Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

A Sanctuary Supper

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Let’s have dinner with Negra!

Negra enjoys the simple things in life: the feeling of warm sunshine, a good blanket nest, and a simple nightbag mix. Negra prefers to enjoy her nightbag somewhere quiet, such as her nest or a corner of the green house, where she can peacefully unwrap her bag slowly, savoring each bite with calm contentment.

Spending time with Negra is a gentle reminder to slow down and appreciate the small, quiet joys in life. I hope you enjoy this video!

Bonus photo series of George try to groom me while I try to get a picture of him:

 

 

 

World Chimpanzee Day Forage

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We celebrated World Chimpanzee Day with a forage that included young coconuts in their husks—a chimp favorite! In this video, we follow Burrito, Foxie, and Jamie as they gather their bounties, attempt to crack them open, and try to keep them from getting stolen. See if you can spot some examples of reaching – what do you think the chimps are saying with their extended arms?

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:

 

 

 

 

Reach

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Chimpanzee gestures carry different meanings depending on the context in which they are delivered. Here we look at the extended arm, or “reach” gesture, which can mean “hello”, “come here”, “give me that”, “hop on my back, it’s time to go”, or “it’s OK to approach me”, among other things.

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!