Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Happy Birthday, Missy!

by

Missy turned 38 today, and to celebrate we made the day all about her. Volunteers Patti and Annie brought some of Missy’s favorite foods and toys, and we did forages in the greenhouse and on Young’s Hill for breakfast. We also harvested cattails from the pond. Tonight, we’ll put out Kongs after dinner, which are her favorite food puzzles.

The Cle Elum Seven really have aged backwards since coming to the sanctuary – it’s hard to believe that playful, active Missy is 38 years old. Let’s hope she never acts her age.

The Chimps Take Manhattan!

by

As most of us have mentioned this week, providing the chimpanzees (especially Jamie!) with an enriching and stimulating environment can be challenging. Thanks to Donna and Doreen’s sponsorship of today, we decided to use the theme of the “Big Apple.” It’s always fun to see how each of the chimpanzees choose to engage with new enrichment. Debbie and volunteer Deb spent a lot of time constructing a cardboard box version of the New York City skyline and we even made a Dora of Liberty statue on “Ellis Island” (aka the turtle wading pool). After scattering dried apples still warm from the dehydrator (courtesy of volunteer, Patty) about like confetti for the chimps’ forage in Times Square, the scene was set. Mind you, it’s sometimes difficult to say whether the chimpanzees or the humans are more enriched by these endeavors.

web_Big_apple_day_skyline_dm_photo

Foxie “hearts” NY:

web_Foxie_look_at_IheartNY_dm_IMG_1347

Jody and Annie checking out the Dora of Liberty statue:

web_Jody_Annie_look_at_DoraLiberty_dm_IMG_1376

As you can imagine, the chimps not only took Manhattan, but quickly toppled it. Here’s Jamie inspecting the ruins:

web_Jamie_investigate_NYCday_boxes_IMG_1410

And Jody found “Ellis Island” to be the perfect nesting spot (after getting that pesky Dora of Liberty out of the way):

web_Jody_nest_turtle_NYCday_boxes_dm_IMG_1400

web_Jody_nest_in_turtle_NYCday_IMG_1402

Donna and Doreen, thanks again for sponsoring the day in honor of Foxie’s birthday month and your anniversary in the Big Apple!

And tomorrow is the last day to vote for your favorite chimpanzee artist! Get your votes in now and help make a real difference for the winning chimpanzee and their sanctuary family and home!

 

Thank you, Donna and Doreen!

by

Today was sponsored by Donna and Doreen Hughes in celebration of two of their greatest loves, Foxie Chimpanzee and the Big Apple! (Well, maybe three loves if we include troll dolls!) Donna and Doreen feel (rightly so) that Foxie, being Foxie, should celebrate her birthday and her troll doll lovin’ self all month long! Today is also the anniversary of Donna and Doreen’s move to New York City which they celebrate every year because of how much they love living there.

Donna and Doreen are two fabulous ladies who have been long time supporters of the sanctuary and all Great Apes. As much as they adore the “Big Apple” they feel it is important to have nature in our lives and to care for all the amazing beings we co-exist with here on planet Earth. Thanks for keeping Foxie’s party going, Donna and Doreen, and Happy Anniversary! It’s so kind of you to include Foxie and her family in your special day.

Here are Foxie and Dora hanging out on Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s version of a skyscraper.

web foxie climb post bridge dora YH (kd) IMG_9033

And Foxie and her troll taking a stroll in her own “Central Park.”

web foxie walk in motion hold troll doll yh IMG_9480

A blog retrospective of Jamie

by

People often ask me who my favorite chimpanzee is. I don’t really like trying to pick one—and to be honest, I can’t. Each of the Cle Elum Seven are unique and awesome in their own way and I love them all. But I would say that I have the best relationship with Jamie. Sometimes, there are just different people that you “click” with a little more than others.

So, I wouldn’t want to say that Jamie is my favorite, but I definitely find that we spend more time together. Perhaps this is because Jamie is more human-oriented than the other chimps, and so we end up liking the same things. We also happen to share a birthday, which I think is pretty cool.

She likes to check out all of the caregivers’ shoes and boots, and we are more than happy to oblige. She loves to write and draw and use tools. I was thinking today about all the interesting and awesome things Jamie does on a day-to-day basis and what we have featured on our blog over the years, so I decided to compile a “best of” list.

As Katelyn described yesterday, Jamie occasionally likes to wear scarves or other clothing accessories. I love this blog post from awhile ago called “How to ruin a perfectly good scarf.” Fashion is important to Jamie, but sometimes playing can take precedence.

Speaking of playing, Foxie and Jamie are pretty great friends. Foxie is a total goof! Here’s a video from awhile ago of the two of them wrestling in a giant box:

I like this post from just a few months after the chimps arrived. We were still learning about all their personalities, and this captures Jamie’s fairly well.

Jamie also really likes to help us clean up. She will sometimes sit and watch us clean, as if she’s evaluating our work. As the Boss of the sanctuary, I suppose that is her job!

She’s also really good about testing out new things and making sure we’ve done things up to her standards. You could say she’s in charge of the quality control department at CSNW. She loves to also take new things apart using tools!

web crop Jamie tool use screwdriver window sill outdoor area IMG_3675

Probably one of the highlights of our day is when Jamie asks to go on a walk around the hill. This is the post where J.B. explains how we came to realize this is also Jamie’s highlight of the day!

web Jamie boot walk bamboo background IMG_0933

I also really love remembering the day we gave a ukulele to Jamie. She was thrilled! She treated it just like any of her other projects—investigate every possible piece of it!

web jamie play ukulele greenhouse IMG_9637

It is sometimes hard to describe Jamie, and maybe that just speaks to her uniqueness. I love this blog where Diana explains that Jamie is, well, a complicated chimpanzee.

web Jamie climb log post YH IMG_8963

jamie on the rock

web Jamie YH view of valley below_MG_4302

Finally, as we all know, Jamie is an artist. Here’s some retrospective posts on a few of her artistic endeavors:

jamie-artist-1

Jamie’s an artist! (June 21, 2008)

Jamie’s paintings (August 20, 2008)

Scribbling (September 9, 2008)

Jamie’s dexterity (April 1, 2009)

Jamie, the artiste (November 10, 2010)

Art (August 24, 2011)

Jamie’s letter to you (March 22, 2012)

Jamie’s artistic side (January 11, 2013)

Lend your vote to support Jamie’s wonderful mixed-media art in the HSUS Art Contest going on now until Thursday. You are permitted to vote once per day, so please keep voting for Jamie!

web Jamie in grass YH day 2 IMG_9688

Jamie’s creative expression

by

Like most artists, Jamie chooses to express her creative mind in a variety of ways. Jamie spent the first nine years of her life living with a human as a “pet” and being used in the entertainment industry. While we know virtually nothing about this time in Jamie’s life, she often chooses to engage in human oriented activities, most likely as a result of her unnatural childhood. For example, today Jamie chose to arrive for lunch wearing a red bandana tied around her neck (which she untied and re-adjusted half way through her meal). While we certainly do not advocate for chimpanzees being dressed in clothing, here at CSNW we do try to offer a variety of enrichment (including clothing) to accommodate their individuals interests. If the chimpanzees want to wear things, tear them up, play tug-o-war, make a nest with them, or ignore them, it’s their choice. Choice being the key word here. We recognize that each of the chimpanzees have unnatural histories which have influenced their individual interests and that plays a key role in developing individualized enrichment to keep their intelligent minds active.

web_Jamie_wearing_bandana_eating_greenpepper_lunch_GH_ls_IMG_1316

Notice the perfect knot Jamie incorporated into her bandana!

web_Jamie_wearing_bandana_closeup_profile_GH_ls_IMG_1328

Jamie chooses to wear clothing less and less since arriving at the sanctuary. While we want Jamie and her family to be able to engage in whatever interests them, it also thrills us to see their unique “chimpanzee-ness” coming out more and more. For Jamie, that sometimes still means wearing a bandana to lunch, patrolling the perimeter of Young’s Hill with her cowgirl boot, and occasionally drawing and painting when there is no “business” to take care of as Boss of the sanctuary. And that’s what sanctuary is all about, choices and the ability to express one’s self as one wants. And the art of expressing herself as she wants is something Jamie is a true artist at.

web_Jamie_wearing_bandana_looking_at_camera_cling_on_caging_GH_ls_IMG_1337

If you haven’t cast your vote for Jamie’s artwork yet in the Humane Society’s chimpanzee-only art contest, please do so now! It’s a wonderful way to help our artist-in-residence and her chimpanzee family!

Jamie’s Brain

by

You know that whole thing about right brain vs. left brain and people identifying themselves as one or the other? Well, Jamie seems to be ambidextrous-brained. You know she’s an artist because you’ve been voting for her piece in the chimp art contest every day this week, right?

Her left brain side is pretty strong, though. As J.B.’s video demonstrated yesterday, Jamie is a skilled tool user. And she loves to solve puzzles. Just watch her solve a puzzle that the human’s created for her recently: