Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Negra

Sweet Negra & June News

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I had a few clips of Negra on my phone from the last couple of weeks that deserved to be compiled into a video.

Are you on our e-newsletter list? Check your inbox to see if you received an email sent out this afternoon that includes these stories:

Your Impact
George found his family. The Support Building broke ground. A memorial garden took shape. And an outdoor space for Honey B, Willy B, and Mave’s side of the building is the next big project. If you’d like to read the full stories of what your support makes possible, email [email protected] with ‘Your Impact’ in the subject line to receive an electronic copy of our recent print newsletter!

June: Help Us Celebrate

June continues to be chock full of celebrations! Multiple chimpanzees celebrate their birthdays in June, including the oldest chimpanzee at the sanctuary, Negra, who is at least 53 and may be several years older than that.

Negra was captured in the wild and then used in biomedical research for more than three decades. She had multiple babies removed from her during her years in the lab.

Looking back on our first impressions of Negra, written on our blog here, we said Negra “showed her age” in 2008, that it was difficult to say how many more years she would live, and that we couldn’t wait to give her the things she deserves, especially big piles of blankets to make her nests.

She and her group have now been at the sanctuary for 18 years and she has made big, sometimes giant, nests out of blankets every single day.

Negra is now experiencing mobility issues, but has been adapting with resilience. She especially appreciated the extra-special treats she received on her celebrated birthday.

Join us in celebrating Negra’s 53rd birthday, her group’s 18 years of sanctuary, Terry’s 36th birthday, Honey B and Dora’s 37th, the upcoming anniversary of the Lucky Six’s arrival five years ago, and Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day!

Before June ends, help us reach our $10,000 goal with a gift that honors the blankets, tireless care, and daily joys that a life in sanctuary provides.

 

Chimp Prints from Winter Water Factory

Winter Water Factory makes sustainable, organic cotton clothing for kids and adults in a U.S. factory with fair labor practices. And they have the cutest prints! They are donating a portion of sales of their chimpanzee print line to the sanctuary, so your purchases are a win-win. Shop now for your favorite primate!

 

Dru Bru Fundraiser this Saturday

This Saturday, June 27, Dru Bru in Cle Elum is hosting a pint night for the sanctuary, 6–8 p.m. CSNW staff will be there to share updates and answer your questions. Pick up a custom CSNW pint glass, and know that $1 from every pint and mug, plus $4 from every pitcher, will be donated to the sanctuary, with an additional donation option at checkout. Full beer, cider, wine, soda, and non-alcoholic beverages will be available at the taproom bar, and food from Cle Elum Pizza Co. will be available to order in the pizzeria.

Join and share the event on Facebook.

 

The email included photos, of course. If you didn’t receive it, subscribe here!

Family Time in the Greenhouse

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Today, Negra had a nice, quiet lunch by herself in the greenhouse. Afterwards, her family came to spend the afternoon with her.

It was a hot afternoon, but pleasant under the diffuse light of the greenhouse. While Annie and Missy groomed Negra, Foxie played with one of her dolls, pausing at times to pass it to her caregivers.

Jamie has been a good sport about these afternoons with Negra. We are trying to navigate the risks of Negra falling or being injured in a fight by restricting these whole-group visits to the greenhouse and Young’s Hill and to times between meals. As many of you know, Jamie doesn’t like having any limitations placed upon her. This is a face that says I am approaching the limits of my patience.

I found it difficult to take photos of Missy and Annie grooming because Missy kept leaving Annie and putting her back against the caging for me to groom. There’s something about the upper level in the greenhouse that elicits more socialization between the chimps and their caregivers. Because the wall panels are only off in the warmer months, these daily invitations from Missy to groom are essentially seasonal. I was happy to oblige, as long as Annie was still included.

Missy is the kind of chimp that grooms up the hierarchy. I see her directing her grooming toward Jamie, Negra, and Burrito most often. When she is being groomed by Annie, she sometimes reciprocates, but she also tends to focus more on herself. Here she is using a wood chip as a grooming tool.

The chimps have different levels of tolerance for having their photos taken. Burrito and Foxie will do their best to knock the phone out of my hand, while Missy will let me hold the phone in her face for hours on end without complaint.

She showed the same level of tolerance for me today, but interestingly, that tolerance did not extend to me taking photos near Negra. The chimps certainly know that Negra is in a more fragile state and Missy, being protective, responded with a threat bark the first time I pulled my phone out next to Negra. It’s nice to know Negra has so many friends looking out for her.

Favorite Photos

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Sometimes caregivers go through their phones and realize they have so many pictures that they took and never used for our blog that they end up going to our staff folders and being forgotten. So instead I’m leaving some of my favorite photos from the last week here for you all to enjoy!

Annie and Negra having a relaxing day together in the greenhouse:

Foxie, relaxing in the greenhouse with friends:

Dora, enjoying her cherry tomatoes:

The Gatorade Heist

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Today was one of those rare quiet and peaceful days where the chimps were all busy doing their own thing. However, I was able to snag a few photos!

Annie ever-so slyly got Negra’s Gatorade bucket that she didn’t finish. Miraculously, Jamie didn’t even get mad once she realized Annie had it. But Burrito and Foxie intensely supervised Annie drinking the bucket of Gatorade. Annie also declined the opportunity to offer or share any.

Missy quickly came to Negra’s side to groom her while nesting.

And Dora had an especially nice morning eating her apples!

Negra enjoying some wild roses and chives on a breezy afternoon.

 

 

Trifecta Jubilee 2026

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Today is one of the biggest holidays on the CSNW calendar, the Trifecta Jubilee! Today we celebrate Negra and Terry’s birthdays, as well as the arrival anniversary of the Cle Elum 7. Today’s video follows Negra as she celebrates her 53rd birthday.

With Negra’s mobility challenges over the past few months, we weren’t sure if we would get to celebrate another birthday with her. We have enjoyed every minute we got to spend celebrating with her today, and tried to fill her day with all of her favorite things. Today’s menu included coconuts, lychee, figs, romaine lettuce, sugar snap peas, Hawaiian rolls, cornbread, pancake hearts with whipped peanut butter, mini banana cream pies, sparkling cider, banana leaves, and homegrown grape vines from Caregivers Diana and JB’s house, as well as roses from Caregiver Sabrina’s garden. Dinner is coming up, and will include baked sweet potatoes and coconut whipped cream.

The most rewarding part of the day was seeing Negra get to spend another few hours with her whole group, something she hasn’t been able to do since her mobility first declined in March. She gets daily visits from several friends at a time, but has not lived in the whole group due to the risk of fighting and Negra either not being able to get away, or accidentally getting hurt while trying to get away. We decided early on in navigating her mobility challenges that the risks of a fall in the playroom were too great to give her access, and the playroom is an important space for the group as a whole. To reduce the risk of having her with the whole group today, we closed the group out of the playroom and then let Negra out into the greenhouse with them, and everyone was able to enjoy the party together. Afterwards, they relaxed and groomed until it was time to go back inside.

I think it’s safe to say that Negra enjoyed her day. Turn the volume up to hear many happy food squeaks!

Mental Health Awareness Month

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As May ends and June starts to usher in summer, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight Mental Awareness Month. This is by no means the most in depth history about the recognized month. In fact, I will be honest that most of the information I got is from Wikipedia.

Mental Health Awareness Month was established in 1949 to raise awareness around individual’s suffering from conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and suicide. Every year there is a theme to help boost awareness. This year’s theme is “More Good Days, Together.” Mental Health America, the organization who established the awareness then known as National Association for Mental Health, chose this year’s theme to encourage everybody to reflect on what a “good” day means to them and their communities. The way I interpret that is we know what a good day looks like for us individually, but what does a good day look like to everybody else and how can we help others achieve their good day.

Jamie looking up toward the sky back in 2022 after getting access to the newly expanded Young’s Hill. One thing Jamie adores is her time outside. After living in a windowless basement at the Buckshire Corporation to be used as a test subject, the chimpanzees, especially Jamie, cherish being able to look up to the sky and feel the breeze flow through their hair.

This year’s theme really made me think: what does a good day look like to everyone else here. I know what a good day here looks like to me. To me a good day is everybody shifts without hesitation, they eat all of their meals, there were no fights, the cattle took their own meds and I didn’t have to fight someone off of someone else’s, and Bruce allowed me to love him. There are some other small minor things, but those are the big ones. Now admittedly, I really don’t know what a good day to the other caregivers looks like. 😬 I think I just assumed theirs looked identical to mine. But in the spirit of theme, it’s really making me think about that.

Also, playing with the chimps is a HUGE plus in the ingredients for a good to for me. Like going around Young’s Hill with Burrito.

Mental health is such an important topic in the caregiver world. Burnout is one cause of the low attrition rate in this career field, and burnout hits fast and hard. Most of what I say next is just based on my own observations and personal experience. If I had to guess why the burnout rate is high is just due to the multitude of things we are responsible for. I know for me, this job is always on the top of my mind. Whether I’m on site, at home, on vacation, it doesn’t matter. Every worry, whether it be a fight, some social tension, upcoming procedure, etc., all those things follow me everywhere I go. No matter what I’m doing or where I am, I have chimps on the brain.

George went on the Bray to finish eating his breakfast. When Since the moment we as staff were told we would be rescuing George, everything that came with that has been at the forefront. The rescue, the legal proceedings, and probably the biggest topic, the integration. Though the integration has subsided a little because he has adapted incredibly well.

Though George’s situation has “cooled down” from what it was for me, now Negra occupies most of my thoughts. So as you can see, this job is a one thing right after another kind of job.

This job is one that keeps you on your toes… 24/7! For me, even though this is pretty much a 24/7 type of job, I get great gratification seeing the chimps playful and happy. That, regardless of how long it lasts, is what gets me out of bed in the morning. There are the hard times, but going through the storm to feel levitated like that is 1000% worth it.

Cy and George eating the primate chow on the Bray during breakfast. The relationship between Cy and George is one that gives me hope. For them obviously, but also just the kindness that the current state of the world covers up.
Terry also took his chow out onto the Bray for breakfast. It actually ended up in a fun little run between him and Burrito on the Young’s Hill side.

For years, Mental Health America has tried to rip down the curtain of stigma that surrounds mental health for some reason. I tend to be as open and honest with mine in case it can be of any help to anybody else going through it. And it thrills me that stigma seems to be waning for now, which is why I think they chose the theme that they did for this year: to help others in need.

Burrito and Foxie being silly with one another on Young’s Hill back in January. Foxie used to rely pretty heavily on Jody for support. Since Jody’s passing, Foxie has had a whirlwind of a time trying to refind her place. Luckily, Burrito has recently taken a big step in providing more physical and emotional support to Foxie.

Be sure to check Mental Health America’s resource page of a lot of different resources out there to help you or someone you know in a crisis. The world is a better place with you in it because you help better the world.

Mave and Dora hugging after Dora got scared of something. Mave has been a huge support system to Dora and vice versa.
Burrito hugging Foxie in the early days of the sanctuary.