Mave

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2019 by Kelsi

It was a crazy Christmas in the chimp house! We had two huge parties, one in the Mezzanine and one in the Playroom. Don’t worry, we had a party for Burrito too. Their parties were filled with cider, stuffed squash, green beans, and new toys. Honey B LOVED her new broom, Foxie was so excited for her new dolls, and Jamie could not wait to make a nest with her new boots and books! This was Honey B, Mave, and Willy B’s first Christmas at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. And I have to say I think they approved!

We have so many amazing donors and supporters. Thank you so much for helping make these 10 amazing chimpanzee’s Christmas feel so special. Happy Holidays everyone!

Jody:

Foxie:

Honey B:

In memory of beloved Ruger

December 24, 2019 by Katelyn

June Jones sponsored this special day of sanctuary in honor of her beloved family member, Ruger. She shared this sweet message about today:

“We are sponsoring this day in honor of our beloved Ruger who crossed the Rainbow Bridge last week. Every night when he would dig and dig at his blankets to make his nest for the night, I thought how much he resembled the beautiful chimp people you take such loving care of. Bless you for all you do for those wonderful beings.”

June, we are so sorry for the loss of your beloved family member, Ruger. Our hearts go out to you and we are all sending wishes for comfort and peace. Thank you so much for allowing us to share in Ruger’s memory with the chimpanzees. We so appreciate your kind and generous heart.

Missy:

Sweet Mave:

Jody:

Close up

December 17, 2019 by Kelsi

It is that time of year where the chimps nest in hard places to snap a good photo. But, we also have a new challenge because one of our most used camera lens has stopped working. These chimps were definitely moving around and playing, sadly the camera wouldn’t catch the moment. We have put a new lens on our Wishlist in hopes that it is not our camera and just the lens, fingers crossed! However, I hope you enjoy some photos I have saved off my phone!

Sometimes when we try to photograph the three, they get too close to actually get a photo. Mostly, Honey B and Willy B are the ones that get closer to the caging once they see you are holding the camera. They are just fascinated by phones and TVs. Here are a few attempts that turned into REAL close ups.

Honey B:

This one of Willy B just makes me smile:

I was able to snap this one of Jody today:

Sweet Mave:

First Snow Experience

December 11, 2019 by Kelsi

This morning was the first real snow of the year. We gave Honey B, Willy B, and Mave access to the chute, which was quite snowy! The three chimps came from California, so we were curious what their reaction would be to the snow. Today, Honey B seemed to be the only one who adventured out into the chute. However, Willy B and Mave did look curious. As enrichment we put snow buckets out, which they all seemed to enjoy. There is still more snow coming down, so there will be plenty more opportunities for all three to explore the snow!

Gloomy Yet Beautiful

December 10, 2019 by Kelsi

Today was a bit of a gloomy and frosty day.

Though when you get closer it is beautiful. Everywhere around the sanctuary was covered in hoar frost.

J.B. has been very busy building what we are calling the courtyard, which is where we extended Young’s Hill and the new structure was built. He put fencing up to help create a smaller Hill for Mave, Honey B, and Willy B, which also includes a boardwalk to the new structure since they are still getting use to their new surroundings. We are hoping this will entice the three to go out onto the Hill. Their first experience was not great. They all touched the fence many times. The Hill is also a huge open spaced compared anything they have ever experienced. Honey B, Willy B, and Mave have lived on concrete for a long time in a relatively small space. This kind of open area could take a long time to warm up too. Willy B especially, seems to not like touching the ground. This may be one of the many reasons the three have not yet adventured onto the Hill again.

Jody was on Young’s Hill and excited to see Willy B in the chute:

Willy B in the chute and the girls looking at him from the playroom windows:

Mave joined in too:

Missy (top) and Annie (bottom) watching Willy B and Mave in the chute:

Jody decided that this was fun, but she needed to nest:

Willy B let Burrito borrow his TV! Burrito enjoyed a film about Koko the gorilla and a documentary about Jane Goodall 🙂

Mave <3:

I also wanted to let you all know, we have started putting the chimps Christmas presents on the Amazon Wishlist! So if you missed out on the blankets or were wondering what the chimps would like for Christmas, check it out!

Sleep, groom, patrol, & repeat

December 6, 2019 by Kelsi

Today was a busy day in the chimp house. J.B. was working out on Young’s Hill, we had a full house of hard working volunteers, and lots of training! However, the chimps had a nice relaxing Friday. There was a lot of grooming, small games of chase, & napping.

A grooming train of Honey B grooming Willy B and Mave grooming Willy:

Mave than moved onto just grooming Honey B:

The handsome Willy B:

The Blanket Shredder!

December 3, 2019 by Kelsi

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!