Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

young's hill

All Good Things

by 10 Comments

This morning when we walked into the chimp house, every chimp was super playful! Gordo was bunny hopping around, Annie was playing chase with Burrito and her caregivers, Missy was chasing Jody, Jamie was playfully foot stomping to her caregivers, Dora and Mave were playing, and chimps on both sides were grooming in the greenhouses. Every day at the sanctuary is a great day because the chimps are safe, secure, and cared for, but that does not mean that every day is sunshine and rainbows. Obviously,the chimpanzees have their own feelings and moods, just like us. Some days we walk in and one group is displaying, while the other group is calm. Other days it’s loud everywhere you go. However, most days you get a balance of some calm with a little bit of displaying from time to time. And then you get a day like today, where both sides of the building are just silly and playful!

While most people wanted to play, Negra wanted to sleep all day:

We are running pretty low on magazines. If you have any laying around, I am sure Cy would love to take them off your hands!

Playing with Missy

by 15 Comments

As many of you know Missy is what we call a chimps’ chimp. She will have these amazing long play sessions with her chimp friends. But as for us human friends she will bless us with a play session from time to time. So when you get to play it doesn’t matter how long it lasts, it’s just special that it happened!

Bonus photos!

Jody enjoying some yellow goats beard flowers:

Negra foraging for grass:

Gordo was hanging out in the sunny warm Riverview greenhouse. Look how handsome he is!!

Gordo grooming himself:

 

 

She’s Back… Again?

by 11 Comments

This morning Negra was reunited with her group! Everyone was so excited to welcome her back. Jody, Missy, and Foxie gave her warm greetings and immediately went to check out how she was healing! Negra was able to spend the morning sitting out on Young’s Hill and napping in her favorite spot in the green house. Unfortunately, in the early afternoon between the chimp nurses and Burrito displaying and scaring Negra, some of her external sutures were not holding up too well. We decided to isolate her again until Dr. Erin could come take a look. So Negra spent the afternoon watching Lord of the Dance, nesting, and having her caregivers dance for her as well ;).

Negra finally back on the Hill this morning:

Negra enjoying Lord of the Dance:

Spring green!

by 16 Comments

A little wind didn’t stop Burrito’s group from enjoying a lunch forage on Young’s Hill today.

Jody was the first one to bring her bounty back to the greenhouse. She efficiently collected her peppers and cucumbers before hustling inside to eat her meal:

Missy inhaled many Roma tomatoes before settling down to savor her cucumber:

Burrito and his armful:

Foxie likes a good cucumber:

Annie looking for primate chow:

Negra, a mouthful of chow and a sea of green:

Where in the World is Annie?

by 10 Comments

I wanted to share a fun little story from this morning! As I gave Annie’s group Young’s Hill, everyone including Negra rushed out. Once Anna brought breakfast out to the greenhouse all the chimps were heading back in to eat, except Annie. We couldn’t find Annie anywhere. It had been more than 10 minutes of breakfast being served and she was nowhere in sight. Annie does not miss a meal! Sofia came over to help do checks when I said I think Annie is on the Hill, but we can’t see her anywhere. Sofia told us she did this yesterday, but eventually came back for breakfast. We finally got a glimpse of her 15 minutes into breakfast, she was far up on the top of the Hill foraging for what I assume was grass or some kind of foliage. Apparently, that grass was so good she didn’t even come back for breakfast! Breakfast was not a concern for Annie, because when she finally returned and Anna tried to call her over for food, she very contently laid back on the platform in the greenhouse and took a little nap.

Today was a beautiful spring day so we took advantage of the weather and did a Hill forage for lunch!

Don’t worry Annie got plenty of food!

But Missy seemed to score the most!

Negra was quite pleased with her haul! She even worked pretty hard for her food too, look at Neggie on the Esher structure!

Jody with a mouth full of corn and hands full of forage!

Jamie collected her forage and then took all of it to a secluded hammock to eat alone.

Burrito cradling an arm full of onions:

Little Foxie was having a great day roaming around the Hill and hanging out with friends!

Bonus Photos!

Rayne was asleep in a cozy nest up on one of the leaves in the Marmot Room.

And sweet Dora was hangout in the window ledge watching her caregivers cleaned her playroom.

Some Things Never Change

by

As we cautiously move forward with the group of 9 chimps, we are all trying to adjust to a “new” normal for schedules, shifting, and cleaning. Though we don’t know what the future holds for this group, I do want to express that even though we are “cautiously optimistic,” the chimps have worked so hard to build these relationships and their hard work has paid off! We are so proud of them and the way they have been able to navigate difficult social situations so far! While we humans may have helped facilitate these meet ups, they really deserve all the credit for making this group become nine, especially Cy! That guy really knows how to defuse a situation!

Meanwhile, on Jamie’s side of the building, some things never change. This morning Jamie took a nice leisurely stroll while I drove the gator beside her. Burrito and Missy chased each other up Young’s Hill as Annie followed peacefully behind. I took great comfort in doing something so familiar while we have all this change happening. So if today you needed something familiar to ground you and bring you comfort, I hope this video of the chimps on the Hill bring you some joy.

Don’t forget today is the last day for GiveBIG! We are so close to our goal, and you can help us get there!! Also, check out the article written about us in the Yakima Herald!

Grace took these awesome photos of Rayne relaxing in a box in the Oakwood greenhouse:

Earth Day, Today and Everyday

by

Today is Earth Day- a day to think about our impact on the earth, to learn how to live more sustainably, and to celebrate conservation and preservation of the environment.

Here at the sanctuary we work to be as sustainable as possible, with an active recycling program and food compost station (just to name a few). It’s hard, though, to not think about greater conservation issues when you spend your days working with a species that is currently classified as endangered by the IUCN, with wild populations of chimpanzees decreasing. I often find myself too overwhelmed to think about it, with the issue being so large and complex, but to honor the day it does seem appropriate to think about little things we can do to become more environmentally friendly in our everyday lives. My goal is to prioritize local and seasonal eating, along with learning how to compost our food scraps. What’s yours?

The chimpanzees got to celebrate Earth Day today as well, as it was another perfect day for a forage on Young’s Hill! Everyone seems to be enjoying the sunshine today – and what better way is there to appreciate Mother Earth?

Annie enjoying her forage, a thread:

 

Lucky basking in the sunshine of the Oakwood Greenhouse:

Jody enjoying some after-lunch yoga in the Greenhouse. Happy baby, anyone?

Happy Earth Day!