Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sanctuary

The Jamie Tax

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In the summer we have our gardens along the side of the building. Jamie’s side is filled with raspberries and currents! The moment one raspberry has grown on the bush, Jamie knows, and you have to pay the tax. Jamie’s summer tax goes something like this: You greet her in the morning, and you owe her a raspberry. You go to check the locks to let them out on Young’s Hill—currants. She has breakfast, lunch, or dinner—currants. You walk past her in the front rooms—raspberries. You play with Burrito in the greenhouse—currants—and then you’re free to continue! Nesting in the front rooms watching a movie? Raspberry. I think you get the gist!

This is just another reason I adore Jamie. She knows how to make sanctuary work for her and she knows how to hustle her caregivers!

 

 

 

Quiet Moments & Loud Voices

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Today was jam packed with cleaning, staff and volunteer training, George explore the green house, and a whole lot of chimpanzees vocalizing! While chimps are quiet by nature, when they decide to make noise, they really make themselves heard. Currently, the chimp house is almost silent with chimps napping or grooming each other, which is a stark contrast to this morning, but that’s chimps for you!

Despite the commotion, there were still some sweet, quiet moments worth sharing. I did manage to capture a few peaceful photos of George and Jamie, as well as a few photos of Foxie thoroughly enjoying an avocado snack with her doll from yesterday!

A photo series of the sweet, handsome, and sleepy George:

Jamie napping:

Photo series of Foxie and her doll eating avocado:

 

 

 

 

Portraits in Passing

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As we move through our days, we often capture little moments in passing. By the time our lead day comes around and we sit down to make the blog post, we’ve usually gathered so much content that some images end up left behind. Sometimes they don’t quite fit the week’s “theme” and other times, there’s simply too much to include. Today, I wanted to share a few portraits I took today, along with a small collection that’s been sitting on my phone, waiting for their moment.

Cy:

Foxie:

Negra:

Neggie in a nest series:

It’s hard to get portraits of Missy, she is always on the go. However today I was able to catch a moment of her sitting still:

Check out our Wish List, it’s one of the easiest and most impactful ways to help. We’ve just added a bunch of items, and every contribution goes a long way in enriching the lives of our residents!

George Explores the Greenhouse

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Now that George has completed his quarantine, he is finally able to explore more of the sanctuary. This poses a bit of a logistical challenge—we don’t want him to be intimidated by the other chimps while he explores and we certainly don’t want to give them the opportunity to fight against the mesh or windows at this point, so for this to work the other chimps have to move to nonadjacent enclosures. And that means that both Honey B and Gordo have to be in a cooperative mood. But sometimes the stars do align…

Honey B Turns 36!

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We wanted to say thank you to Paulette Wrisley for sponsoring the day in Honey B’s honor!

Today we celebrated the one and only Honey B’s  36th birthday, and true to form, she kept us all on our toes! She started the day by discovering a lock that was supposed to hold her enrichment boards to the mesh caging. While we prefer to keep the boards securely fastened, it’s not threat that she has it—but Honey B doesn’t need to know that, so let’s just keep it between us. She was clearly very pleased with herself, and honestly, it brought a big smile to our faces.

We filled Honey B’s day with all her favorite foods and treats! In the morning she had a forage of tiny brown bags filled with popcorn, raisins, and a very light drizzle of honey! For her big birthday party, we served plates of pasta with a homemade roasted pepper and onion sauce, non-dairy decaf frappuccinos, and a small forage with cherries, snap peas, radishes, and mini peppers.

Being around Honey B is never dull—she’s clever, curious, and always finding ways to surprise us. It’s truly an honor to know her and share in her unique and spunky spirit.

Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s blog, where we’ll share highlights from the group celebration—like George loving his pasta!

George eating pasta: