Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sanctuary

We Like to Have Fun!

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If you needed something to make you smile or a good laugh, you have come to the right place!

We had a very silly Burrito:



A Jamie full of mischief:


Negra wasn’t quite ready to get out of bed this morning:

But Foxie and Burrito were grooming up a storm:

Negra did venture out to the Hill later in the morning:

Foxie wanted to play a very lazy game of troll toss in the green house:


Annie and Missy could be found lounging all around the chimp house today or rippin’ around Young’s Hill:

And the wonderful miss Jody spent her day quietly foraging on the Hill and napping in the green house:

Missy in motion

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Watching Missy move, particularly when she is in the open space on Young’s Hill is a true delight. There isn’t necessarily an obvious purpose to her actions, she is simply looking for adventure. I truly admire those that love to run, climb and jump, just for the pure thrill of it.

“She writes things with her movements that I for the life of me could never write with a pen.”
― Christopher Poindexter

Moms

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Most of you reading this probably know that Annie, Foxie, Jody, Missy, and Negra were used as breeders during their years in biomedical research. Each of them gave birth to multiple babies in the laboratories, all of whom were removed from their respective mothers at or shortly after birth and brought up in “nurseries” in the labs.

That’s the reason we celebrate Jody’s birthday on Mother’s Day, as we did last weekend. Jody had the most pregnancies and the greatest number of children who she did not have the opportunity to raise and love and dote on, as we suspect she would have.

Though not chimpanzees, we do, however, now have two moms with their children at the sanctuary! Moms Betsy and Honey originally lived at a dairy, where they too were probably bred multiple times. The last children that they had were able to grow up with their respective mothers at Farm Sanctuary. And grow they did!

Nutmeg, like Burrito, is the one male of his group. You don’t often see adult dairy steers because the males are basically unwanted byproducts of the dairy industry. When you do see them, they are big, and Nutmeg is no exception.

He’s about twice the size of his mom, Betsy, but he still looks to her for comfort and nurturing.

Meredith, though she’s a cow not a steer, also towers over her mom, Honey. They both seem to share an independent streak.

It’s really nice to be able to have this little family here at the sanctuary and to know these moms were able to raise their kids from birth. You can learn more about the cattle by clicking on their individual pages from the main cattle page and you can now become a Bovine Buddy too!

Dr. Missy’s Miracle Spring Grass

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The chimps are constantly snacking on grass this time of year. Despite having access to two acres of the stuff, the best grass seems to grow just outside the greenhouse, which means that the humans have to do all the work and the chimps don’t have to get up and walk anywhere.

Convenient, isn’t it?

Missy requested a couple of bunches this afternoon and proceeded to make a nest on the greenhouse platform. This is quite common – when the chimps receive something they know they will enjoy, like when Jamie gets a new book or pair of boots, they often choose to make a nest before settling down with their new treat.

Sometimes the chimps shove handfuls of grass into their mouths all at once, while other times they take a more delicate approach, carefully separating each blade from the stem and eating them one by one.

Using their lips and tongue, they fold the blade up like an accordion and swallow it with minimal chewing.

As we’ve mentioned before on this blog, this is very similar to the way some chimps in the wild ingest certain plants for medicinal purposes.

We do routine checks for parasites so it’s unlikely that they are self-medicating the way wild chimps do. But who knows? Maybe its preventive medicine. Or maybe it’s just a snack. Whatever the reason, the prescription is always the same: More of that grass, please.

Between the storms

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We’ve had some lovely damp days in Cle Elum! Our refreshing spring rain has left a slight warm comfortable humidity in the air and this overcast afternoon made perfect conditions for the chimps to thoroughly enjoy a lunch forage on Young’s Hill.

Negra savoring her corn:

Jamie doing her patrol for fresh produce:

Burrito:

Annie elevating herself to get a better view:

Jody gathering her loot so she can eat it indoors:

Can you spy the prized pineapple top?

P.S. We are low on gift cards to our local Safeway store! If you’re interested in helping fill the chimps’ fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies, you can send us these cards directly from our Amazon wishlist!

A Spotlight on Annie

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Annie Chimpanzee, AKA Annie Bird or Annie Bananie
Age: 44
Favorite foods: Green onions or fresh kale
BFF: MISSY!
Special talents: Making bird noises, playing games with Missy, and drinking smoothies through a big straw.
Favorite place to nap: By the bridge next to the big window on the second floor of the playroom usually not far from Missy or on a blanket in the greenhouse
Favorite activities: Playing with best friend Missy and tickling human bare feet with a tool!
Favorite food puzzle: Annie really likes dipper tubes with peanut butter
Biggest fear: Snakes

 

 

 

 

 

Burrito Wants to Play

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Burrito was laying in what we sometimes call the portrait studio, because it normally has great lighting and we can get stellar close-ups of the chimps. I went over to snap a few photos, but Burrito had a different idea. All Burrito wanted to do was play! Which I could not blame him! When you look into his Burrito eyes you would never deny him the simple joy of playing! So as you all will be able to tell it was hard to get a still photo of Burrito today.

Here is a Burrito photo montage:





There were so many amazing photos leftover from Jody’s 44th birthday bash , so I thought I would share just a few more!

Annie munching on a leek:

Jamie and Negra seeking some reassurance for this overly exciting forage:

The birthday girl Jo laying down enjoying all the snacks she gathered from the forage:

Negra surround by corn husks and lettuce: