Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

northwest

Sunrise

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The sanctuary is located in a canyon formed by the Yakima River, and there is a period each morning when the sun has risen but it has not yet begun to shine directly onto Young’s Hill. In the summer, when temperatures regularly reach into the 90’s or higher, this is the most comfortable time for the chimps to be outside.

This morning, the gang went outside at around 7:45 – all except for Negra, of course. She needs her beauty rest, and she loves when the rowdier chimps leave her alone in the building to sleep in.

But everyone else took to the hill to play and explore. Foxie managed to keep her birthday party going an extra day, because she immediately found an orange that had gone undiscovered in yesterday’s forage.

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Burrito followed the girls up the hill, going further than he normally does, all the while holding on to his yellow toy hammer.

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Annie sat upon a climbing structure, where she could keep an eye on her friend Missy as she ran around the hill.

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Jamie hung out with the other chimps for a while, but eventually she turned to me and gestured to signal that it was time for me to grab a cowboy boot and join her for a walk around the perimeter.

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Missy gathered grass from around the bamboo, where it stays lush and green from irrigation.

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Jody also gathered grass, which is one of her favorite pastimes, but something was obviously upsetting her.

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She approached Missy for reassurance and Missy offered it to her, with all the coolness and confidence of Don Corleone.

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Window Play

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Burrito and Debbie had a fun game of chase going this morning, with Debbie running on the outside of the chimp building where the garden is, and Burrito running inside from window to window. At one point in the game, Burrito generously shared a little bit of his water.

Jamie played a bit too, but she mostly wanted Debbie to pick her something from the garden.

Board Member Profile: David Brotherton

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We have some largely unsung heroes that are a big part of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest – our Board of Directors who volunteer countless hours overseeing the organization. We decided it’s about time we sung about them, so this is the first of a monthly series of blog posts about our amazing board members and how they became involved with the sanctuary.

We currently have ten board members and are looking to fill a few open seats. This post is about our outgoing Board President David Brotherton.

David Brotherton

David learned about the sanctuary through a long-standing board member, Bruce Wagman. David and Bruce share a love of live music and, though they live in different states, often attend shows together.

David first met the chimpanzees more than three years ago. His introduction to the group involved Jody spitting quite a bit of water on him. This baptism left him with the distinct impression that the chimps were not there to entertain, but were giving him the choice to either help out or get out. He chose to help.

David brings to the board a wealth of strategic communications experience as the founder and director of Brotherton Strategies, a Seattle-based consulting firm that works with a wide mix of grant making foundations and socially minded corporate clients. Before getting involved in public relations, marketing and brand strategy, he worked in Washington D.C. as a congressional speech writer and political reporter. Perhaps we should have him report on the politics of the Cle Elum Seven!

David has a passion for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and is eager to see the organization thrive long into the future with a firm strategic plan in place. He gushes about the amazing supporters of the sanctuary and describes the organization as unlike any other that he’s known or supported.

He recently served one term as the Board President and is now helping Kimber Leblicq transition into that role. His tenure as president spanned an important period in the sanctuary’s history. David helped guide us through the Taylor Bridge Fire (and not just in a governance role – he brought tortilla chips and beer to the staff and volunteers the day after the fire and allowed us a few moments of relaxation and laughter). He then oversaw the search to hire our no-longer-new Executive Director Jennifer Whitaker.

With the support of one of his clients, Provitro Biosciences (formerly known as Booshoot), David also introduced the chimps to the bamboo now flourishing on Young’s Hill, which the chimpanzees have been loving ever since. Now that I think about all he has done these past few years, I realize that I actually owe him a beer!

Feel free to leave a comment for David below this post.

The Explorers Club

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Everyday, Jamie goes on walks around the perimeter of Young’s Hill. Her day is not complete until she surveys the boundaries, checks to see what the neighbors horses are doing, and pokes a stick into a ground squirrel nest or two. From the top of the hill, she can view the entire canyon and even the mountains in the distance.

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Missy often tags along with Jamie for her daily walks, but she tends to get distracted halfway through. Jamie is too slow, too methodical. Missy can only walk for so long before she needs to climb something and jump off it.

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I consider Annie an involuntary member of the explorer’s club. She’s just along for the ride because she can’t let her best friend Missy out of her sight.

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Jody loves to pick and eat wild plants. There’s a great patch of prickly lettuce and mustard at the top of the hill, and that’s all the motivation that Jody needs.

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Young’s Hill is only two acres, but the top of the hill can seem like a world away from the safety and security of the building so not everyone is comfortable spending a lot of time up there. Foxie, Burrito, and Negra all tend to stay in the lower half of the enclosure. But we’ve already seen them push the boundaries of their comfort zones this year, so maybe one day we’ll find all seven of them looking down on us from the top of Young’s Hill.

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The many ways to kill a snake

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Young’s Hill, the chimps’ two-acre outdoor enclosure, is home to quite a few snakes. The entire sanctuary is surrounded by a rattlesnake fence, which helps keep the truly dangerous snakes out, but many harmless garter snakes were already living here when we built the enclosure.

At first, the chimps were afraid to touch even the smallest garter snake. They would use tools to try to kill them, because they were afraid to use their bare hands. One time, Jamie used a hardcover children’s book to try to chop one to death. Another time, she used a pasta spoon. Over the years, they’ve discovered that garter snakes are relatively harmless, so they’ve become more comfortable going after them with their hands.

But this was the most unusual strategy that I have seen yet.