Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Between Two Burns

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This morning, the staff were greeted by cloudy skies, relatively cool temperatures, and even a tantalizing sprinkle of rain.

The overcast weather created a welcome break from the blistering sun and oppressive heat of the past few days. With the worst of the Northwest’s heat wave now seemingly behind us, the sanctuary’s chimpanzee residents have resumed their routine of patrolling the outdoor enclosures, lounging in the greenhouses, and playfully chasing their caregivers between areas. We humans also appreciated the respite as opportunity to properly ventilate the Chimp House and get some chores done outside.

Negra lounging in her group’s greenhouse
Cy sitting in the Oakwood Greenhouse
Jody peering over at the neighbors
Foxie playing with a favorite doll
Gordo hanging out in the Riverview Greenhouse
Raspberries growing in the raised beds outside the Chimp House
The chimps looking down at the driveway in the morning
Honey B relaxing in the indoor front rooms
J.B. working on the new enclosure: The Bray

We’re well aware that the nice weather may only be an intermission between difficult times. With the air staying hot and dry and the wind picking up again, the risk of wildfires has dramatically increased in the region. E2xperts are warning of extreme fire danger and have implemented a burn ban for much of eastern and central Washington (including the county where we are located).

Still, we’re quite prepared for fire season and continue to make the property more fire-wise each year. Earlier this summer, we gave the rescued Jersey cattle access to the upper pasture where they can trim down the vegetation that would otherwise be potential fuel. Our ongoing efforts to renovate the outdoor habitats (and add irrigation to both the existing and new areas) will also improve our defensible space around the Chimp House!

Meredith pausing on her way to the upper pasture

This Life of Fortune

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Two fundraising updates and a story about our bovine friends today.

First, yesterday alert blog readers took it upon themselves to start a group fundraiser for a much-desired, literally named “Big Ass Fan” evaporative cooler. Right now we have $895 pledged towards the $1,899 cost of the fan, with $1,004 left to raise. I myself have pledged $100 and have been having pleasant visions of receiving that cooler.

If you would like to participate, you can email me ([email protected]) and let me know your pledge amount. Donations towards the fan can be made online on our donation page (just specify in the gift note section it’s for the cooler), or you can mail a check to the sanctuary at PO Box 952, Cle Elum, WA 98922. You can donate now or pledge first and donate once I let you know that the total has been reached. Thank you all so much!!

Second, counting today, there are only three days left to take advantage of Early Bird pricing for the HOOT! gala! The gala is a pretty big deal in terms of fundraising but also in terms of connecting with supporters. We are hoping to see many familiar and new faces in-person in Seattle on September 16th!

For those not in this area or otherwise unable to attend the fundraising fête, you can still participate! We’ll be having an online auction open to anyone, and for those who buy a virtual VIP ticket for just $20, you will also receive a special invitation to an exclusive Zoom tour of the sanctuary to take place on Sunday, September 11th at 2pm.

A big shout-out goes to our sponsors of HOOT! 2022. Numerous individuals are now sponsors in addition to generous Gala Sponsor Concord Construction. What would we have done without them these last few years with all of the expansion!! We are so grateful to have worked and continue to work with them to expand the lives of the chimpanzees and beyond honored to have their sponsorship for the gala.

Also a big thanks to Happy Hour sponsor Martha Faulkner Real Estate. Martha was a very helpful board member for years and is an all-around animal lover, giving part of her commission to multiple animal groups through her business, hence her website: homes4petlovers.com.

If you are interesting in sponsoring as a business or an individual, you can do that directly here or if you’d like more information, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Third, it’s hot, ya’ll.

Today was my day to do “cattle care”. In the winter, that means giving our four bovine friends hay, mucking out the barn, and making sure there is an ample supply of water.

In the early summer they are able to free-feed in the pastures, helping us with fire control, so we don’t need (yet) to supplement their food. They aren’t spending as much time in the barn, so there’s less mucking to do, though we do try to pick up in areas where they congregate to keep the fly population under some control.

With the addition of the large pasture on the property above the original sanctuary property this year, you just never know where you are going to find the cows.

Today, I couldn’t find them at all.

They weren’t at the barn, where I stopped to make sure the water trough was full.

And they weren’t in the pasture by the pond, where I have been finding them on most Fridays since they’ve been given access over a month ago.

I followed their well-worn path down towards the spring, and found them doing exactly what they should be doing in 100+ degree weather, hanging out in the shade, ready to stare me down.

But wait, where was Betsy?

Seriously, where was Betsy? I called her name. No response. I called louder. Still nothing.

Despite my best efforts at self-mind-control, I can be prone towards thinking the worst and I was starting to get nervous. Betsy is not usually away from her herd.

I walked further down the path adjacent to the spring. Ahhhh. There she was.

In the patch of lush greenery at the edge of the spring.

She too was keeping cool right near the water.

On my way back across the property, I spied another mom laying low in some shade.

It makes me so happy that Betsy, Meredith, Honey, and Nutmeg can, like momma deer, follow their instincts and choose the smartest spot to be on the property.

They are no longer beholden to the humans making all decisions for them or viewing them as a means to their own ends. They are residents of this land. Not as unlikely as the chimpanzee residents across the way, but, like the chimps, while not free, definitely freer than many of their species who have been forced into a life of servitude.

By luck or by fate (if you believe in that kind of thing), we get to be a part of their lives.

Celebrate this gift with us by participating in HOOT!, online or in-person. We have a lot to celebrate!

Chimpanzees in the mist(er)

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The temperature is hovering around 100 degrees right now in Cle Elum and we all feel it! Luckily, we have many ways to protect the chimpanzees and staff from the extreme elements. In fact, as I type, I can hear the chimps slurping on homemade popsicles that Chad just handed out. Just before lunch we played around with some mister hose attachments to see if anyone was interested. Honey B and Rayne were happy to try it out. I love watching their wild expressions as they try to catch as much water as possible.

Speaking of beating the heat… If I had one wish for the chimps this July, it would be for the amazingly generous donation of that certain portable evaporative cooler that has been hanging out at the top of our Amazon wish list.

Here’s Foxie expending as little energy as possible today:

 

The Unsuspecting Friendship

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Today, my phone sent me a notification of a memory from last year. One year ago, the quarantine period for the Lucky Six ended and got to be closer to their neighbors (at the time): Willy B, Honey B, and Mave. It doesn’t feel like it has been a year, but at the same time it feels like it’s been over a year. A lot has happened since, like the Lucky Six’s “neighbors” aren’t their neighbors anymore. They are one big group. Since they have been living together for almost three months, it’s hard at times to think they were ever two separate groups.

One of the budding relationships we didn’t anticipate in this new group was that of Mave and Dora. During the introduction process, Mave and Dora didn’t necessarily have bad interactions. Their interactions just were never the best. Lackluster is a word that could describe it. They were mostly low key and in short spurts. After the full integration, their friendship really started to come to fruition. At first, it seemed like Mave would just follow Dora constantly with Dora trying to get away. As the weeks went by, and Mave showed Dora what support she could offer as a friend, Dora stopped trying to escape Mave. Or at least as much. There are still times when Dora does want her alone time, but Mave now seems to get the hint when that is. Mave will leave her alone for a little while (but not too long), interact with the others, before returning to Dora.

It is now not an uncommon sight to find these two together in the afternoon, side-by-side.

One day, I even found them like this. Laying down, holding hands, and just staring at each other.

Later on, something startled Dora. I couldn’t see what caused Dora to become upset, but she started alarm calling, followed by screaming, before racing off into the Riverview Greenhouse. Mave was in the other room, but she heard Dora and followed the screams to the greenhouse. As Mave emerged from the Marmot Playroom, Dora leaped towards Mave and they embraced in the most endearing hug I have seen.

That hug seemed to calm Dora down.

I, for one, personally cannot wait to see how this friendship blossoms even further!

Here are some bonus photos from today!

Gordo eating some fingerling potatoes at lunch:

Jamie enjoying a raspberry branch as browse:

Terry in the Riverview Greenhouse with a mouthful of water and wadge in hand:

Jody watching some construction around Young’s Hill:

And resting in the afternoon:

Annie foraging for some pre-breakfast prickly lettuce:

Burrito racing toward me as I was taking the above photo, telling me it’s time to race:

Rayne relaxing inside where it’s cooler:

Dora in her patent Happy Dora Pose:

Cy grooming Mave grooming Willy B:

Cy catching up on all the latest celebrity news a couple of days ago:

We also want to thank our friends at Tru Earth! About a year ago, as an ongoing effort to reduce our environmental footprint, we switched the detergent we use to wash the chimpanzee’s blankets. Tru Earth were kind enough to start a fundraiser store just for us. Twenty percent of every purchase made from this unique URL will go toward the chimpanzees! If you are in need of cleaning supplies or other eco-friendly products, please consider shopping at this site!

I spy…

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Today, caregiver Anthony took off additional panels to the Greenhouse for Jamie’s group. In addition to more air-flow through the Greenhouse (which is why Anthony did this), this allows Jamie’s group a new angle to sneak a peak at Cy’s group (which is always very exciting).

As you can see, chimpanzees don’t spy very discretely.

Burrito:

Can you spot Foxie?

The seven typically like to spy on their neighbors through the Playroom 1 windows. The Playroom 1 windows give them a decent view of the Oakwood Greenhouse as well as one of the Playrooms for Cy’s group. Can you spot Burrito? He likes to set up a barrel for himself so he has seating.

I think his arm propped up on the window sill is a nice touch.

Don’t worry, Cy’s group was pretty unbothered by their nosy neighbors.

Rayne relaxing in the cool front rooms:

In our recent call out for questions or ideas for the blog, some wondered if the chimps still pay attention to the “howdy door”.

All the time!

For those unfamiliar with the “howdy door”, you can watch a video about the door here. It is a door that separates the two sides of our building and our two chimpanzee groups. Any time there is drama on one side of the building, it is nearly a guarantee that at least one chimp will try to see if they can get a peak of the action through small cracks in the “howdy door”. It is also not uncommon for the chimps to target the “howdy door” during their displays.

Willy B and “Howdy Door”:

 

Hydration Stations

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Local temperatures are expected to reach (or exceed) 99°F for the rest of this week. For comparison, NOAA reports that our average high for the month of July is only 80°F.

“Big yikes.”

When the weather gets this hot, our staff deftly adjusts the daily routine to keep the residents cool, comfortable and entertained throughout the day.

One popular activity is drinking from improvised hydration stations (i.e., containers of cold water). Sometimes, we add pieces of fruit or chunks of ice for the chimpanzees to fish out and snack on. Occasionally, we also mix in a little bit of Gatorade® powder to create a diluted sports drink.* The chimps always have access to fresh running water via the Lixit® drinking fountains in each enclosure, but they seem to prefer drinking from the oversized tubs of cool hose water on days like today.

*The best Gatorade flavor is “blue” because it tastes exactly like the color blue.

Cy

I took some photos of the chimps in Cy’s group as they utilized the splashy enrichment this afternoon. It can sometimes be difficult to identify them as they lower their faces into the containers, obscuring their distinguishable features.

Gordo

Mave

Willy B

On the other side of the building, the individuals in Jamie’s group had already filled up with hose water and floating berries and were lounging in the cool front rooms. I managed to capture a photo of Foxie in the “studio,” staring back at the camera with doll in hand.

Foxie

These Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Weeks of Summer

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A big ole’ heat wave is coming to Cle Elum this week and although today wasn’t the hottest of the hot upcoming days, it is still a *very* warm 92 degrees Fahrenheit. On days like this, afternoons tend to be a little quieter as the chimps find cool spots to relax throughout the chimp house. A wonderful thing about the Pacific Northwest, though, is that nights and mornings tend to be a good deal cooler than the afternoons. This means that, in the morning, Jamie’s group still gets to enjoy Young’s Hill and Cy’s group is frequently inviting caregivers to play chase throughout the greenhouses!

In the afternoons, we work to provide the chimps enrichment to keep them cool – and today we made snow-cone-boats for everyone! Check out the photos below to see how they enjoyed it.

This morning, Annie and Missy enjoyed a bit of morning climbing on Carlene’s Tower.

Annie inspecting some tall grass out on Young’s Hill in the morning glow of sunshine.

While everyone went out to explore the hill, Negra opted to hang back and watch (ahem, nap).

Negra and Foxie enjoying a post-breakfast relaxation session in the greenhouse.

Foxie was all about a slow motion game of pass-the-troll-through-the-caging, before she took them back for a cuddle.

Cut to the afternoon – cleaning is complete, lunch has been had, and it’s time for some cooling enrichment! We took shaved ice and added in a drizzle of Grape Juice and a few freshly harvested raspberries and currants, courtesy of our abundant garden outside of the kitchen.

Everyone was super excited! It’s tough to snag photos of the chimps with the snow cone boats, since they eat them so quickly, but I took a few mediocre ones with my phone to share. 🙂

Annie:

Cy:

Dora:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Terry:

I also wanted to make a quick shout out- we can’t express how amazing our volunteers and supporters are, no words could ever do it justice. And today I wanted to send a thank you to volunteer Patti for her surprise delivery of vegan ice cream sandwiches for the staff and a box fan for the chimps! Thank you!!