Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

young's hill

It takes a village…

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The Cle Elum Seven are lucky to have an army of humans at their disposal who all contribute directly to their well-being. Chimp house volunteers make sure the chimps always have good, healthy food, interesting enrichment, plenty of blankets, and a clean and safe place to live.

A few dedicated volunteers are chosen to continue on to the highest available level of training, and become direct caregivers to the chimpanzees. These are the volunteers who develop personal relationships with the chimps, serve their meals, play and groom with them, and get to know each individual intimately to ensure everyone’s needs are being met.

These volunteer caregivers become such a regular and seamless part of the chimps’ lives that it’s hard for everyone to say goodbye when the time comes. Volunteer Connie has been a constant presence in the chimp house for over six years, but this is her last week as a caregiver to the Cle Elum Seven since she is moving on to new adventures in another state. We haven’t yet figured out a legally sound way to require lifetime service from our volunteers, so we are forced to let her go. 🙂

In all seriousness, we will miss Connie’s smile, energy, and enthusiasm. She has been a wonderful friend to the chimps and humans at CSNW, and will always be a part of the family.

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Thank you to Connie and to all of our volunteers for helping these chimps live as happily and freely as possible.

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In memory of Carlene

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored in memory of Carlene Olson-Garza by her husband, Tony, and their family who send this special message:

“Today would of have been Carlene’s 58th birthday. She was an advocate for the great work CSNW is doing and an avid follower of the blog. We, her family, mark this day in memory of her by our continued support of the seven.”

As you may recall, as a result of our wonderfully successful Share the Chimp Love fundraiser in February we were able to build the chimpanzees a new climbing structure on Young’s Hill. As part of the campaign two generous families, one of which was the Garza family, won naming rights to the two towers. The tower with the roof was named Carlene’s Tower and the open-air tower was named Jamie’s Lookout by Joan and Pat Borders. And let me tell you the chimps have been loving this structure!!

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We here at the sanctuary, are honored by Carlene’s presence every day. When we walk around Young’s Hill with Jamie, we pass Carlene’s memorial stone along our new Memorial Walkway. Just in the distance of the walkway, is Carlene’s Tower. The chimpanzees sometimes take a detour during walks around the perimeter to climb up one of the towers and often sit quietly to take in the view before crossing over and down the other side to resume the walk. The only person we haven’t seen climb this amazing structure (yet!) is Negra. But she has ventured up to check things out and enjoy the abundance of wild mustard that grows below it in the spring.

To Carlene’s family, our hearts go out to you as you navigate your lives without this special woman whom you all clearly love so much. We are continually touched and inspired by all that you do to ensure her love of the chimpanzees continues. As we all celebrate Carlene’s life today, please know that not only you, but Carlene as well, make a difference in their lives every day. And we are so fortunate to have you all as part of our sanctuary family.

Missy taking in the view from Carlene’s Tower:

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Annie:

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Burrito:

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Boss lady, Jamie:

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Foxie, taking in the view from Jamie’s Lookout on the opposite side:

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Jamie:

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Sanctuary Vantage Points

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One of my all time favorite views of the sanctuary is from the top of Young’s Hill. From this spot you can see the Cascade Mountains and the Yakima River. You can see extensive forests of pine trees as well as the hustle and bustle of cars and trains going by. If you are lucky, you can spot chimpanzees taking full advantage of this beautiful weather.

Chimpanzees like Missy
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And Jamie
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Taking advantage of the good weather

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What a gorgeous day it turned out to be; not too hot, not too cold and not too windy. That’s a pretty good combination for spending time on Young’s Hill (the chimpanzees’ 2-acre outdoor enclosure) if you’re Negra chimpanzee. She tends to be pretty particular about when she chooses to venture out onto the hill and how long she will spend out there.

So, we took advantage of the great weather and set up a lunch forage on the hill. All of the chimpanzees spent quite a bit of time foraging. Some focused on gathering their favorite food items and eating those first, while others went more for the “sampler menu.” Lunch consisted of green onions, red cabbage, potatoes, green beans and primate chow.

As you can see in the following pictures, green onions were a big hit with Negra, Missy, Jamie and Annie.

Negra
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Missy
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Jamie and Annie (in the background).
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Burrito. Both he and Jody had their mouths and hands full of an assortment of food items.
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Jody
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And Foxie carried around two troll dolls in her mouth after she was done foraging. One of them was the same doll she carried yesterday.

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Foxie and her troll dolls

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If you have been following the blog, you may already know that Foxie has a deep fascination with troll and dora the explorer dolls. Most days she can be seen carrying at least one in her hands, feet, mouth or on her back. It’s not very often that she is without at least one doll. This morning she actually had three different troll dolls in her mouth and hands, two with red hair and one with bright pink hair.

Sometimes she has a hard time keeping track of that many when other chimpanzees are trying to play with her. That was the case this morning. Burrito and her laughed while playing in the Front Room area of their enclosure and she lost track of all three. After they were finished playing, she picked them up again and carried them into the Playroom. It wasn’t long after that I heard laughter again and when I went to see who was playing this time, it was her and Jamie. Jamie had both of the red-haired dolls and Foxie had the one with pink hair. After their play session was over, both red haired dolls were left on the ground and Foxie carried her pink-haired doll out to the Greenhouse. And she carried that same troll doll around for the rest of the day.

Foxie foraging for lunch on Young’s Hill.
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Here is another moment with Foxie and her pink-haired troll doll from this morning. Jamie is in the background eating lettuce.
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Missy has wings

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While Jamie and I walked around Young’s Hill yesterday, Missy decided to make her way across the hill via the highest points of the climbing structures. I think she traversed every climbing structure the chimps have on the hill, taking in the view from each spot. Walking is boring, if you’re Missy.

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As Jamie and I reached the top of Young’s Hill, Missy raced pass to the next climbing structure and we were greeted by Foxie, Dora and troll, who were on their way over to check out what was happening on the neighbor’s property. Foxie spent most of the morning sitting on the very top of the new structure. Balancing precariously (from my perspective, not hers) on the railing to be precise.  She spent over an hour all on her own, seemingly taking in the view in every direction from the highest lookout on the hill.

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Back to Missy, who took Jamie’s and Carlene’s Towers across the top of the hill. My heart will never tire of watching the chimpanzees as they take in the views from the hill. My heart swells thinking of the courage they’ve found to climb to such heights and sit peacefully in solitude. Can you just imagine the awe they must feel after having survived over 30 years in cages the size of bathroom stalls to now find themselves with the freedom to run, roam, and climb to their hearts’ content? The awe they must feel when taking in such a vast landscape after having lived in a windowless basement?

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You can just see Missy’s head at the bottom of the ladder as she looks toward Jamie and I at the bottom of the hill. At this point Missy ran full speed all the way down the hill and back to the greenhouse. But then, why walk when you can fly?

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Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for the support and love you so generously share with the chimpanzees. And thanks to all of you who were able to participate and make our amazing auction as amazing as it was. It’s each of you that make this life of awe, wonder and hope possible for the chimps.

Rainy day activities

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Today’s forecast called for rain and cooler temperatures, so we thought about what sorts of rainy day activities we could set up for the chimpanzees. The enrichment theme for the day was Fort Day, which seemed more than appropriate, so staff and volunteer caregiver Lizz set about building forts in the Greenhouse and Playroom with blankets.

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Jody is usually the one to take the forts apart in order to gather blankets for her nest, which is exactly what she did.
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Jamie took it upon herself to find the perfect rainy day activity in one of the Front Rooms. Notice the boot and magazines within her nest.
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Grooming is another perfect rainy day activity.
Jody
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But, it didn’t take long before the weather changed. Instead of more rain, the skies cleared up and the sun came out. So much for rainy day activities; the chimps moved on to foraging and spending time on Young’s Hill instead.

Burrito
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Foxie
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Jamie
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Don’t forget to check out the Summer Biddin’ online auction, which ends on September 1st. Bid on your favorite items and donate to help us exceed our fundraising goal!!