Ashley Gardner also sponsored today for the Cle Elum Seven. She says, “I am a vegan and love all animals. I think Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW is a great organization.” Thanks so much, Ashley!
Here’s Annie checking out Negra’s Cabin on Young’s Hill:
Sanctuary
Happy Birthday, Jim Spencer!
Today is sponsored by Audrey Spencer in honor of her husband Jim’s birthday. Jim and Audrey are longtime and devoted supporters of the Cle Elum Seven. It’s hard to think of a major construction project on the sanctuary grounds that Jim hasn’t been involved in, from the enrichment shed to the greenhouse to Young’s Hill to Diana’s new storage shed for fundraising event supplies. Quite literally, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest would not be what it is without Jim.
Happy Birthday, Jim, from Burrito and from all of us!
A leader and a follower
Today was rainy so it was the perfect time to check out the new cabin! Missy and Annie both climbed around on it for a while, and Jody went inside to take a closer look:
A few moments later, Burrito was inside checking it out:
Later, he followed Jody all the way up to the top of Young’s Hill- a first as far as we know of! Apparently Jody was his inspiration on the hill today.
But then Burrito seemed to gain a little bit more independence and climbed up the treat rock.
Negra’s Cabin is complete!
This morning, after a few days of being locked out of Young’s Hill for construction, the chimps were able to go back outside and explore their new structure. All of the chimps made a beeline straight to it – all but Negra, that is. Even though it is designed, built, and named for her, we knew that it would take her some time before she was comfortable enough to check it out.
In the meantime the other chimps are more than happy to take advantage of it. Missy, Annie, Jamie, and Jody seem to really like the little platform at the top.
Our thanks go out again to everyone who donated to our 4th Anniversary fundraising drive this summer, including the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) and the many individual donors that helped us reach our goal. Because of you, the chimps can now enjoy the hill in almost any weather. Now that construction is complete, we have begun designing the plaque that will adorn the cabin with the names of those who helped make it possible.
Jamie was the last to climb up to the top, but once she did she didn’t seem to want to come back down:
Missy must have climbed up and down at least 10 times:
Burrito just followed the food:
Happy (Belated) Birthday, Bruce!
Tracy Headley sponsored yesterday in honor of Bruce Clifton’s birthday. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the sponsorship blog post up in time. So in addition to saying sorry, we’d like to wish Bruce an extra special belated Happy Birthday. We hope you got to enjoy some of your favorite foods, like Missy and Negra:
Thanks so much to you both for your support of the Cle Elum Seven!
Negra’s Condo?
We have been calling the structure that J.B. is building on Young’s Hill “Negra’s Cabin,” but volunteer Denice decided the more appropriate name is “Negra’s Condo.” Take a look at the photos and tell us what you think.
J.B. has been working on the cabin/condo for a few days straight now. Today, volunteer Seana was serving as J.B.’s construction apprentice.
These two photos scream condo, don’t they?
Do the addition of the logs make it more cabin-like?
Negra checking on the construction progress:
Not much longer, Negra!
Thanks to everyone who contributed to our 4th Anniversary Fundraising drive, which made Negra’s cabin/condo possible!
Advocacy Program Logo Design Contest
CSNW’s advocacy program, Primate Patrol, mainly focuses on raising public awareness about issues that chimpanzees and other primates face in the entertainment industry. We are starting to broaden our efforts and provide tools for people to help apes in need for a wider range of issues. You may have seen our regular advocacy posts called “Take Action Tuesday,” where we have posted information on how to take action for exploited apes. (Most recently we posted about this petition—sign it now if you haven’t already!)
As part of our plans to broaden the program we are looking for a new logo and design. We want to see what talented folks are out there, so we are having a logo design contest, open to anyone! Visit this page to find out contest details. The new program will be called Eyes on Apes. Click on the contest link to read the mission statement and help inspire your creative design! We’re hoping contestants can come up with a tagline, too. If you have art or graphic design skills, feel free to send us your mock ups to [email protected] and please share the contest page with your graphic design friends and family!
As a prize for the logo we love the most, we are awarding a beautiful 8×10 matted print of Jamie, as well as a $100 gift certificate to the CSNW store. Jamie was exploited by the entertainment industry and pet trade and then used in invasive biomedical testing before being rescued by CSNW just over 4 years ago. She is one of the smartest primates I’ve ever known and it is so sad to think of how miserable she must have been in her previous life. Captivity is never an ideal place for chimpanzees, but we hope through our advocacy efforts that individuals like Jamie will get to a sanctuary, too. So, in recognition of Jamie, the contest will go up until October 31 (her honorary birthday).
