Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Jamie (and J.B.) get new boots!

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The chimpanzees had some good friends, Nikko and Billy, stop by with special gifts today. These two generous souls drove all the way down from British Columbia specifically to deliver multiple boxes of all but brand new boots from their family business, Stampede Tack and Western Wear in Canada! Many of the boots are men’s sizes and after suffering through wearing Jamie’s smaller boots, J.B. was pretty excited to find a pair that not only fit him, but were comfortable.

J.B. headed in to show Jamie, preparing to head out for a walk and as you may imagine, she was almost as excited as J.B. Jamie’s hair stood on end (pilo-erect), and she stomped her foot in excitement, but instead of heading out for a walk around the hill, Jamie decided she needed to inspect them immediately and demanded that J.B. hand them over. Too bad for J.B., it was almost like he had a birthday present taken away, but Jamie’s the boss around here.

Sometimes when Jamie gets really excited about something new, it’s almost as though she becomes overwhelmed and has to “walk away” to collect herself. After receiving the boots from J.B., Jamie took them into the playroom, softly hooting in excitement, but then she suddenly left them to sit out in the greenhouse momentarily. A few minutes later we found her with them, apparently ready to handle the excitement of her newest acquisitions.

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Nikko, thanks so much to you and your family for such kindness and generosity! You made Jamie’s (and J.B.’s) day!

Lunch with the chimpanzees

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Most meals at the sanctuary go remarkably smoothly considering we have seven hungry and eager chimpanzees to serve at once. Occasionally, someone swipes someone else’s food or a scuffle breaks out, but more often than not, peace reigns.

That’s not to say that all the chimps always wait patiently, though. In this video, you’ll see some of the ways the chimps get our attention during meals and tell the server to please hurry up – hand clapping (Negra), vigorous head nodding (Missy), and blowing raspberries (Foxie). This video is longer than most of the ones we post, but hopefully it will give you some idea of what it’s like to be present at mealtime at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Summer and Father’s Day

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It’s here; the year’s longest day of sunshine (well, at least for us here in the Northern Hemisphere). The high temperatures the past month may have indicated otherwise, but today truly is the official beginning of summer. By this time of year, plants in the garden are bearing fruit, baby birds have hatched and are growing quickly and the rivers and lakes have warmed up enough to be revitalizing after jumping in.

As for life here at the sanctuary, summer is in full swing, especially in the gardens with all of the fruit and flowers.

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I thought today’s blog would be mostly about how summer means vitality, growth, abundant energy, movement and all that means to be living life. And I was going to take photos of each of the chimps soaking up the long days of sunshine exploring Young’s Hill, eating wild plants and the climbing structures to take in the views. But, the chimps had something else in mind for today, which was a really good lesson for me.

It was as if the chimps were trying to convey to me that summer does entail abundance, energy, growth and all of those things I listed above. But, it can also mean making the most of lazy summer days by taking the time to relax in comfort, nap and soak up what it means to not have constant demands put on them to perform or to be used as test subjects. This was evident in the blanket nests we saw this morning when cleaning the various enclosures.

Here is one we found in the Playroom this morning.
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Jamie took a some time to rest up this morning after venturing out onto Young’s Hill.
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For Jody and many of the other chimps, summer time means endless wild snacks.
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For Foxie, lazy summer afternoons mean napping with a close friend.
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Missy sat grooming herself this afternoon…
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…while Annie lie down next to her.
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Burrito looking pretty relaxed in front of the camera.
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And Negra sat in one of her favorite spots on the catwalk this afternoon.
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Today also marks a special day for fathers. The Cle Elum Seven are fortunate enough to have loving, supportive fathers from all over the world who dedicate their time, energy and offer unlimited support in order to provide a safe and enriching environment for these chimps. Your love has helped these chimpanzees grow leaps and bounds over the past seven years in ways they have never known before. To all these fathers, we cannot thank you enough.

So, however you choose to spend your summer days, enjoy them to the fullest. And to all the fathers out there, have a wonderful day knowing how loved and appreciated you are for all the things you do to provide for those you love!

Just another day in sanctuary

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There has been a whole lot of napping going on in the chimp house today. Well, at least for the chimpanzees. Our recent high heat is taking a break and though it’s still warm, the wind has been cool and refreshing. We were thinking the chimpanzees should be out on the hill enjoying the comfortable day, but they had other thoughts. And really, how nice is it to enjoy napping peacefully on a warm day with a cool spring breeze blowing through the house?

Jamie fell sound asleep while we cleaned the playroom, but made sure to keep one foot on her recent gift of new black cowboy boots from the chimpanzees’ (and humans’) good friend, Tony Garza:

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Jody fell asleep in a sunbeam in the greenhouse:

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The chimpanzees often hold their feet as they sleep which I find so endearing:

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Annie, who has taken to nesting next to Negra in the afternoons (though Negra was in a darker spot that didn’t photograph well, she was nesting just to the right):

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After a brief forage in the play room, Jamie decided to take another nap in front of the barn doors, her hair (and the trolls’ hair) blowing softly in the breeze:

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Though the other chimps were in unfriendly photo spots, Missy was tucked away in a cozy nest in the loft, Burrito was sound asleep on the catwalk with a rainbow slinky in his mouth, and Foxie was in a sunny corner of the greenhouse playing “toss the Dora.”

Just another day in sanctuary. And another day with our hearts full of gratitude.

Important Rituals

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Jamie has trained her caregivers well. She has created an entire routine centered on her many-times-a-day perimeter walks around Young’s Hill, and her human friends are required to participate in this routine fully. (For a video of the entire process from start to finish, see this post.)

After a perimeter walk, she usually meets her walking partner in the greenhouse, where she gives him or her a thorough grooming. Jamie leaves no stone unturned.

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When she’s satisfied with her work, she asks us to put the boot we wore on our walk up against the caging so she can groom that.

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After this, Jamie’s done with us for the time being, and we get a short reprieve before we’re summoned to repeat the process from the beginning.

Carlene’s Tower

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Back in February, the sanctuary received an enormous amount of love as part of our Share the Chimp Love fundraising campaign. The original goal of $12,000 was surpassed and the extra money was used to help build a new climbing structure for the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill. Construction began at the end of May and was completed a few days later, thanks to the hard work of the sanctuary’s founder Keith LaChappelle, JB and long time friends of the chimps Nick, Josh, John, Bill and Marc. The structure is located at the top of Young’s Hill and is the highest of any of the structures on Young’s Hill; consisting of two separate towers with a swinging bridge that connects them.

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As part of February’s fundraising campaign, two generous families won the naming rights of each of the towers. The Garza family named the tower with the roof “Carlene’s Tower” in honor of Carlene Garza. And the other tower, which does not have a roof, was named “Jamie’s Lookout” by Joan and Pat Borders.

Today the Garza family visited the sanctuary to meet the chimpanzees that Carlene had grown to love and to see the new structure with their own eyes. Because it was such a beautiful day, we ended up spreading the chimps’ lunch all over Young’s Hill for them to forage. On the menu was bell peppers, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, red cabbage and primate chow. All of the chimps went out at various times throughout the afternoon to gather food and some of them enjoyed their food from the new towers.

Here is a photo of Carlene’s Tower.
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Missy enjoyed some of the food she found while foraging on Young’s Hill under the shade of the roof of Carlene’s Tower.
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Burrito also spent some time on Carlene’s Tower…
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…and below the tower. (Annie is in the background, also foraging for food).
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Jamie gathered some of the onions and peppers that were spread out around the hill as part of the lunch forage…
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…and made her way to Carlene’s tower to take in the views, while Annie stayed below Jamie’s Lookout.
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Annie (sitting on right) and Foxie (climbing the ladder) also spent some time in the shade below Jamie’s Lookout.
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Then, Foxie climbed the ladder for a higher view.
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To the Garza family, everyone here at CSNW thanks you for your generous support and continued love of this very special family. I have a feeling that Carlene has a huge smile on her face, knowing she and all of you are helping her dear friends here. Her love will continue to live on in the lives of everyone here. Thank you!

Today is for Shaun Brinsfield

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Tracy and Bruce sponsored today for the chimpanzees in honor of their friend Shaun Brinsfield, who introduced them to the chimps and the sanctuary years ago. Shaun, we can’t thank you enough for spreading the word about the Cle Elum Seven – you never know who’s going to connect with these amazing individuals and change their lives for the better. Though the chimps can’t possibly know how many thousands of friends they have across the world, we do our best every day to make them feel it as much as possible. They’re so lucky to have you – Shaun, Tracy, and Bruce – in their corner!

Jamie is feeling the love:

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