Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
This brief intermission in your day is brought to you by Jamie Chimpanzee.
The roses grow wild on the sanctuary property. Normally, it is Jody who is the first to go for them, but Jamie was quite delighted by a bounty of roses spread out in the front rooms last weekend.
Your daily dose of playful rescued chimpanzees, brought to you by Missy and Annie.
After a very successful gala and the outpouring of support for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s plans to expand, plus the incredibly exciting and long-awaited public announcement about the new sanctuary in Georgia, Project Chimps, I had all sorts of profound and deeply-felt sentiments to share in this blog post.
But then, this morning, I filmed Foxie and Jamie playing. I laughed out loud watching them and decided that all I really needed to share today is this, because this is what it’s all about:
Springtime at the sanctuary is our favorite time of year – the chimps wake up extra happy and playful and then spend the morning picking wild greens and taking in the view from the top of Young’s Hill.
There’s a whole crew of people here building a new structure on Young’s Hill today! We will do a big reveal on Monday, so start making your predictions as to what the structure will look like.
Because there are humans on the hill, the chimpanzees don’t have access. And today is HOT! It feels like summer. With these two circumstances combined, we needed to come up with something cooling and time-occupying for the chimpanzees. We decided on water and ice enrichment.
I’d say it was a hit.
Annie:
Missy:
Burrito:
Foxie:
Jamie making up her own enrichment (of course):
Of all the things we share with chimps – the ability to use tools, the capacity for language, the intelligence required to plan ahead and solve complex problems, and so on – none seems quite as relevant to the question of whether they deserve our compassion as how they react when they are tickled.
Since we are racing around getting ready for tomorrow, Missy seemed the perfect choice to acknowledge the eve of the HOOT! 2016 gala.
When Young’s Hill was first opened, we described Missy as “a spring that was coiled up for decades, just waiting to be released.” She embodies the idea that sanctuary is not just a place of comfort and safety, but also a place of opportunity. When Missy finally had the opportunity to run, she seized it and did not let go.
In rare moments of stillness, which could easily be misinterpreted as resting or recuperating, Missy is in fact plotting her next adventure. Her eyes survey the landscape for the next hill to climb or the next tightrope to walk. Thirty years in a cage is a long time…too long to ever let an opportunity go to waste.
We’re so excited about the opportunities before us this year, and we intend to move forward with every bit as much determination as Missy. Tomorrow at Hoot!, we will raise funds for the next phase of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest so that more chimpanzees can call this sanctuary home.
As chimpanzee research comes to an end, let us ensure that every chimpanzee can finally feel the joy that Missy has discovered.
