Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Happy Birthday to Annie from Marcia Douthwaite!

by

Marcia has sponsored today in celebration of Annie’s 37th birthday (we’re gearing up for the party right now!).  Marcia is a regular blog reader, and a sweet and devoted supporter of the Cle Elum Seven.  She even sponsors Annie and her best friend Missy through our Chimpanzee Pal program.  Thanks, Marcia, for helping us give Annie and her friends the celebration they deserve!

Here’s the gorgeous birthday girl:

A birthday card for Annie

by

Annie’s birthday is tomorrow! We received this lovely birthday card in her honor from Paige Sobran:

It reads: May you be surrounded by friends, love and joy on your birthday… and green onions, trolls, blankets. From someone who checks for blog updates every day before I check my email.

Thanks, Paige! We’ll be celebrating Annie’s birthday in full force tomorrow—Diana and I have already laid out plans for a birthday “cake” (made from fruits and veggies) with all of Annie’s favorites!

Into the great wide open

by

In the comments section of a previous post, Michelle asked, “I’m interested in learning what their possible reactions might be to the wide open outdoor spaces that they will encounter, are you anticipating any anxiety from them and how will you deal with it?  I’ve read how many of the chimps released in Florida at the sanctuary there have some pretty stressful reactions to natural spaces, any ideas you can share with us on how it might go?”

As Debbie mentioned in her response, we do anticipate that some of the chimps will initially be hesitant to walk out into the wide open space of Young’s Hill. To help them overcome their fears, we built a fire hose hand rail so that they might feel anchored to something familiar as they venture out. We also built a walkway made of logs for those who might be anxious about grass underfoot. Both of these structures lead to a nearby platform, which resembles the platform in their current outdoor enclosure.

We hope that these things will make it easier for the chimps to take those first steps out into the unknown, but of course, they will do things at their own pace. Some will head out as soon as we open the door, while others may need some time. And some may just need the right incentive, like a field full of frozen watermelons (I’m looking at you, Burrito)….