Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Keith LaChappelle

New iPad thanks to Apps for Apes! (and a plea for a chimp-proof case)

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(UPDATE: Thank you Jody! We’ve got our case on the way! If you want to still support the fun iPad project—we could use some iTunes giftcards for cool apps! You can send an e-card to [email protected])

A few weeks ago, Orangutan Outreach reached out to us after seeing my blog post about wanting an iPad for Jamie (and the other chimps, too!) They have this great program called “Apps for Apes” (featured on NBC news) which has mostly been used in zoos and with orangutans. The Center for Great Apes is involved in the program and they are a sanctuary for both chimps and orangutans, but we’re the first sanctuary to be involved with only chimps. I’m really excited to see what apps they want to interact with the most! Orangutan Outreach raises awareness about orangutan conservation while also providing great enrichment for captive orangutans. Their project falls perfectly in line with what we have going on with Eyes on Apes, our advocacy group.

Here’s me (so excited!) with the iPad. I set a photo from today’s earlier blog post of Jody as the background:

web caregiver debbie hold new ipad

And here volunteer Deb and myself show Jamie and Foxie the iPad.

web caregiver deb show jamie new ipad

web jamie look at ipad

web foxie jamie look at ipad

I can’t WAIT to be able to let the chimps touch the iPad themselves. First we need to have a durable case so we can safely have it against the fencing and the chimps won’t break it 🙂

J.B. has done a bit of research and this is what we’ve decided will be the best option: Life Jacket Waterproof Case. We’d like the case as well as the extra mounting bracket which is an additional cost. If someone would be willing to donate the case, the mounting bracket, (or both!) I would be forever thankful (and so would the chimps!)

Though we don’t know for sure exactly what will happen when they’re able to interact with it themselves, I imagine based on how enriching it is just to look at, that they’ll be very interested to touch it!

Young’s Hill & 3rd Anniversary Fundraising update

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There are still 104 posts on Young’s Hill available for “adoption.”

I know everyone who follows the blog wants to be a part of Young’s Hill and this is your chance! For just $50 you’ll get an engraved plaque with your name, a dedication or message of your choice on your fence post.

Check out the plaques so far on our 3rd Anniversary Fundraising page.

plaques (small)

We’ve been making a lot of progress on the hill habitat construction thanks to volunteers. J.B. would love to hear from you if you want to know more about volunteering. Email him: [email protected]

Here are a few photos taken by volunteers Audrey Spencer and Lynn Williamson who braved the wet and cold weather last Saturday to help make the dream of Young’s Hill a reality:

 

Audrey making sure the fence post is level (this could be your post!) while Jim and Lucas work in the background:

Audrey Jim Lucas fence posts

 

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest founder Keith holds a post steady as volunteers Lynn and Jim fill the hole:

Keith Jim Lynn fence post

 

The weather got progressively worse as the day went on. We have some dedicated volunteers! Here’s J.B. on the tractor with Keith, Lucas, Jim and Andy adding more fill to a fence post hole.

Andy Jim Lucas Keith JB fence post construction

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped with this project!

Keith on the radio SUNDAY

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Keith will be on interviewed on Seattle’s 98.9 kwjz today at 4:30. He is appearing with our friend Yoram Bauman of Comedy Underground to talk about their non-profit comedy benefits and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s upcoming comedy night show on October 7th.

If you’re in the Seattle area and haven’t already RSVP’d for this event, please do so by adding your name to the Evite list. The current one-night record for funds raised at non-profit comedy night is $5,100, raised by Puget Sound Community School – I hope CSNW can make a new record for the Cle Elum Seven!

Update: Looks like the show will be taped and will actually air early Sunday morning on the Public Affairs program. I’ll provide more details as we have them.

Even if you can’t make the show, you can listen to Keith’s interview live on the radio or on kwjz’s website.

Visualizing Chimpanzees

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J.B. and I are now in Washington having finally moved from New York State. After five days of driving, we were both really anxious to see the chimp house as soon as we got here.  For the first time, I could really see the chimpanzees in the building. Before I could imagine it in a theoretical kind of way, but now that their house is getting closer to completion, I could actually see Negra in front of the window on the loft, and I could see Burrito swinging from a firehose attached to the wide bridge that now spans the playroom. And I could see Jody walking out of the building to the outdoor area for the first time.

Keith and the solid and incredible group of volunteers who have helped create this building from scratch have put so much thought into it and have labored so hard, and I could finally see the chimpanzees appreciating all of that work.  The Buckshire Seven arrive in 28 days. It’s hard to believe that in less than one month all of these images that I saw in my mind will be a reality! It will be so great to fill the website with photos and videos of the chimpanzees and be able to tell stories about them everyday. Stay tuned – it’s only a short wait now.

Diana