Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Happy Birthday, Jen!

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This day of gratitude was sponsored by Jen Wallace, wonderful friend of the chimps and sanctuary, as well as a member of our medical team! Jen shared this heartfelt message about her gift:

“On this day of gratitude I would like to extend my deepest appreciation for Diana, JB, Dr. Zamzow and all the staff and volunteers at CSNW. It is through the tireless efforts from passionate people such as yourselves that 7 chimpanzees have a better life. I am thankful for your continued work to rescue additional chimpanzees and other animals from lives of deprivation and misery. Thank you for all you do. (It also happens to be my birthday. This is my birthday present to myself 🙂 )”

Jen, thank you so much for your kind thoughts and for the generosity and compassion you share with so many, especially our fellow animals. All of us here hope you have a beautiful day!

Your pal, Burrito, might just think that given the food associated with this day of celebration, you might just have the best birthday yet. 🙂 Happy Birthday, Jen!!

Savoring

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Negra is probably the slowest eater in the bunch. When she loves something on the menu, she hoards as much of it as she can, and then sits down to eat it in tiny little satisfying bites. If there is something she really wants to eat, and we are serving other less appealing items first, she impatiently claps and will often refuse to eat the other things in the meal until she gets to her favorite items.

Things like corn and Primate chow are always high on her list:

Good news for the Cle Elum 7, we have already started prepping their Thanksgiving day feast!

There will undoubtedly be lots of food grunts and squeaks echoing off the walls tomorrow. Rumor has it that fluffy dinner rolls are even going to make an appearance (bread is always a big treat). Negra is ready to treasure every morsel.

Bathed in light

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The past couple of mornings have been our first breaths of winter dawning at around 18-20 degrees, frost covered land and bluebird skies. Beautiful. While the chimpanzees were being served breakfast I was completing the perimeter check of Young’s Hill (making sure their outdoor habitat is safe before giving them access to it). When I got to the top of the hill, the fields up there were breathtaking!

Once the sun comes up over the hill it warms up to some degree, but I wasn’t sure the chimps would do their usual dash onto the hill. But again and again, we learn never to underestimate their  joy of life and curiosity. Negra, naturally, chose to remain in a sun puddle in the greenhouse, but everyone else rushed onto the hill to soak in the beautiful morning light. Missy and Annie stopped briefly to check out construction noises before making their way to the structures to eat frost:

Burrito, extra floofy in the cold morning air:

After spending a good length of time sitting in the sun and licking the frost off everything they could find, everyone made their way back to the greenhouse and playroom to bask, quite literally, in the sunshine streaming through the windows. This entire day the chimpanzees have been utterly quiet, content and bathed in light.

Foxie sat like this, unmoving, for nearly an hour. Keeping an eye on me at the computer, soaking in all that sun:

Jamie remained in this position the entire time we cleaned the playroom. I thought she was asleep, but every time I looked, her eyes were wide as if in a daydream.

Annie, in all her grace:

Happy Birthday, Kery!

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The chimpanzees, our new bovine friends, we humans, and all the more-than-human animals of the world have a wonderful friend in Kery Shaw. With a heart as big as the sea, she stands witness to much that most of us couldn’t bear to see in order to bring light to dark places and she works tirelessly to connect and inspire people to grow compassion for one another, to make the world a better place for all beings who live here. Kery sponsored this day of sanctuary for the chimps and shared this lovely message about her gracious gift:

In honor of my birthday, today I celebrate the Cle Elum 7 who have given me great meaning to my life. They are a true source of hope and love. Today I celebrate the staff of CSNW, who have become like family to me. Their hard work, dedication, compassion and humility makes it an honor to know them. And I celebrate the cows, who I am so excited to meet. Today, I dedicate my birthday to CSNW. I am asking supporters and anyone reading this to check out my little fundraiser on their behalf. I share this with all of you in hopes of reaching my goal and finding a matching donor. My partner and I have put together a special video. You can find it on the fb fundraiser page. Thank you to everyone for your compassion and generosity! https://www.facebook.com/donate/344873209632252/344873212965585/

Kery, thank you so much for always holding the chimpanzees in your heart and thoughts. All of us here hope this spin around the sun is the best one yet! Many thanks for your big, lovely heart. Happy Birthday, Kery!

Guess who…:)

The Lookouts

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Chimpanzees tend to appreciate access to vertical space. The outdoor habitat (Young’s Hill) at the sanctuary, since it’s built on a hill and has several climbing structures, is prime lookout territory.

It seems particularly important for Missy, Annie, and Foxie to get up high and survey the land in the morning. With all that’s changing lately, there’s a lot of new stuff to view!

Here’s Jody, Foxie and Annie in the early a.m.:

Foxie took her new bright-haired Strawberry Shortcake doll with her to all the lookout points this morning:

Missy and Annie found their own private perches:

Here’s one view they had: