Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Honey B

Wow!

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I just have to say WOW! On top of an amazing Giving Tuesday, you all also out did yourselves by buying all the blankets within an hour or two of posting the blog. We are so fortunate for such amazing supporters! I know some of you are wondering if you can send blankets, but for now I think we are all set! Check out our Amazon Wishlist for other things that need donated! Keep a close eye for our Christmas requests. And again thank you! I had created a fun video of the chimps playing, but our internet is being sooo slow today. Stay tuned for the video tomorrow! In the meantime, please enjoy the collection of photos!

Burrito:

Staff Caregiver Katelyn serving up some snow for Burrito:

Fierce little Foxie on Young’s Hill:

Jamie and Annie going on a patrol:

Jody not far behind:

And of course Missy sprinting around:

Even Neggie stepped outside:

Honey B nesting in a sleeping bag:

 

 

 

The Blanket Shredder!

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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has always had an abundant amount of blankets for almost twelve years. Suddenly, we have become low on blankets. This has never happened in CSNW history! The blankets just started becoming smaller or ripped into pieces. Now, I don’t want to name names, but Jody has decided to alter her blankets, as well as a few other people. This is where we need your help! We have add blankets on our Amazon Wishlist. I have collected some photos of the chimps lounging in nests of warm and cozy blankets!

Annie:

Negra:

Jamie toes:

Foxie laying near/almost on a blanket:

Jamie:

Jody:

Missy:

Bubba:

We don’t have many photos of Mave, Willy B, or Honey B in nest yet! But, they also love nesting! Especially, Honey B, she makes very big nests.

Mave:

Willy B:

Honey B:

 

In honor of the CSNW staff, interns and volunteers

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This special day of sanctuary and gratitude is sponsored by Dr. Jennifer Wallace in honor of the humans of CSNW! Jen shared this lovely message about today:

“On this day of thanks, I would like to express my gratitude to all of the CSNW staff, interns, and volunteers. Special thanks to J.B., Diana, Anna, Kelsi, Anthony, Katelyn and Dr. Erin. I am so grateful there are compassionate and dedicated people such as yourselves to provide a safe, loving and comfortable home to the 10 chimpanzees in your care. The world is a better place with all of you! Happy Thanksgiving!”

Jen, thank you for such a kind and gracious gift for the chimpanzees and humans here! We are so touched. Please know the profound gratitude that we hold in our hearts for you, Dr. Erin Zamzow and Dr. Erika Nelson Rinear, and all the incredible veterinary and medical professionals who give so generously of your amazing skills and incredible hearts to help ensure the highest level of health and well-being possible for the chimpanzees.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our beloved Burrito guy seems most appropriate to share as we celebrate the gratitude in our hearts:

Windy!

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It is winnnndy! The chimps had a very leisure day playing, napping, and watching J.B. and a few volunteers start building a new structure out on Young’s Hill! They are just getting a section of the project done today and than another group of volunteers will come tomorrow to help us build the rest of the structure. Normally I would expect the chimps, especially Jamie, to be out in the chute inspecting everything that was going on. However, it was so windy no one wanted to be outside really. Jamie did watch from the windows and the comfort of her own nest.

Jamie watching from the mezzanine:

Jody cozy in a nest:

Missy curled up:

The crew working hard and trying not to get blown away:

 

Not Today, but Maybe Tomorrow

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Today we gave Mave, Honey B, Willy B, and Negra access to Young’s Hill. I am not sure we have talked about this much. Though this is not the first time we have given them access to Young’s Hill, a 2 acre outdoor space. I feel I should also mention that as far as we know the three have not had an outdoor space like this in almost 30 years or maybe ever. So you can only imagine how exciting, but also terrifying and scary this space must be for them. The Hill is a large outdoor area with unfamiliar fencing, ground, and also not knowing if anyone else is out there. The other chimps obviously haven’t been on the other side when they have access to the Hill, but the unknown can be intimidating! Right now Burrito is still alone recovering and the girl gang was inside phase 1 so they wouldn’t be too much of a distraction to the nervous 3 and Negra just napped the whole time.

Our first attempt was almost a month ago, before introductions had started. It did not go the way we had planned or the way I am sure the 3 chimps wanted it to go. We tried to show the chimps not to touch the electric fence. However, the electric fence was foreign and all they have ever really known is that they can hold onto caging. But the “caging” was shocking them and it was suppose to be safe. So there was screaming and they were nervous to say the least. Even with preparation and showing them not to touch, they still touched it, a lot. You might be wondering how we demonstrated this to them. There are many different methods. We pretended to touch the fence and get shocked. We made chimp vocalizations and screamed. J.B. grounded himself and made the fence spark (safely) and screamed as well. When the seven went out for the first time they had a mock test fence to touch so the chimps understood it would shock and J.B. also touched the fence to give them the real effect. J.B. did not want to touch the fence again (weird) and we didn’t feel that the mock test helped the seven not touch the fence, because they also got shocked the first time or two as well. An enclosure is all these three have known and mesh caging is what they are used to grabbing. Even the ground can be uncomfortable, for example, Willy B doesn’t like walking across the wood chips and tries to avoid them. This probably has a lot to do with living on concrete floors for most of his life.

There is a lot of adjustment for Honey B, Mave, and Willy B. We have continued to offer them the Hill when possible. However, they are scared. Honey B did go out again, but curiosity got the best of her and she touched the fence again. Though no one went out today, we will keep trying and hopefully one day they will feel comfortable enough to go out and explore, and not touch the fence as well!

Mave relaxing in the green house:

Honey B a little out of focus, enjoying some sun in the green house:

This photo shows a little bit of how Willy doesn’t like walking on the wood chips. He uses only one foot and tries to get across as fast a possible. Or tries to walk on chairs and enrichment to get on to the platform. This is actually every common for chimps in captivity that are adjusting to new environments. The unknown is scary until they can get use to it.

Negra in a cozy nest. Negra also spent some time grooming with Mave and play wrestling with Honey B.

Later in the afternoon the “Girl Gang” received access to the Hill. The girls and cattle went on a patrol together:

 

 

A Day to Give

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I thought since today was Giving Day for Apes I would reflect on this amazing opportunity that I get to call my job. I am a caregiver for primates and a handful of farm animals. Chimpanzee have changed my life. The Chimpanzee Human Communication Institute was my first introduction to chimpanzees. To be honest, I always wanted to work with marine mammals, but after I met Tatu, Loulis, and Dar I fell in love with chimps intelligence, their playfulness, their physical strength, but most importantly their resiliency. When I learned about the pain humans have inflicted on primates I wanted to make a difference and from then on I never looked back. I followed Tatu and Loulis to Canada and than I came back to Washington where I was lucky enough to get a job at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. It was hard to leave Tatu and Lou who I had known for 7 years, but the Pacific Northwest was my home. And to be lucky enough to get a job at CSNW, you just can’t say no to that!

There is a lot to the word caregiver. Being a caregiver is one of the most valuable parts of my life. I have learned how to put all of their needs before my own, feel so much compassion it hurts, and have a side of me be so silly I don’t care who sees. But there is also the side of being responsible for the well being of the individuals you are caring for and the humans involved. It can be emotionally straining, especially at a time like now. Care giving during this introduction period has been a challenge, the most amazing rewarding challenge! On one hand the friendships being formed are the whole reason we are doing this and it is so awesome you could cry! We want the best for the chimps and we also want to provide more homes to more chimps. But on the other hand it is one of the more stressful events in my career. On the human side watching your friends meet a bunch of strangers! Talk about social anxiety! But, as written in many of our blogs, you have to trust them. Each chimp has stepped up and gone above and beyond what we thought would happen. The hard work isn’t over, it might not have even started yet, but it is truly an amazing time to be at CSNW.

The chimps, as I’ve mentioned, are so resilient. Every chimp has a different background, some were raised by humans and given to biomedical research once they were too old to control, others where caught in the wild and taken away from their mothers, many were breed in captivity never knowing what the outside world felt like and would never know what it would feel like to be a “real” chimp, a wild chimp. Theses are just a few scenarios and there are so many more. But the fact that these chimps can form relationships with humans after what people have put them through will always blow my mind. And more than that, when they get the chance in sanctuary to make relationships with other chimps, get that feeling of freedom or choice, or even just feel relaxed. That is were my job is the most rewarding. Here in a sanctuary they get the opportunity to become themselves, or at least as much as possible. They will never get to go into the wild again, that was taken from them, but that they can make friends with other chimps or people and go onto the 2 acres must feel freeing in some way.

A few little moments that make my heart melt that I hope makes yours too: Annie making sweet bird noises, Burrito food squeaking so loud, Willy B lip smacking for food, Mave being a friend to all and her jumping up and clapping her feet when she wants to play (eekk!). Negra going out on the Hill alone, Jamie making a fort laying on a nest intertwined with boots and books, Honey B laying in a bunch of brown paper wrestling around in it, the moment you hand Foxie her doll back and she is completely content. Missy, Honey B, & Annie playing and Jody caring so intensely about each of her friends. But the winner today is Missy and Willy B playing chase. I haven’t seen Willy B with this big of a play face yet! We hope you enjoy this short video!