Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Is there anyone sweeter than Annie? I think not!
Take a few minutes to share some moments with our beloved Annie. From a play session with Burrito, to a lovely afternoon breeze in her nest, a drink from the hose (perfect for summertime!) and a shouting match with the neighbors!
Sounds like a pretty good day, to me.
Wow, have we had a jam packed week and it’s only Wednesday! We had a procedure on Monday, a presentation on Tuesday, and Foxie’s birthday tomorrow!
Speaking of presentations, some of our favorite outreach events are the ones in our community! Yesterday Jenna, Grace, and I participated in the Summer Reading Program at the Carpenter Memorial Library in Cle Elum, hosted by the Cle Elum Fire Department. The Summer Reading Program has an array of different guest speakers that cover topics from learning about bee keeping, to exploring the fire station, to learning about wildlife tracking from Fish and Wildlife, and of course learning about the chimps!
Grace, Jenna, and I had different interactive stations for the kids to go to. For the first station, we showed the kids how to make enrichment for the chimps like raisin boards, paper braids, and fire hose knots! The second station was learning how to build a nest, which is always so fun to learn about, but obviously we had a nest building competition. For our third station we taught everyone about chimp vocalizations & behaviors, which obviously we taught everyone how to pant hoot!
Jenna teaching how to make raisin boards:
Here is Grace showing everyone an amazing nest she built:
Anna had to work yesterday, but Luna stopped by and built her own nest. I would say Anna has taught Luna well:
Here I am showing different vocalizations:
Thank you to the Carpenter Memorial Library and the Cle Elum Fire Department for having us! We had such a blast being apart of the community and teaching everyone about the chimps we love so dearly!
Bonus photo of Jamie:
Here is Willy B in recovery today! He is doing well and enjoying his stories on the TV:
Let us give Ellen one more round of applause for her amazing Olympics inspired blog! It has given us ideas for many more!
Okay, I thought I might share a nice moment with our friend Gordo, I was lucky enough to have Ellen be able to capture the moment so I could share it with you all, otherwise you might not have believed me when I tell you all about it. Last weekend we put out a ton of paper, no like, a TON specifically in front room 7 for Cy’s side! Jerrol’s spoils us so much, not only do we have an amazing partnership with them but they have a lot of packaging paper, which they so kindly collect for us! We use paper for a lot of enrichment, but also we like to give it out as an option for nesting material as well. As I said we put most of the paper in front room 7, a place the chimps like to gather because they can see into the foyer and check up on what we are doing. However, one front room is a tight space for a group of 9. Sometimes if the space gets crowded it can make other individuals nervous. But something in the paper made everyone get the silly-es, including Gordo! It started off as Lucky and I grooming while caregiver Ellen interacted with Terry! I noticed Lucky’s nail was a little jagged, so I asked if she would wait until I got a nail file. Once I had multiple files in hand because, you know, you never know if you will need more with chimps. Lucky and I spent our time grooming each other and she enjoyed me filing her nails. Later, Lucky was getting silly and I start to play poke her with a nail file and then eventually a bamboo stick. Lucky thought this was so fun! But none of us could have guessed what happen next. Gordo came in to front room 7 on a mission, a mission to be poked! I spent 10 minutes playing with Gordo!
We often play chase with Gordo and can get him to play a silly game from time to time. But this play session was something I have not quite experienced! He wanted to be poked, shake his head, invite Dora to play while I play with him, he was laughing, and a little wild! Gordo is know for spitting while playing, while this may not be desired I like to think of it has a high honor because you are part of the play, especially with Gordo. It seems to bring him joy and that is what we are here for! You may see in the video that I do keep trying to play with Lucky because we got abruptly interrupted by Gordo, but I also couldn’t miss the opportunity! You may also see several other chimps join in the paper fun! Something was in the paper and it was something amazing to witness! So thank you Gordo for letting me be apart of that!
Don’t forget, today is the last day for Christmas in July! Thank you to everyone who has participated! Our chimp house is so full of supply the sanctuary needs such as: enrichment, medicines, and other necessities! So please, if you haven’t already check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!
Today has been a busy day, well for the humans anyways, for the chimps it has been very pleasant! It has finally cooled off a little and I think we are all thankful for a break from the hundred degree heat! The chimps spent their day playing, grooming, foraging, and a little hooting and hollering. In the video, you will find Dora and Honey B playing in their regularly-scheduled hookie session from their group to have a solo play session while we clean around them. On the other side of the chimp house, Jamie, Missy, and Negra had a very sweet grooming session before their lunch forage!
It wouldn’t be Wednesday without some bonus photos!
It must be Christmas in July because our foyer is full:
Sweet Annie bird:
Gordo grooming himself:
The greatest honor you can have is to receive a kiss from Negra:
If you’d like to help supply the sanctuary with food, enrichment, medicines, supplies, and other necessities, please check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!
I love watching the chimps learn new ways to participate in their own healthcare. We’ve had a KardiaMobile device for a little while now, thanks to a generous donor who purchased it from our wish list, but only after making sufficient progress with other medical behaviors was our PRT team able to begin setting their sights on training everyone for cooperative EKGs. In theory it’s a simple behavior to train, since it doesn’t involve any pain or discomfort, but getting a chimpanzee to sit still for 30 seconds straight, while at the same time getting their friends to wait their turn, can be a challenge. Kudos to our training team and to our current EKG champion, Willy B. But watch your back, Willy—once we adjust the platform to accommodate ol’ stubby fingers (aka Terry), you may have some competition!
Hey, speaking of wish lists and generous donors…if you’d like to help supply the sanctuary with food, enrichment, medicines, supplies, and other necessities, please check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!
Getting licked by a cow is like being licked by a 1/2-ton cat (but without all of the kicking and biting afterwards). Their tongues are very rough! When their coats are longer, cow licks can result in some beautiful abstract impressionist artwork.
Last week our local fire department came to visit the chimps! Theses firefighters must know the way to Jamie and Foxie’s heart, because they came bearing gifts of boots and troll dolls! We are so appreciative of our first responders, not only for the work they do but also for taking the time to learn about the chimps that we so love! As you will see in the video, Foxie approved of them and the troll dolls!
Foxie’s new dolls:
Look at those TOES!
Bonus photo of little Honey B:
