Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

young's hill

Annie’s 51st Birthday!

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Today we celebrated Annie’s 51st birthday! Today’s party menu was really fun, all planned by our very own Dr. Erin Zamzow.

  • Obviously Sunflowers for Annie!
  • Lettuces bowls filled with rice noodles, tofu, green onions, cucumbers, red peppers, purple cabbage, with a drizzle of peanut sauce! (Annie and Foxie loved these bowls)
  • Heads of lettuce & bok choy
  • Lychee, Dragon fruit, & grapes were in the bowls or spread around as well!
  • And sparkling cider, to top it all off!

I honestly can say, I can’t believe Annie is 51, I hope I age as gracefully as she has! I love celebrating Annie because she is a quieter chimp. Annie is the type of chimp that is usually busy with her chimp friends and does not demand a lot from her caregivers. One could say she is a little bit more low key, which is why she deserves a big party to celebrate her. Annie is a genuinely sweet soul, she has many different layers to her, but to her core she is a gentle and kind, unless she is grooming, she is not so gentle then ;). It has been an honor to watch Annie turn 51 and see her flourish in sanctuary. Though she may be lower ranking, every year we watch Annie become more comfortable, a little bolder, and more content.

I also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Paulette for generously sponsoring Annie’s birthday party today!

Jenna went out this morning to get more sunflowers from a local farm, you can never have too many sunflowers!                 

Annie and Foxie pretty much had a private party out on Young’s Hill, while everyone else foraged in the Greenhouse. Look out for the party video tomorrow!

Annie:

Bonus of Foxie:

Breakfast With Burrito And Friends

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Today started very Fall like.  This morning was a little darker, a little drizzly and a little bit chilly.   The chimpanzees are really enjoying the cooler temperatures, and Jamie’s group of 6 headed right out onto Young’s Hill for their morning patrol.  Even Negra ventured out, with a doll tucked into her pelvic pocket!

Come breakfast time, everyone meandered in from the Hill at their own pace.  And surprisingly, Annie was the last one in, making Burrito pretty impatient for his breakfast!  But then, Burrito doesn’t like to sit still for anything.

Come have breakfast with the chimps!

Forage Friday

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Today was a beautiful day in the PNW! George started out getting access to the Bray. He wandered outside for a few hours and even took a nap on one of the structures. J.B. snapped a bunch of photos of him! Here’s one down below as a sneak peek.

Around lunch, all the groups had a forage. Check out some forage photos below!

George on The Bray this morning:

Negra extending her arm to J.B. out on Young’s Hill:

Cy during today’s lunch forage on The Bray:

George up-close:

Lucky foraging corn on The Bray:

Lucky (R) and Rayne (L) out on Ryan’s Lookout on The Bray:

Rayne:

Terry foraging on The Bray:

Foxie’s Favorite

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Today, Foxie and her twin baby doll friends went for a stroll around Young’s Hill.  It’s unusual to find Foxie out and about without at least one of her “babies”.

Since her recent birthday, Foxie has been toting around one or more of her brand new dolls everywhere she goes.  She takes them to meals, she naps with them, she plays games with them, and she goes on long walks with them.

Foxie LOVES her dolls!  She carries them in her mouth, on her back, or in her pelvic pocket.  She kisses them, tosses them, asks caregivers to babysit them, and she even disciplines them when needed.

Dolls are Foxie’s absolute favorite form of enrichment!

My favorite form of enrichment is a good book, especially a thriller!  I’m currently reading The Only One Left by Riley Sager.

What’s your favorite form of enrichment?

Speaking of enrichment…our wish lists are chock-full of enrichment items and other staples that can be donated to keep our chimps as happy and healthy as can be!  Thank you for checking it out!

Gordo Turns 37!

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Today is Gordo’s birthday! There is so much to love about Gordo Chimpanzee. He is quirky and fun, always keeping us on our toes (quite literally) with games of chase filled with bunny hops. He also loves to be tickled with a long-handled spoon, and will come to insist he be involved if you dare tickle someone else in his presence. He is a box enthusiast, and can often be found sitting inside even the smallest of boxes. He doesn’t like to get his feet dirty, and while he prefers to be served his meals in the greenhouses, he will almost always bring something with him to sit on so his feet aren’t on the ground (this could be rolling up a large ball to sit on, pulling up a box to sit in, or even perching on top of a single page from one of Cy’s magazines). He enjoys spending time out on The Bray, and in the quiet moments of the day can often be found grooming with his friend Terry. While he is not the first one you’d think of as a protector for his group (that would be Cy!), I still think of him as such, but perhaps in less obvious ways. He is there to destroy a magazine for Cy if one of the pictures is scaring him, and the first one to spit on caregivers in defense of his friends when we do anything he perceives as weird (such as laser therapy for wounds). We are so lucky to get to know and love Gordo! I’m linking a past blog video of one of my favorite Gordo memories here, in case you need more Gordo in your day.

Gordo’s birthday was filled with some of his favorite things…boxes, LOTS of smoothies, and mangoes. Many thanks to Paulette Wrisley for sponsoring Gordo’s birthday today! Enjoy the many faces of Gordo enjoying his birthday mangoes!

We went with a Christmas in July theme thanks to a recent donation of wrapping paper from one of our generous donors. We wrapped Gordo’s boxes with wrapping paper, and he (and his friends) enjoyed opening their gifts.

Terry with his present haul.

Rayne with her box.

Lucky watches Rayne open her box.

Jamie’s group enjoyed celebrating Gordo’s birthday as well with a lunch forage consisting of lots of tiny smoothies, pineapple, cherries, sugar snap peas, mini peppers, and grape tomatoes. Foxie was the first one out on Young’s Hill and snagged a smoothie for herself!

Foxie on the move with a doll in one hand, and a cherry stem in her mouth.

Burrito and Foxie on the Hill.

Burrito with a tiny smoothie.

Beautiful Morning

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As I went to let Jamie’s group outside this morning, I noticed Negra was waiting by the door in anticipation of being the first one out. I always know its going to be a good day if Negra wants to be the first chimp out onto Young’s Hill. It’s cheesy, but the song, A Beautiful Morning by The Rascals, popped into my head. It seemed pretty fitting for such a lovely morning to be watching all the chimps go out and enjoy this beautiful spring morning. On the other side of the building, Honey B and Dora were up to their normal antics of laughing, playing, and relishing in each others company! Click here for the video.