Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Running in the Rain

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It has been pouring rain at the sanctuary all day, and as wonderful as it is, Jamie doesn’t seem particularly thrilled. She insisted that we go for a walk several times early this afternoon, but was deterred by the rain. I could sense her growing frustration, especially as she began tossing trolls and pieces of paper down from the playroom loft. She emphatically gestured toward the cowboy boots again, so I put them on and went to meet her at the bottom of the hill. Again, she was nowhere to be found. I went to the green house to check on her, and as soon as she saw me her eyes opened wide in excitement and she ran out onto the hill! I hurried to catch up with her, and we went for a record speed walk (with intermittent running) around the hill. There’s something exhilarating about running in the rain!

Meanwhile, Annie and Negra kept each other entertained in the playroom:

A very classy party

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Yesterday we received a huge donation from a generous supporter. Produce and enrichment, oh my! One of the boxes contained decorations for Halloween/Jamie’s birthday set for a couple of weeks from now, while one of the other boxes was a massive collection of black and white themed decor. Of course it seemed right to throw an impromptu classy black and white party today!

Volunteers Lynn, Patti, and Alex (not pictured) helped prepare the party in the kitchen. They made a plum and banana smoothie to go in black plastic champagne flutes and zebra striped paper cups. Also included in the party forage: clementines, pomegranate, coconut, peanuts, and chow.
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The elaborate party setup included streamers, paper chains, piñatas, and personalized gift bags. There was even a black and white haired troll for Foxie!
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In honor of the black and white theme I edited a few of the photos to fit the mood. Others I left in the original color format.

Burrito had multiple cups of smoothie:
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Missy got in on the smoothie action as well.
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She also managed to claim the black cat piñata.web_Missy_cat_pinata_gh_aw_IMG_5290

Jamie enjoyed most of her party from the comfort of the fire hose hammock.
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Foxie grabbed her new troll doll right away.
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Annie found several cardboard rolls stuffed with paper and chow.
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Jody was victorious with her coconut haul.
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And this is a photo of Negra. I promise she got plenty of party treats. It just seemed like the best photo to finish off this very classy blog post.
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Snoozin’

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On this quintessential autumn afternoon most of the chimpanzees are baking in sunny spots while Jamie is walking her caregivers ragged. It’s the most gorgeous day. As I walked up the stairs to the greenhouse it was so quiet and appeared empty so I didn’t expect to find anyone. But just as I rounded the corner I spotted someone on the top platform, where it’s warmest. It’s rare to come upon the chimps when they are sound asleep as they always seem to hear us coming so I was pleasantly surprised to find sweet Annie, fast asleep and hopefully dreaming of all good things. It didn’t take long for her chimp senses to kick in and wake up, but she took her time, enjoying the warm sun and afternoon breeze.

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In other news, we are nearing the end of Great Apes Giving Day with a little less than 3 hours and 15 minutes to go!! As of this posting, thanks to our amazing supporters we have nearly reached our goal of $15,000 with an amazing $13,830!! For all of you who have contributed, thank you SO much!! As one of the smaller sanctuaries participating in this event, this will mean so much for our chimpanzee family. And if you’d still like to participate in support of Annie, Missy, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody and Negra, we’d so appreciate it. Every donation really does make a difference in their lives.

Serious business

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As you may already know, the sanctuary has an enrichment calendar that we follow in order to enhance the lives of the chimpanzees on a daily basis. In the morning when we clean each area, we may put out lots of paper for them to nest in, or maybe we will put out all the small toys from the enrichment bins in the kitchen. Some days we might put out the ever popular troll scarves! Yesterday was a troll scarf day and first thing this morning we caught Jamie looking quite serious in a knitted blue troll scarf. Upon further cleaning inspection, we found 3 or 4 more troll scarves in an intricate nest she had assembled in the front rooms.
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A quick reminder that Great Apes Giving Day starts tonight at 9:00 p.m. PST (midnight eastern time). Check out Diana’s blog post from last week to learn more!

The Forgotten Photos

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We take so many photos of the chimpanzees that some inevitably slip through the cracks and never get shared on the blog. Here are some recent portraits I found on the hard drive; let us know which is your favorite!

Jamie:

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Negra:

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Jody:

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Foxie:

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Burrito:

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Missy:

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Annie:

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In memory of Carlene

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Tony Garza and family in memory of his beloved wife, Carlene Olsen-Garza. The Garza family are dear members of our sanctuary family and they have done so much to ensure Carlene’s love for the chimpanzees lives on through all that they do to make the chimps’ lives better. We are so grateful to be a part of all the love and light Carlene and her family bring to the world.

Tony shared this message about today: “Carlene was a stead fast follower of CSNW right up until she lost her battle with cancer on this date in 2014. She was a great admirer of the work that the Sanctuary did and read with great interest anything to do with her three favorites: Jamie, Burrito and Foxie. Today we honor the memory of my dear wife by doing what we can to help the Sanctuary continue its work and achieve its future goals.”

Tony and family, our thoughts are with you all today. We are so touched by all that you do for the chimpanzees in Carlene’s memory and hope that your hearts are eased and comforted in knowing her spirit carries on here at the sanctuary. The dedication and love with which you all make sure that her compassion continues to make a different in the world is truly inspiring. Thank you so much for sponsoring today in her memory.

Jamie:

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Burrito:

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Foxie:

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Photos of an Amazing Chimpanzee Named Jamie

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Photography, to me, is fascinating both as an art form and as a documentary tool. There’s no doubt that the end result – the photos that are shared – say as much about the photographer as the subject.

All of the caregivers here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest take photos (a LOT of photos) of the chimpanzees, and we each go through the process of choosing those photos that we feel best represents the moment or the individual we were trying to capture.

I was looking through photos of Jamie and discovered several from this year that I had taken that hadn’t been posted to the blog yet. Sometimes I like to save photos for print like in our annual calendar, which I’ll be working on soon, but it’s pretty difficult not to share, so I decided not to save them but to share the ones I rediscovered today with you blog readers.

With Jamie’s procedure yesterday and the two of us working together on positive reinforcement training for the last several months, Jamie’s been on my mind pretty much constantly.

No one who knows her would tell you that Jamie is an “easy chimpanzee.” Being her caregiver is a constant challenge. She’s demanding and moody and strong-willed. Despite these characteristics, or probably because of them, I can’t think of a single person on this earth that I admire and respect more than Jamie.

I hope this admiration, respect, and love comes through in these photos I took of her over the last year. And I hope these images provide a glimpse into the amazing, strong, curious and wonderful person that Jamie is:

Jamie straightforward

Jamie with brush

Jamie in a nest of boots

Jamie mischievious

Jamie foraging

Jamie beautiful

Jamie contemplative

Jamie serious

I would love it if you chose one of these photos (or all, by linking to this blog post) to share Jamie and her story with those you know. You can find out more about her past on her short bio page and the more in-depth history of her life before sanctuary on her Eyes on Apes profile page.

It makes me so happy to know that she has admirers our there!