Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Party

More footage from the Trifecta Jubilee

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Yesterday was such a lovely party for everyone. As Ellen said, there was so much footage, we had to split it into more than one video. Her video yesterday captured Negra at the celebration, and today’s captures Terry plus some coconut antics.

We didn’t leave Jody out of the celebration. I put some fresh flowers in the little vase she holds – some lavender and columbine from the side garden by the house.

And here’s Negra with a birthday rose:

And one more shot of her in the afternoon:

When I walked back to the house after the chimps’ parties, I came across this deer sneaking a treat from the cherry tree. Everyone should have a treat on such a special day!

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!

Little Dora’s Big Day

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Today we celebrated Dora’s 37th birthday!

Dora was born at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) on June 6, 1989. Her records say that her mother was Stella and her father was Les. She has many half siblings, including Gordo in her own group, who had the same father, and several chimpanzees at other sanctuaries including Pumpkin at Save the Chimps in Florida.

When LEMSIP closed in 1996, Dora went to Wildlife Waystation along with over 30 other chimpanzees.

When Wildlife Waystation closed in 2019, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest continued our planned expansion to make a home for another group of chimpanzees in need. Dora arrived with the rest of the “Lucky Six” on June 26, 2021.

In celebration of Dora’s birthday today, her group (which includes Dora, Cy, Terry, Rayne, Gordo, Lucky and George) got to enjoy whole mangos for breakfast, as well as Honey B, Willy B and Mave.  What a special treat!

Unfortunately, due to Annie’s allergy, Jamie’s group did not get mangos, but they were pretty happy with their whole strawberries!

There are so many things to love about Dora (just ask Mave!). She is quick to engage her chimp friends in play (and the humans sometimes too!). She is beloved by those who know her (George took a little bit to learn this lesson during intros), which has allowed her the flexibility to move between groups and maintain her friendships as we navigated the separation of Honey B, Willy B, and Mave from Cy’s group. She brings the fun (sometimes with a side of pokey fingers and her signature head bobble) and quirkiness too!

Happy birthday, Dora!

Burrito’s Bouncy Birthday Bash

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43. That number has been circling around my head today as I came into the Chimp House this morning. How could my friend be turning 43? I remember growing thinking of the time adults would tell me to “act my age.” That saying has been upmost rejected by Burrito. At what age did he protest acting his age? I have no idea, but I would guess it was sometime in his adolescence.

Burrito was born in a laboratory on this day in 1983 to his mom, Karen, and father, Mack. Off the top of my head I’m not sure what happened to his mother, but I do know his father was able to live out his remaining years at Save the Chimps in sunny Florida. When he was born, he was given the name “Raj” by his human caregivers. Unfortunately, at the age of 1 he was put into the hepatitis B testing. At one point he was he was transferred to the Buckshire Corporation where he was kept as a pet before being leased to a small attraction. A year later he was returned to Buckshire and his life as a test subject was renewed. It wasn’t until 2008 when he was rescued and came to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. His days being used in hepatitis trials was finally over.

Since then his days have been full of play, laughter, and yes, chaos. He still creates a ruckus within his group and has the girls  screaming at him, though I personally don’t see how he gets the blame since it usually starts with someone *ahemAnnieahem* starts screaming at him as he’s minding his business. But behind all the chaos and ruckus is a sweet lovable guy, and more recently, protector of Foxie who has been unjustly targeted from time-to-time by Jamie and her battle buddy, Missy. Though he gets into these squabbles, he’s always fairly quick to make up with a nice bout of play and some grooming.

This past year, I was lucky enough to attend a conference with other caregivers from around the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance umbrella. This includes caregivers from Chimp Haven, Save the Chimps, Center for Great Apes, Project Chimps, Fauna Foundation, and others. It was always funny to introduce myself by saying I am a caregiver at CSNW and getting the reaction of who? Where? No fault to any of them. We are a pretty small sanctuary in comparison to the others. But when I would describe where we were located and our chimpanzee residents, it was almost without fail I would just utter the words “Burrito” and all of a sudden getting the reaction “Ooooh Burrito! You are the ones to take care of Burrito!”

Burrito is known and loved not just around this country, but around the world. Especially by his caregivers here. I love arriving at the sanctuary in the morning and trying to get my rounds of saying good morning to the chimps but not being able to get very far in the process. It’s almost immediately when I unlock the door leading to the chimpanzee areas that signature sound of Bronx cheers can start to be heard. I swear at this point I hear his Bronx cheers to the tune of the Jaws theme music now. First it’s subtle and in the distance. But then it grows louder, grows closer, and the frequency picks up as he hones in on his caregiver prey… err I mean play partner. And what luck for him, one of his good friends, caregiver Krissy, was the one who got the privilege to plan his birthday party. Boy did she knock this one out of the park. They day was filled with coconuts, pasta, and everything bouncy! He seemed to really love today, so major kudos to Krissy.

I’ll wrap this up and let you enjoy the video of him enjoying himself today with this message: Burrito is my friend. He is all of our friend! For me personally though I truly don’t know where I’d be without this guy in my life. I’m proud to call him my friend. Besides all the play and laughter, he inspires me in more ways than one. One of the most important lessons he has taught me is that tough times will come. But no matter how long or how tough those times may be, enjoy living in the now. Soak in the moment. Learn your lesson (if there is one). Move on. Get through it with play and laughter with your loved ones. It softens the hard times.

I love you my friend! We all do!