in her paper pile:
Let us give Ellen one more round of applause for her amazing Olympics inspired blog! It has given us ideas for many more!
Okay, I thought I might share a nice moment with our friend Gordo, I was lucky enough to have Ellen be able to capture the moment so I could share it with you all, otherwise you might not have believed me when I tell you all about it. Last weekend we put out a ton of paper, no like, a TON specifically in front room 7 for Cy’s side! Jerrol’s spoils us so much, not only do we have an amazing partnership with them but they have a lot of packaging paper, which they so kindly collect for us! We use paper for a lot of enrichment, but also we like to give it out as an option for nesting material as well. As I said we put most of the paper in front room 7, a place the chimps like to gather because they can see into the foyer and check up on what we are doing. However, one front room is a tight space for a group of 9. Sometimes if the space gets crowded it can make other individuals nervous. But something in the paper made everyone get the silly-es, including Gordo! It started off as Lucky and I grooming while caregiver Ellen interacted with Terry! I noticed Lucky’s nail was a little jagged, so I asked if she would wait until I got a nail file. Once I had multiple files in hand because, you know, you never know if you will need more with chimps. Lucky and I spent our time grooming each other and she enjoyed me filing her nails. Later, Lucky was getting silly and I start to play poke her with a nail file and then eventually a bamboo stick. Lucky thought this was so fun! But none of us could have guessed what happen next. Gordo came in to front room 7 on a mission, a mission to be poked! I spent 10 minutes playing with Gordo!
We often play chase with Gordo and can get him to play a silly game from time to time. But this play session was something I have not quite experienced! He wanted to be poked, shake his head, invite Dora to play while I play with him, he was laughing, and a little wild! Gordo is know for spitting while playing, while this may not be desired I like to think of it has a high honor because you are part of the play, especially with Gordo. It seems to bring him joy and that is what we are here for! You may see in the video that I do keep trying to play with Lucky because we got abruptly interrupted by Gordo, but I also couldn’t miss the opportunity! You may also see several other chimps join in the paper fun! Something was in the paper and it was something amazing to witness! So thank you Gordo for letting me be apart of that!
Don’t forget, today is the last day for Christmas in July! Thank you to everyone who has participated! Our chimp house is so full of supply the sanctuary needs such as: enrichment, medicines, and other necessities! So please, if you haven’t already check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!
If you’ve followed us for a while, you know about Foxie and her love of dolls. She almost always has at least one doll with her- whether it be a troll doll, a Dora the Explorer doll, or one of her many others. She carries them in her hip pockets and on her back, she plays with them by herself and with caregivers, and she curls up with them when she’s relaxing. I love how much she loves them and today was especially sweet- Diana gave Foxie an American Girl doll that a generous donor sent us. It’s bigger than most all of Foxie’s other dolls, but as soon as she saw it she started moving away from Burrito and Jamie (who were also in the front rooms) so that Diana could give it to her away from the others. You’ll have to watch the video to see how she reacted, but I promise it’s worth it. 🙂
I think it’s important to recognize Foxie’s background when we share a video like this to provide context.
Foxie was born on August 8, 1976 (so she has her 48th birthday coming up!) at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. Before coming to CSNW, she was used in hepatitis vaccine research and as a breeder for the biomedical research industry.
Our sweet Foxie had four babies during her years in biomedical research- which means that they were all taken away from her when they were very young, sometimes even just days old. She had a set of twin boys (who both passed away in the labs), a daughter Angie (who lives at Save the Chimps), and Kelsey (who went to Chimp Haven in 2018). Foxie spent 32 years of her life in biomedical research before finally getting to experience sanctuary.
Within a month of arriving, Foxie adopted her first troll doll. We had no way of knowing that she would take so immediately to dolls or that her love for them would last so long. We will never know exactly what’s going on in her head when she loves on her dolls, but we do know that they provide her comfort. For that, I am endlessly grateful.
Speaking of the comfort Foxie gets from her collection of dolls, don’t forget about our Christmas in July celebration! Celebrate summer by helping us empty our three wish-lists(Jerrol’s, Chewy, and Amazon)! Many items have already been purchased and we are so grateful to everyone who’s helped to spread some joy in this super hot July.
If you are watching with sound, you can hear that I was unable to contain my laughter at one point. Nevertheless, I attempted to frame Burrito’s silliness in the most educational way possible ;). Thanks to Krissy for the brand new Jolly Ball that she made sure Burrito had today!
We stuffed cabbage and a few nuts in each of those red ball puzzles.
Please learn more about our enrichment by perusing the Enrichment Database!
First thing is first! If you have been following the news, you may have heard about a zebra that has been on the loose near the cascades for about a week. It has sparked a meme trend across social media of a zebra found in different places and scenarios. This lead to a discussion of where the zebra could be found. In this definitely not doctored photo, I believe we have had a glimpse of the elusive zebra!
If you wanted to know the real update about the zebra, it was finally located and captured last Friday.
Enrichment comes in many shapes and forms. From food puzzles to toys to caregivers and to interacting with other chimpanzees, enrichment is a crucial part in caring for chimpanzees. While monitoring physical health, cleaning enclosures, and preparing meals is a big part of it, enrichment holds and equally important piece to the puzzle of caregiving. Enrichment helps to keep their minds stimulated and engaged. In a very loose way to look at it, it’s sort of like the mental health aspect of caring. In the video, those are just some of the was the chimpanzees are enriched.
We also wanted to let you all know today is the first official day of Give Big! This two day campaign is a way for non-profits to encourage donations to come in. We are currently at approximately $20,000 of our $50,000 goal. These donations are a crucial part in being able to care for all the residents at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. It is what allows caregivers to provide top notch medical care, health and fresh meals, new toys, and fun parties. Every little bit helps. Even the tiniest donation. We are not able to do any of this without all the years of support and donations. Thank you so much for choosing to follow us, falling in love with the chimpanzees and cattle, putting smiles on caregivers faces, and making all of this possible! I hope to see some of your names on the donor list! There is currently a matching donation going on, where every dollar becomes two dollars!
Here are some bonus photos from today!
Rayne
Cy
Willy B
Burrito and Jamie
Honey B
Terry
Mave has been showing off her newfound confidence on the Bray, though at this point she prefers to stay somewhat close to home. Lucky, on the other hand, has been pushing herself to explore the very top of the enclosure. The other day she climbed one of the towers under construction at the top of the Bray for the first time (I think!) and took a moment to enjoy the view with her brother Cy and pal Gordo.
Rayne with one of her favorite books:
Cy, as I found him while closing up the chimp house one evening:
Here’s a photo of the sanctuary taken several weeks back from the driveway on the southern edge of our property which the Bonneville Power Administration built to access their transmission towers for us to walk our dogs along. In the background you can see one of the many cuts along Old Highway 10 where university students and geology buffs go to examine the various strata of ancient riverbeds, as well as the infamous Taylor Bridge, forever linked to the 2012 wildfire which bears its name.
And one from yesterday, after a wind gust blew a plastic bag up this impossibly steep hill while Jake and I were working on cattle fencing. I figured I’d stop a take a photo to hide how tired I was from the climb and buy myself a little time before trying to make my way back down. I was reminded of one of those quirky British competitions where people chase after a wheel of cheese down a steep slope (I’m not kidding) except at the bottom of this hill is simply an old barbed wire fence. This view of the slope might give you a sense of why we couldn’t extend the chimp enclosures any further to the east than we did – bear in mind, the chimp enclosure is itself a pretty steep hill. I really thought about it, though.
Let me tell you, those toy keys are the most exciting thing to happen in a while. Some of the chimps in Cy’s group are prone to chewing up and ingesting enrichment so we’ve been introducing new items very slowly and cautiously over the last couple years. These are made by Nylabone and we’re optimistic that they will hold up and won’t pose any danger. It’s rare for nearly everyone in the group to have an interest in the same piece of enrichment—since they’ve been introduced, the keys have only been put down a minute or two at a time before they are snatched up again!
As I was sitting down in the foyer to upload some video, Chad noticed Rayne on the security monitor flipping through her magazine on the greenhouse catwalk. It’s amazing how much we would miss without those cameras.
