Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Transformation

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Earlier this week, as volunteer Keri and I were finishing a walk around the hill with Jamie, we did some quick calculations to figure out just how far Jamie is walking each day. At a minimum, I think she is doing a mile a day just in walks with her caregivers – around an enclosure that rises 100 feet in elevation from end to end, no less. For a free-living chimpanzee, this wouldn’t be much, but for a chimpanzee who spent her life in a laboratory, it’s not bad at all.

web Jamie top of YH valley look at camera IMG_6137

The physical transformations that we’ve witnessed over the past five years have been incredible. After decades in tiny cages in a windowless basement, these seven chimps finally saw the sun, breathed fresh air, and got to run, climb, jump, and swing. Almost immediately, their skin darkened, their hair filled in, and their muscles grew stronger.

While most of these changes occurred over the first few months, we are still witnessing changes to this day. I think this is driven in part by their emotional recovery. This morning, as I watched Jamie run playfully after her friend Missy, I couldn’t help thinking about how much physical health and emotional health are intertwined. The stronger they get, the more they play and explore. And the more they play and explore, the stronger they get. I guess they call this a virtuous cycle.

web Jamie run YH IMG_6313

When I look back at photos from the chimps’ arrival in 2008, I hardly recognize them. Their bodies displayed the toll of so many years in the laboratory, but in their faces you could see the even greater damage that was done to their spirits. They looked sick, tired, scared, and beaten down:

web Jamie pale hairless 2008 IMG_1451

Five years in sanctuary can do a lot. Today, Jamie looks better in every imaginable way. And I’m sure she feels the same. Who knows what changes we’ll see in the next five years.

web Jamie sit log bridge beneath structure YH IMG_6302

Rock Stars and Getaways

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I sat down to write a blog post highlighting Out of the Box 2013 auction items, and quickly became overwhelmed! There are SO many amazing items! I decided to focus on two things – rock stars and getaways.

What auction, I ask you, can you bid on a guitar signed by a chimpanzee??

out of the box round logo

A couple of weeks ago, we sent out an e-newsletter and posted about the Green Day Tickets in our online auction. Those tickets went to the loveliest of families for $5,640. They had an awesome time at the concert in Berkeley on Tuesday – more on that later.

In addition to the tickets, Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong also donated a guitar signed by Green Day members.

green day guitar

 

But that’s not the only signed guitar in the auction – Jamie “signed” a mini guitar, and we had it framed in a shadow box along with a photo of the rock star herself. This is an item that will be available at our Seattle gala, so you’d better get your tickets now in order to bid on this one-of-a-kind conversation-starting art piece.

Here’s a photo of the guitar before it was framed:

Jamie guitar before framing

And now, for a couple of getaways –

How about a week on Grand Cayman Island? Jackie and Kevin Downey, friends of Don and Karen Young (as in Young’s Hill), generously donated a week’s stay in their condo on Seven Mile Beach! cayman sunset

Or an adventure in the Amazon? Volunteer Rozsika went to Peru last year to work on her master’s thesis and decided everyone should be able to experience the beauty of the jungle, so she managed to get this amazing trip donated for the auction.

peruvian sloth

Both of the above getaways will be available to our Seattle Out of the Box attendees. Did I mention you should get your tickets to this event asap?

For those who will be bidding online, perhaps you’ll be interested in four nights at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun or, for a more casual tropical retreat, bid on a week at The Beachouse in Fiji!

fiji swing

We even have a combination rock star and getaway item – a Recording Studio Vacation at a beautiful bed and breakfast  studio in Idaho! You can be your own creative genius for three days making an audio OR video project for private or commercial use, or bring your band to work on that first album!

recording studio

And all of that is only a small sampling of the auction items! Remember, online bidding opens May 4th and the Seattle event is that night. You can see which items will be available for bidding online by looking at the items as a full list or by sorting by category – the ones that are highlighted will be online; the ones not highlighted will be at the Seattle event.

All proceeds from the auctions will go towards the care of the chimpanzees and the sanctuary’s advocacy work. You can also donate directly to our very important fund-a-need, the veterinary clinic, right now.

Clinic 4-10-13

 

Burrito’s Charm

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Burrito is pretty irresistible. He also tends to be a bit shy at times. When he is feeling playful he will often initiate play with his caregivers by biting on a toy or a firehouse as he shyly looks in our direction. If he is feeling particularly playful he will add a foot stomp and a head nod in for good measure. One of my favorite moments is when I go out to the greenhouse to see what the chimps are up to and upon first sight, Burrito grabs something to bite on, stomps his foot at me and takes off running for a game of chase, laughing all the way.

web Burrito greenhouse GH IMG_5984

web Burrito hold bite hammers greenhosue GH IMG_6031

web Burrito profile greenhouse GH IMG_6010

Digging

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After lunch this afternoon, Debbie and I hung out for awhile in the greenhouse with the chimpanzees. Jamie seemed restless. She went into the building for a moment and returned to the greenhouse with a hand shovel and proceeded to dig. Annie, who is always a big fan of digging, couldn’t resist joining her.

A Few of Negra’s Favorite Things

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Two of Negra’s favorite things are looking out over the view of the valley and eating fresh, spring grass.  It fills us with delight this spring to find Negra feeling more and more comfortable venturing outside onto Young’s Hill, often all on her own.  Despite being the middle of spring, we have been surprised by snow showers the past couple of days here in Cle Elum.  As a result Negra was very reluctant to get out of bed this morning and I can’t say that I blame her.  At one point I caught her looking out her window at the heavy snow showers and pulling the blanket back over her head.  It took JB reminding her that another favorite of hers, peanuts, were on the menu before she decided to join everyone for breakfast.  Thankfully it didn’t take long for both the sun, and Negra, to come back out again.

web Negra eat grass log bridge YH IMG_5892

web Negra eat grass log bridge YH IMG_5922

web Negra sit on log bridge look at camera YH IMG_5940

Twin Doras

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During Foxie’s decades in biomedical research she was used as a breeder.  We know of five children that Foxie gave birth to, two of whom were twins.  It’s heartbreaking that Foxie was not given the opportunity to raise any of her children.  Since arriving at the sanctuary she seems to have found a special affinity for her beloved troll dolls and more recently, Dora dolls.  When Foxie chooses to join us for a walk around Young’s Hill she can often be seen carrying one of her many dolls on her back just as chimpanzee mothers do with their children in the wild.  It’s a bittersweet glimpse into how life should have been for her and each of the Cle Elum Seven.  While we can never know for sure what Foxie is thinking about her “babies” it makes my heart happy to see she has found something to call her own.

web Foxie walk hold two Doras Young's Hill YH IMG_5593

web Foxie walk hold two Doras look at camera Young's Hill YH IMG_5602

Negra Love

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A few minutes ago I watched Negra getting a drink of water. She was sitting on the step between rooms three and four and she had her right leg stretched out, with her toes pointed and just touching the floor. The thought went through my mind that I simply love everything she does. The fact that her toes were pointed was a good enough reason to love her in that moment. And then I wondered how many people were thinking about Negra at that very instant. Six years ago, before coming to the sanctuary, the answer probably would have been none. Today, though, Negra has a whole community of people who love her; and that makes me filled with happiness.

Love of Negra is evident in several of the Out of the Box auction items created by supporters this year. Below are three that I have to share, and they are all due to the artistic talents of Margaret H. Parkinson.

 

queen negra

Queen Negra is a 20″ x 16″ oil on stretched canvas. It was inspired by  a photo of Negra with a royal purple blanket covering her head. The artist, Margaret, is a long-time supporter of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest – she and her wife Karen were at the sanctuary for our open house before the chimpanzees arrived. She created this painting especially for the Out of the Box auction, and it will be available in our online auction – anyone can bid on it starting May 4th!

 

here comes the sun darling negra

Here Comes the Sun Darling Negra by Tamela is an amazing necklace. Margaret gave Tamela permission to use an image of Margaret’s Negra in the Sun painting that she painted for our very first auction in 2009. Tamela handcrafted the pendant. The center of the image  is made with a glow in the dark clay and becomes a glowing moon in the dark. The piece that holds the image was also handcrafted by Tamela and is 99.9% pure silver. The necklace strand is made of citrine teardrop beads.

Tamela wrote this about her inspiration to create the necklace:
Margaret’s painting was so beautiful I knew it needed to be wearable art so more people could enjoy it. The high quality translucent citrine teardrop beads were carefully selected because of their meaning and the way they reflect light. Citrines give the owner a feeling of warmth and comfort much like Negra might have in her big fluffy blanket nest. Citrine also raises one’s mood and encourages happiness and laughter. I wanted the necklace to represent the life the chimps now have at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, a life filled with hope, love, warmth, comfort, and happiness, combined with that wonderful feeling of the sun on your face found in the original photo and Margaret’s painting- Negra in the Sun.

I nearly cried when I read that from Tamela.

This next item is a bit of a surprise for Margaret. A few months ago I asked her permission to use one of her watercolor paintings for special magnum bottles of wine that we will have at Out of the Box.

Here is a sneak peak at one of the bottles, which were etched and hand painted, thanks to the help of chimp friend Lynne Anderson:

magnum bottle negra

Inside the bottles is Ellensburg Vista Winery‘s latest release. I like reading tasting notes of wine – lots of “oaky finishes” and “fruit forward” type of language. I’ve tasted this new Rosé and would just like to simplify things and say that it is delicious. Here’s the proper description from the vigneron, Gary Cox: This Rosé is a 2008 Cox Canyon Vineyards Cabernet Franc with just a touch of Viognier to give the wine a Cote Rotié French Flair/Finish. Raspberry is prominent in the nose of this wine, as raspberries are planted in the rows of the wine grapes to allow cross pollination and a direct effect of pollen on the seed of the wine grape, which carries thru to the must as it ferments to wine. Seattle Dining Magazine named it one of the ten best wines at Taste Washington earlier this year.

There will only be twelve bottles available at the May 4th Seattle Out of the Box event! We’ll have a special table for the magnums during the silent auction. Don’t miss out! Get your tickets to the Seattle event now. It’s just three weeks away!