Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
There are many different stories that unfold throughout the day in the lives of the chimpanzees. Though caregivers aren’t always around to get footage of each and every story, they happen regardless. One thing that intertwines all these stories together is life in sanctuary.
Some bonus photos:
Negra eating a breakfast pomegranate.
Mave and Dora holding hands.
Burrito making his way up Young’s Hill on the first day after the renovations.
Some photos of Burrito with the rose bush!
Today was a beautiful day for a lunch forage on Young’s Hill! While it is still quite cold, the sun was out which overall made the day more tolerable. The forage included red onions, mini sweet peppers, and tomatoes. Here are some photos from today’s forage! As you will see, Negra was too fast for my rookie camera skills. Enjoy!
Foxie:
Jamie:
Missy:
Burrito:
Here is evidence that Negra did go on the hill… hold the applause for these excellent photos (camera couldn’t focus in time).
Negra:
On Friday, I posted two photos of “Mystery Lips”. Many of you got #2 correct, but #1 appeared to be more difficult. How did you do?!
Mystery Lips #1:
Mystery Lips #1 belong to……. CY!
Mystery Lips #2:
Mystery Lips #2 belongs to…… HONEY B!
A few weeks ago, Jen Feuerstein made a comment suggesting we should have a game where we guess how many blankets are in the very popular hangout spot, aka Room 7. So instead of guessing how many candies are in the jar…
How many blankets do you think are in Room 7? We will post the answer tomorrow!
Well, we have some exciting news! I am not sure if anyone picked up on Anthony or Chad’s very subtle hints, but today Jamie’s group received access back to the new and improved Young’s Hill! For those who might be wondering about Cy’s group, the Bray Hill isn’t quite ready yet.
This afternoon, watching the seven go back out into their outdoor enclosure was a spectacular event to witness! I will share a few highlights of the day and tomorrow JB will have a video with more details to share!
Annie trying out new structures:
Burrito exploring:
Fearless little Foxie:
Missy and Annie inspecting:
Jody:
Jody and Foxie checking out their new structure:
Chad took this photo of Jamie. To me, this photo is the epitome of sanctuary:
Also this photo of Jamie, she looks so happy:
Maybe one of the best highlights of the day is Missy being the first to climb the trees! We humans and probably Jo were all holding our breath, but also so excited to watch Missy agilely climb a tree for the first time EVER!!!
Jody watching Missy climb a tree:
Jody and Annie monitoring Missy closely from the ground:
“Here I sit beneath a tree. Heartbeat calm. Soul hums free.”
– Angie Weiland-Crosby
A couple of years ago, Caregiver Anthony wrote a blog about some of the lingo we use around the sanctuary. As staff prepare for the day to end, one of the things we do is a head count of each chimpanzee to ensure they are off of Young’s Hill and aren’t out in the cold at night. When we are able to close off Young’s Hill (at Jamie’s discretion that is), we announce over the radio “the chimps are off the hill.” It is one of the more common announcements made over the radio that can be heard around the sanctuary.
As J.B. mentioned a couple of months ago, the construction around the Young’s Hill expansion and The Bray is picking up. Well, we have reached the point of that blog where Jamie’s group will not have access to Young’s Hill for a little bit. As caregivers, we are obviously conflicted by this. On one hand, they will not have access to Young’s Hill. On the other hand, their outside habitat is expanding and Cy’s group will get the opportunity to venture into The Bray. Plus there’s the addition of new climbing structures and flora for them to interact with. There are cost and benefits to everything, and I personally think the benefits are astronomical in comparison to the cost of some time off Young’s Hill.
So please excuse the hiatus of seeing photos of the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill. They will still have access to their greenhouse, which still provides them with fresh air and sunshine during this time.
And enjoy these recent photos!
Missy and Annie on their morning patrol before coming in to make way for construction.
Terry enjoying one of his favorite food puzzles: Boomer Balls!
Honey B falling into slumber while watching the humans clean.
Cy catching up on his reading during National Read a Book Day!
Honey B enjoying lunch in the Oakwood Greenhouse!
Hi, everyone! It’s a *beautiful* Sunday here in Cle Elum and it feels like everyone’s enjoying it. Right now I can see Cy on the security monitors relaxing in the Mezzanine with a new magazine, a few mall walkers walkin’, and Jamie’s group relaxing after a lunch forage on Young’s Hill. For today’s forage we had baked sweet potatoes, mini sweet peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers… And the chimps were so very excited. Baking fruits and veggies might seem like no big deal to us humans, but the chimps (for the most part) love it when they get baked foods. Whether it be the texture change or the natural sweetness that comes from baking a fruit, they get all worked up in the best way.
Speaking of mealtimes, the other day I was sitting with Gordo at dinner and he allowed me to snag a few videos of him eating. If you’re anything like me, it is the bane of your existence when you can hear another human chewing their meals. It’s not logical, I know, but something about it just gives me uncomfortable goosebumps. Having the opportunity to sit and listen to the chimps eat, though, is the best. The humans have talked about it and for some reason most of us feel the same way- listening to the chimps eat with their food grunts, lip smacks, and munchin’ sounds just makes you smile.
You might not believe me and that’s okay, but don’t worry- I’ve compiled a six minute long video of the chimps munchin’ away to try and change your mind. 🙂
P.S: don’t forget that our annual fundraiser is coming up next week! On Friday, September 16th we will be celebrating the chimps at HOOT! 2022! You can read more on the celebration in Diana’s blog post here, but you can still purchase tickets for both in-person and virtual festivities. We will have a live and silent auction, with items so good that some of us caregivers are trying to figure out how to snag them without Diana noticing, and if you sign up for a VIP ticket (for either in-person or virtual) you will be registered to attend an exclusive, virtual tour of the sanctuary! Join us to celebrate the chimps and sanctuary next week! 🙂 See more by clicking here.
P.P.S: As a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit organization, we rely on your support to provide lifetime quality care and sustainable sanctuary for our residents. There are a variety of ways to support us- like helping us reach our goal of being rated a 2022 Great Top-Rated nonprofit by GreatNonprofits! It’s as easy as going here and clicking “Share Your Story”. The humans, and the residents, of CSNW say thanks in advance!
Now, some photos from today’s forage on Young’s Hill! 🙂
Annie, enjoying some peppers:
Burrito, mid-swing:
Missy snagging a tomato:
Negra searching for baked sweet potatoes:
No matter what day it is or what is going on, there are always little moments in the chimp house that center you. Today’s video is a compilation of these little, precious moments. 🙂 Plus some photos, too!
Gordo in his box:
We also celebrated the lovely weather today with a forage on Young’s Hill! Everyone in Jamie’s group participated and enjoyed fresh corn, mini sweet peppers, and tomatoes.
Missy:
Jody:
Can you spot the Jamie?
Burrito:
Annie, left, and Missy, right:
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Hi, everyone, and welcome to the birthday edition of our daily blog! Today, we celebrated Missy’s 47th birthday. She adores all things tomato, so of course we had to have tomatoes at every turn for her birthday party. Missy is a special chimp who is more acrobatic than any human I know- seriously, she will sprint across Young’s Hill in no time. It is very impressive. She often spends time in play sessions with her BFF Annie (there might be a few extra precious clips of this on today’s blog:) ) and she is witty, loyal to her friends, and often too cool for her human caregivers.
Missy’s journey to sanctuary has been a special one. Back in 2014, Diana wrote a blog post about Missy and how she almost didn’t make it to CSNW. Diana said it best, so I have copied some of that blog here:
“About a month before the chimpanzees left Buckshire in Pennsylvania (the private facility that owned them and leased them to different laboratories for decades), all of the chimps had health check-ups. During these check-ups, the veterinarian discovered that Foxie and Missy had uterine tumors.
Buckshire quickly arranged for both of them to have hysterectomies. The surgeries went fine, but when they were transporting Missy back to Buckshire, she crashed. She was brought back to the veterinarian under manual ventilation and had a very weak pulse. From what we were told, they “worked on her for 10 minutes and brought her back.”
We didn’t find out about this until later, and it came as a shock to know that she was so close to not having her chance to enjoy a sanctuary home. It remains a reminder to me that each moment of sanctuary, each moment of life, is invaluable.”
We are grateful every day for Missy, her group of 7, and the newly integrated group of 9. Every moment spent with them or in their presence is unique and priceless.
Happy, happy birthday to you, Missy!!!!
Cy’s group also got to celebrate and that video will be coming tomorrow (thanks, Kelsi!). 🙂
One more note- there is still time to register for the Chimpanzees in Need virtual update meeting on Friday, August 26th at 4pm PT! We are so close to safely re-homing all of the Wildlife Waystation chimps and this will be a short online Zoom meeting where NAPSA will share updates on construction of new homes, transportation efforts, and where we are with raising the funds to complete the campaign this year. There will also be an update from us, CSNW, on how the 9 are doing! Be sure to register now and tune in for the update.
Now, some photos of Missy throughout the day:
One of our favorite party decorations:
Burrito enjoying the forage:
Negra, enjoying her loot from the forage in the comfort of the green house:
Jamie watching everyone participate in the forage:
Thank you to everyone who donated party items for today!!
