Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

young's hill

So many reasons to party!

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Spring is in full swing at the sanctuary! Old friends returned from the long winter and we’ve seen the first butterflies, bees, and even our friend, Ellie, the neighborhood elk is back from her roaming. The air is literally humming with bird flight and birdsong and buds and flowers are finally unfurling under a bluebird sky and warming sun. We’re suddenly supposed to see temperatures in the upper 70’s, near 80 by week’s end. Also springing up over the weekend was the chimpanzees’ brand new play structure on Young’s Hill!

The new structure was funded by donations from HOOT! 2017 from Pat Cattolico, Meg Lunnum, and Richard and Lisa Stuverud, who donated during the event at the Care Corner towards a “new small structure” – J.B. maybe has a different idea of “small” than most people!

With plans and materials in hand, we had an incredible group of volunteers spend their weekend to help J.B. execute his plans. After a great crew on Saturday to include Andy, Drew, John and Ray, we were fortunate to have another amazing bunch to finish things up on Sunday, which included chimp house student volunteers, Caroline, Ruth and Blanca, and members of our local community, Natalie, Greg and the Habitat for Humanity crew! If you saw the Sponsor-a-Day post earlier today you had a glimpse of the building in progress, but here’s a few more perspectives of the process:

Even pine trees and raspberries were planted on the hill (we’ll see if they survive Jody’s adventurous eating habits!).

So with today being our ninth annual honorary “Love a Chimpanzee Day” (thanks to long-time friend of the chimps’, Monica Best), naturally, the only thing left to do was throw a big party! We had a breakfast forage on the structure and the chimps’ had an amazing mix of fresh jackfruit (!), oranges, tomatoes, watermelon, banana, grapes, primate chow, and the cherry on top? One whole fresh coconut placed at the very top of the structure.

When I opened the door to the hill the entire family headed out together with Negra leading the way out of the raceway! While everyone else headed straight for the structure, Negra made a stop at her cabin first to check for treats:

Missy was first up!

Everyone quickly made their way to the top. Here’s Jamie:

Missy with a beloved WHOLE tomato!

Foxie:

Missy:

Either no one immediately noticed the coconut at the top, or everyone was just played it cool until they saw an opportunity to grab it without attracting the attention of the others. Jody walking right on by (for now):

Foxie and Dora:

Missy and Jamie:

Missy:

Even Negra made it up the first couple of levels:

Jody and Foxie:

Annie!

And it was Jody who veeery carefully snatched that coconut! Somehow she kept it together all during the forage, acting nonchalant while keeping an eye on boss lady, Jamie (who being the boss, per chimp society, has the right to claim that coconut from anyone). Once Jody made it back to the greenhouse she could no longer contain her excitement and stopped to give us all a bouncy greeting and then sit with her spoils while making her classic “dinosaur” noises (low moans, Jody style). But she ended up leaving the coconut behind to head back out for more of the forage and who do you think was sooo happy to find that coconut unguarded??…

Burrito!! In the end, Jamie did wind up with it, but by day’s end everyone got to share in a second coconut.

To be honest, we have SO many photos of the construction of the structure, the chimps’ first moments checking it out last night and today, that these are the tip of the iceberg. There will be many more photos in the days to come.

To be able to continually improve the chimpanzees’ home with new and exciting forms of enrichment, to make each year of their lives better than the last, to see so many individuals come together to support the chimps in so many different ways, it’s nothing short of a privilege and honor to witness and be part of. From our hearts, we thank all of you who made this possible for the chimps.

And oh! I almost forgot! What are we going to name this new climbing structure?! We are spinning some ideas around, but we welcome your suggestions for possible names!

It’s Love a Chimpanzee Day!

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It’s that time of year again! The official-unofficial holiday, “Love a Chimpanzee Day”! Long-time supporter and friend of the sanctuary, Monica Best, crowned April 23rd as Love a Chimpanzee Day nine years ago and she continues to sponsor this wonderful day each year in honor of: “My seven favorite chimps and all the wonderful staff, volunteers and donors who help care for them so they can have: Hope. Love. Home….SANCTUARY.” Monica shared this note about the celebration:

“LOVE A CHIMPANZEE DAY. A day to honor all chimpanzees, in sanctuaries, zoos, the wild and especially those waiting in labs to come home to find sanctuary. We will never forget you and we will never leave you behind. We won’t quit till every chimp; from research labs, the entertainment industry, backyard zoos and anywhere else they are mistreated and forbidden to live a life free of fear and pain, have found SANCTUARY.”

Monica, thank you for living life from your generous and compassionate heart. You play a big role in helping to ensure these chimps, and so many of our fellow animals, have the kind of lives they deserve and we’re so grateful for you being in the world. And thank you for making up this wonderful holiday! We can never have too much to celebrate when it comes to these seven amazing individuals!

In perfect timing, we get to share what’s been happening on the hill with you all today! The AMAZING new structure for the chimps built by staff and incredible volunteers was finished yesterday afternoon! We can’t wait to show you more and today’s celebration for a breakfast forage on the new structure is underway!

The finishing touches:

The first inspection!

Work Play Work

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Well today was full of anticipation! By 9 am J.B. and our amazing volunteers were out building this SPECTACULAR climbing structure and yes that word does have to be in all caps because it is that stunning. The structure has a little bit of everything for every chimp and these chimps could not wait to get out on Young’s Hill and check it out! However, the chimps could not go out on the Hill until it was done. They waited so patiently and found ways to stay busy! Jamie monitored the volunteers cleaning and the volunteers helping with the structure, Neggie napped in the nice and toasty Greenhouse, Burrito played chase, and Missy, Jody, Annie, & Foxie played some wild games! Jody was half pilo all day just from all the excitement, she was so excited she was even playing like crazy with Missy today. For not being able to go on the Hill most of the day these chimps were in great moods!

Jody a little pilo:

Negra:

We really put our volunteers to work today:

Volunteer working hard:

The chimps loved the final product:

 

Quiet friends

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This morning we watched the chimps go out on Young’s Hill for their first adventure of the day. They did their usual scatter into the wind technique, each chimp moving in a different direction, checking out all the changes that occurred overnight. The chimps all have different priorities when they’re outside, but there is usually a lot of chasing (especially between Annie and Missy) and serious perimeter patrolling (done by Jamie). As Katelyn and I observed the chimps flit in and out of our view, we saw two figures come hiking down the far off edge of the hill together.

Jody was following Foxie diligently on a perimeter patrol. Foxie would periodically break into a playful jog in front of her.

These two don’t have quite as famous a relationship as Annie and Missy, but they do spend a lot of time together. Whether it be grooming or exploring, they have a special quiet friendship that seems to suit them just fine.

Happy Birthday, Ramona!

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Happiest of birthdays to Ramona Isbell, who graciously chose to celebrate her special day by sponsoring a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees and sharing her birthday money with them!

Ramona, thank you so much for including the chimps in your happiness and heart! Your gift of sanctuary means the world to the chimps and all of us who love them. Have a beautiful day!

Missy:

Foxie:

For the thrill of it

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When Jamie decides she wants to go for a walk with a caregiver, there is almost always one chimp that decides to join the hike. Quite often, it’s Missy, but it isn’t always so obvious at first. Instead of following close behind, Missy makes sure to give Jamie a big head start so she can properly race to catch up.

Missy finds so much happiness in simply running as fast as she can, it’s hard to imagine her previous life spent warehoused in a basement.

Tiny’s Big Adventure

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Foxie may be tiny (it’s even one of our terms of endearment for her), but her courageous and adventurous spirit are limitless. And while it may take her awhile to warm up to new things, once she makes up her mind to do something, she does it.

If you’ve been following the chimps for awhile you’ve probably seen Foxie and her dolls scaling the highest points on the structures of Young’s Hill and even bravely (and nerve-wrackingly) traversing the slippery metal roof of one. But the one structure we humans haven’t seen her conquer yet, despite numerous attempts, is the Twister. She approaches it with determination and cautiously climbs part way up and every time we watch with bated breath wondering, “Is today the day she’s going to the top?!” But then as she gazes up at the very top to the crow’s nest, she decides she’s not quite ready and climbs back down, moving on to other adventures. Today, that changed.

Jody and Foxie headed up the hill with what appeared to be a sense of determination. Foxie was the first to start climbing the Twister and paused at her usual stopping point.

And then in a flash Jody headed past Foxie all the way up to the top of the Twister which seemed to bolster Foxie’s confidence.

And then it began. Foxie taking slow, cautious steps higher and higher toward her friend, Jody, who was waiting at the top. I could barely contain my excitement for Foxie (as those on the other end of the radio can attest to with my frequent shouts and squeals). I kept expecting her to turn back at any moment, but she kept going.

Once she reached the crow’s nest she found a spot to sit, hanging on precariously and appearing a little uneasy. By this time, Jody had descended the other side and was sitting on a nearby log below watching Foxie. I thought Foxie might decide that was high enough for one day.

Nope! All the way to the top of the crow’s nest!! I raised my arms in the air cheering for her and giving her a head nod which she returned along with a playful thump of approval.

This. Face!!

Foxie spent a couple minutes from her new view point and then began trying to figure out how to get back down. First she attempted to go over the side:

Then reassessed the situation and went back through the crow’s nest:

Her leg would swing around as she precariously attempted to find footing she felt comfortable with, but then she steadily made her way back down:

Yeah, Fox!

While Jody was waiting for Foxie she picked herself a quick pine tree snack and then rushed over to meet Foxie at the bottom of the Twister:

And in classic Jody style, she escorted her brave friend all the way back to the greenhouse, continually stopping along the way to reassure Foxie and make sure was following her, like the good friend she is:

I realize some of you might be thinking, “Yeesh, she’s a chimp! That’s what chimps are supposed to do! What’s all the hullabaloo?!” But when you consider the very small world in which Foxie, and all the chimps, lived for so long and that every ounce of their courage was needed just to get through each day, to get through the most unimaginable of losses, it’s nothing short of miraculous to see the healing and leaps of bravery that continue to occur almost ten years later. And it makes your heart burst right out of your chest seeing all their innate courage finally getting to be used to expand and enrich their world, their hearts and their spirits in whichever way is meaningful to them.