Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Primates

So much to say about the chimpanzees…

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Wow. The first full day with the Cle Elum Seven at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. There’s just so much to share – we already feel behind in updating folks. They are all just doing so well and are so much fun – it’s unbelievable. Here are my personal top ten moments (in no particular order) over the past day and a half:

1. Negra sleeping in a comfy nest on the highest platform in the first front room

2.  Jamie playing chase while carrying a purse, a t-shirt, and a large kong toy

3. Foxie looking out to the big playroom – they’ll be going in tomorrow!

4. Jody’s enthusiastic greetings whenever we walk into the human hallway

5. Missy head bobbing frantically for more sweet peppers

6. Burrito playing with Jamie

7. Annie chasing Missy throughout the front rooms – all day

8. Jamie wiping out the food door lazy susans with the t-shirt she was wearing around her neck

9. Missy’s hair blowing in the breeze from the window of room four

10. Burrito lying down, holding his feet with his hands

Diana

Malt & Vine Beer Tasting Event

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I recently made a trip out to Seattle and Cle Elum to visit the sanctuary site and meet all of the fantastic people involved with Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. I just happened to coordinate my trip so that I could attend CSNW’s Cheers to Chimps Wild Beer Tasting Benefit that was held at the Malt & Vine in Redmond. It was so much fun! I am a fan of beer (in moderation, of course) and I’ve tried all kinds of beers from all over the world, but never before setting foot in the Malt & Vine had I heard of chipotle ale. That was one of seven beers that Doug and Lizzie, the fabulous proprietors of Malt & Vine, picked out. They chose seven unique beers to match the seven chimpanzees who will soon be living at CSNW.

This photo is of CSNW founder Keith LaChapelle (wearing the 98.76% chimp shirt) with friend Todd Foley. Click on the photo to get a better look – I just found out that Keith was voted “best smile” in high school (hopefully revealing that tidbit won’t end my blogging privileges!).

Even more than the beer (and even Keith’s smile), what made the night were the people who attended. If you haven’t already, take a look at the people involved with CSNW. They’re impressive on paper, and pretty fun in person to boot. I also really enjoyed meeting CSNW supporters who attended the event. It’s fascinating to learn how people became interested in chimpanzees and how they discovered CSNW. It was great to be able to talk to people about Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra, and I look forward to getting to know many more supporters and telling more stories about these seven individuals who have so many friends already.

Diana

not-so-shy Foxie

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This is the third post about my initial visit with the Buckshire Seven

Foxie is a small chimpanzee with a dark, inquisitive face and a somewhat mischievous charm. She was born into captivity in 1976, fated to be used by humans for their purposes. Her caregiver at Buckshire has described her as shy, but everyone from CSNW who has visited her has found her initial shyness to be short-lived.

For the first hour or so during my visit, Foxie remained mostly out-of-view in a corner of a cage farthest from the door. But I could tell she was paying attention to everything and was curiously assessing the situation. I think she felt safer remaining near Negra, who also occupied the farthest of the four small cages. Foxie warmed up to me once I began to give out peanuts. She put her hand behind her to catch the peanuts that I dropped into the food chute of the cage, and she was very pleased that I made a point to return frequently to ensure she got her share.

When I had given out all of the peanuts, Foxie ventured into the next cage, climbed up as high as possible (which is only about six feet), pressed her belly to the caging and looked down. I had a rolled-up newspaper in my hand and I reached up with this and tickled her belly. She was thrilled. She came down to the floor, bobbed her head (a chimpanzee gesture communicating play) and put her belly up to the caging again. For the rest of my visit, she was very active and wanting to play, and I indulged her as much as possible. By the end of the visit, Foxie was sitting in the first cage near her friend Burrito. I am looking forward to seeing Foxie and Burrito romping in the playroom at the sanctuary and I expect she will take advantage of every inch of her much expanded world.


Diana

Playing Chase With Burrito

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I am a member of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s Direct Care Committee, and I recently traveled to Pennsylvania to meet the future chimpanzee residents of CSNW. It was incredible to spend time with these seven individuals. They are all amazing! Like you, I am really looking forward to helping get them into sanctuary. They really, really deserve it. This is my first post about the visit and I have chosen to write about Burrito. More posts will follow in the coming weeks that describe my experiences with the other chimpanzees. Hopefully this added information about the chimpanzees’ personalities will inspire you to become a Chimpanzee Pal with one of our future residents! Burrito already has one Pal that I know of – the folks at MailChimp, a company providing email marketing services. Read MailChimp’s blog post about their donation to the sanctuary and sponsorship of Burrito.


I just had to write about Burrito first. Being the only male within a group of six females, as well as the youngest chimpanzee, he certainly stands out. Personally, I am drawn to rambunctious adolescent male chimpanzees and their playfulness. Although Burrito is going on 25 (far from chimpanzee adolescence) I can tell he still has some bad-boy teenage qualities. He spent the first 30 minutes of my visit shaking the doors of his small enclosure. At Buckshire, there are four interconnected cages each the size of a small bathroom. All seven chimpanzees currently live together in this small space. Although the cages are attached, Burrito spent most of his time in the cage closest to the door of the building. Rattling the cage door was his display – a chimpanzee’s way of letting an outsider know they have entered his turf, as small as that turf may be. His rattling was rhythmic and persistent and quite loud in the small space. It was also almost completely ignored by the rest of the chimpanzees of the group. This made me realize two things – that Burrito does this quite frequently, and that his female companions really don’t take him too seriously.

Once he had made his point about me entering his territory, he calmed down and I was able to engage him in some play. I crouched down, clapped my hands, slapped the floor and slowly started to walk away from him, looking back as I did. Burrito read these signals and began a game of chase with me – he on his side of the cage, and me in the narrow corridor between the cages and the window-less wall that constitutes the chimpanzees only “view.”

There is nothing that makes me happier than playing with chimpanzees, but playing chase with Burrito made me happy and sad at the same time. I was thrilled that he trusted me enough so soon to show his playful side, but I was so sad to be trying to play chase in these cramped quarters and to know that I would have to leave him there in a few short hours.

I can’t wait to be part of providing him with what he needs and deserves in his new sanctuary home. I know that my support of the sanctuary will ensure that Burrito has lots of toys to either play with or destroy (I suspect the latter), and that there will never be a day that will go by without Burrito having an opportunity to play a good game of chase.


Diana