Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sounds of Sanctuary 2023

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Last year, I posted a video with sounds from around the sanctuary. As I have previously stated, these are the sounds you can hear on any given day and the sounds I miss on the days I am not in the Chimp House.

So please enjoy the Sounds of Sanctuary 2023!

Bonus Photo of beautiful Honey B with an evening glare!

Lastly, you can now pre-order a brand new Cy’s Book Club t-shirt and/or tote bag based on this photo!

Be sure to act fast as these items are limited edition and to help Cy celebrate his birthday next month! Don’t hesitate! Join Cy’s Book Club now!

A Plum Day

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Today started off as any other. Caregivers arrived, served breakfast, and began their tasks of cleaning of the day prior. When the door leading to Young’s Hill opened, the members of Jody’s group were eager to set off on their morning adventures.

Burrito, of course, wanted to take his morning run. Cold doesn’t seem to bother him one bit when it comes to his morning exercise. Between his sprints, he would take a break and seem to just take it all in.

As we were nearing the top, I caught something out of place in my peripheral vision. Something that stood out like a sore thumb amongst the brown and yellow foliage of winter.

This purple-haired figure on top of a moving black mass could only be one thing…

It’s Plum Pudding hitching a ride on Foxie!

After reaching the top of the hill, Foxie and Plum Pudding headed back to the Chimp House…

But not before a little thrilling adventure!

Plum Pudding ended up in a perilous predicament!

And only Foxie could save her!

This rescue was so dramatic, Jamie had to be a bystander to witness it all unfold!

But nonetheless, Foxie would not give up on her Puddin’! She was able to rescue her and whisk her back to safety!

Bonus Photo of Cy during a game of chase!

Smiles All Around

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There are many amazing benefits to working or volunteering with the chimps (and cattle) here at CSNW. Don’t get me wrong – the days can be challenging (Anthony spoke about that wonderfully here), but it’s not lost on me how lucky I am that I get to come to work and hang out with 16 of my best friends… And the humans are pretty cool, too. 🙂

Like all humans, though, all of us have good days and bad days. In those moments where we are just feeling down, we are reminded of another perk of this job – we can (usually) rely on our chimp friends to get us smiling! Whether it’s Gordo’s bunny hop, Lucky’s excited greetings, Negra’s bed head, Annie’s bird noises, or a plethora of other small moments- no matter what our mood when we get to work, we often leave feeling content, happy, and fulfilled. I hope the daily blog gives you those feelings, too!

Missy, enjoying the brisk sunshine today out on Young’s Hill:

Rayne having a lil’ nap in the Riverview Greenhouse:

Zoomed out of Rayne’s lil nap- oh, hello Cy!

Negra looking past me to see what’s for breakfast:

Another of Missy outside, because I couldn’t pick just one:

Lucky resting inside while her caregivers cleaned:

Jamie watching Burrito run out onto the hill:

Gordo enjoying his breakfast avocado:

Hello, handsome Cy:

Annie spying on her neighbors whilst sporting the latest fashion:

Nonstop Christmas Fun!

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Well, what an amazing Christmas it has been! The chimps are still discovering new enrichment every day, like Foxie with the Anna doll from Frozen. While others, like Burrito, are still having fun with items they received before the big Christmas party. Words cannot express our gratitude for all of our supporters, we would not be able to do any of this without you!

This morning Cy’s group received access to the Chute and to say Burrito’s group were excited would be an understatement! The seven were all lined up by the window hooting and hollering, but Burrito especially took great interest! He almost missed breakfast! It had been a little while since the group of nine had received access to the Chute, because it has been so cold at the sanctuary.

I suppose I will share with you all a condensed story about the chaos that unfolded last week! We received quite a bit of snow in the past couple of weeks and it also became extremely cold, getting as cold as -5 degrees. So cold that last Wednesday our well water became frozen.  Our co-directors J.B. and Diana had left for a quick and very deserved trip to go see family over the holiday, however with all these winter storms their flight back got canceled. We went to the store and grabbed lots of water to use for cleaning and for drinking water, but we had to use the water sparingly because we had a few more days of  this extremely cold weather. Thankfully, all of this did not affect the chimps and they were none the wiser- we made sure that they had plenty of water, food, clean blankets, and most importantly a clean enclosure! We had a Christmas miracle because on Christmas eve it finally warmed up and the water started to work again! Finally, we have caught up on laundry and mostly decompressed from the chaos that has ensued. We are sooooo grateful to have J.B. and Diana back safely and that the water is flowing again!

Burrito watching his neighbors:

Cy enjoying some green beans:

Sweet Rayne:

On the Eighth Day of Christmas…

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On the eighth day of Christmas, the chimps received cozy blankets. I think you all can guess who put these blankets to good use!

Special thank you to:

CeeCee M. for bidding on cozy fleece blankets for the chimps!

And thank you to everyone who has donated blankets to us over the holiday!

It’s Negra, of course:

Negra in her morning nest. She greeted me and then went back to sleep :).

Burrito’s Sense of Humor

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Burrito is a funny guy! He is always making us laugh, but from time to time his group doesn’t always think he is so funny. For example, in this video Burrito may or may not have gotten a little too wild for Foxie’s taste!

As you can see, Burrito is having so much fun playing with the giant stuffed bear. Make sure to check out the Comfort & Joy auction! There are a lot of great Squishmallows I know Burrito would love!

Please enjoy this silly video and some bonus photos!

The rare close up of Missy:

Beautiful Negra:

Jamie eating snow:

A series of Foxie photos: