Counting up the years to the present day, today is a brief look at the Cle Elum Seven’s third year of sanctuary.

Year Three was a time of both settling in and preparing for further adventures as we worked on the construction of the chimps’ two-acre outdoor enclosure that we now call Young’s Hill.

The chimps continued to spend lots of time in the greenhouse year-round as staff and volunteers prepped the hill for future excitement.

Jody’s Birthday Spa Day

They also reaped the seeds sown by the staff’s and volunteer Denice’s labor in the sanctuary’s garden:

And we all got to see more of the chimps’ personalities come to light, sometimes in amusing ways. This is one of my favorite videos of that period that illustrates Jamie’s reign:

Jamie’s love of cowboy/girl boots continued, with her occasionally getting a boot that she would wear:

Cowgirl Jamie

These boots were made for walkin’

And Foxie’s love of troll dolls did not wane in the least:

Historically, it was also the year that we, along with other groups, urged supporters to put pressure on the National Institutes of Health to reverse a decision to move chimpanzees into active research from the Alamogordo Primate Facility. Looking back, this public pressure was part of a turning point for chimpanzees, and likely helped in the NIH decision to stop using chimpanzees in federally-sponsored research. Today, these same chimpanzees are now slated to go to Chimp Haven in Louisiana! At the time, however, it was uncertain what their fate would be.

At lot has changed for the better in the last few years, both for the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and the outlook for other chimpanzees in captivity. Looking back can be a really good thing.

Next up for tomorrow: the year of Young’s Hill!!