Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
One super cool and unique auction item we have for Hoot! is the opportunity to photograph the chimpanzees with a lesson from professional photographers Karen Ducey and Dean Rutz, using long telephoto lenses and other professional-grade equipment! This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities!
Maybe the winner will be able to catch some photos like these of the first elusive, then charming Foxie with her troll dolls on Young’s Hill:
One of our missions at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is to advocate for apes everywhere, which is why we developed the program Eyes on Apes. The idea is to have one centralized area for people to learn about issues that apes face both in captivity and in the wild, while providing tools for you to take action.
There’s a lot of great information on the pages for each of the issues (entertainment, pets, roadside zoos, biomedical research, and free-living issues in Africa and Asia).
One thing we just added were some pages on individual trainers in the entertainment industry. This is a really nice resource for people to have when you hear about a chimp in a commercial or movie and are curious what it is like for them with their trainers. Each page lists facts about the trainers, any relevant USDA citations, and links to our action alerts about productions these trainers were involved in.
Please share this site with your friends, and help raise awareness for apes everywhere! You can ask them to sign up for our Take Action list in order to get action alerts and help make a difference for apes everywhere.
Take a look through all the pages—there’s been some makeovers throughout the site, like this informational map showing the current vs. historical population of African apes:
And, since this was a little bit of a wordy post, I thought I’d throw in a picture of Negra from this morning’s breakfast forage on Young’s Hill:
Sometimes, Annie will sit out on Young’s Hill to just take in the view and feel the sun on her back, even if no one is sitting there with her. We used to say that Annie wouldn’t do much without Missy by her side, but that’s not how we describe Annie anymore. She is fine being on her own.
It’s only for a short while though, because of course her friend Missy will run out to play chase at full speed.
During the lunch forage on Young’s Hill today, Jody and Missy found their own treats. As volunteer Connie pointed out, this could be the last of the tire ice for the season!
Jody:
Missy:
Finally, the official end to winter is upon us and the first day of spring arrives tomorrow! The chimpanzees have been very quiet today and have spent most of the day lounging in the warm greenhouse and playroom, in between “sun showers” and brief runs on Young’s Hill. There has been a lot of grooming with each other and their caregivers, stretching out lazily in cozy nests, and just gazing out the windows. Jamie, of course, has still managed to get several walks around the hill in with her caregivers. In between projects of her own making she has also successfully managed to keep track of everyone else and what we are all doing. It’s hard work being the boss. But her ability to pull it all off as only Jamie can is never questioned.
I can’t wait to see what another spring in sanctuary brings for the chimpanzees and their lives. Something tells me it’s going to bring even more forms of growth and renewal for them.
We tend to use the zoom lens when taking photos of the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill. This allows for a close-up view of the chimps, but doesn’t give much of a sense of what it’s like to see the chimps on two acres of land. Some of my favorite photos are those in which the chimps are just specks on the larger landscape.
Foxie and Missy:
Jamie, Missy, and Jody:
Jamie:
Negra:
Missy and Foxie:
Jamie:
Most of the chimpanzees think being outside on Young’s Hill is worth tolerating some less than ideal weather conditions. Jamie even went for a perimeter walk in the rain recently.
But Negra has her standards. If the weather is less than perfect in any way, she wants no part of the outdoors. Luckily, today is beautiful and Negra was happy to participate in the lunch forage on Young’s Hill.
