Posts by Debbie
Play and laughter
Everyone needs a good laugh… sometimes it takes friends to get a smile out of us, and other times we can make ourselves crack up.
Read MoreNew workbench
The chimpanzees received a new workbench through our Amazon wishlist! Jamie and Annie were both very interested. Classic Jamie first pulled out the instruction manual before fiddling with the tools themselves (maybe she was trying to undo all my hard work in putting it together!) Annie is not always the first to play with tools…
Read MoreTake Action Tuesday: Help save chimpanzees in Cameroon!
A U.S. company called Herakles Farms is planning to begin a palm oil plantation in Cameroon near the border of Nigeria. Chimpanzees and gorillas live in these forests, and in fact the most endangered subspecies of each ape are living in that region. The Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee population (a.k.a. Elliot’s chimpanzee) is estimated to be approximately 3,500…
Read MoreBoots
Jamie isn’t the only chimp that loves boots here at the sanctuary! Every once in awhile, we notice someone else inspecting the boots when Jamie sets them down for a moment. Jody: Negra: Missy: (and Diana)
Read MoreNegra and Annie play
Volunteers Connie, Annie, Lynn and myself finished cleaning the playroom and I was about to let them go enjoy a pumpkin seed forage appetizer before their lunch on Young’s Hill, but had to pause for a minute to watch these two unusual play partners wrestle and laugh. At 40, Negra is the eldest of the…
Read MoreA blog retrospective of Jamie
People often ask me who my favorite chimpanzee is. I don’t really like trying to pick one—and to be honest, I can’t. Each of the Cle Elum Seven are unique and awesome in their own way and I love them all. But I would say that I have the best relationship with Jamie. Sometimes, there…
Read MoreMeet the Chimpanzees of Kanyawara
Most of our advocacy work focuses on issues close to home, like the entertainment industry, apes as pets, and biomedical research. As caregivers for the Cle Elum Seven, our expertise at CSNW lies in the plight of captive chimpanzees. We see the Cle Elum Seven as ambassadors for other chimpanzees that still are used in…
Read MoreA mouthful
Chimps have amazing lips. They’re called “prehensile” which means they actually can grab things with their lips. (That word might be familiar… you may have heard of some monkey species with prehensile tails, and they can grab things and hang from things with their tail). Because of this super awesome trait, chimps use their lips…
Read MoreZen Negra
Some of you may have seen this photo posted on our Facebook page yesterday, but if you missed it—here it is. Sure to make anyone smile!
Read MoreMissy and pea tendrils
Today we put out a lunch forage which included peas, as well as the pea shoots and tendrils which the chimps love! Missy gathered some up: and went to a nice high spot to munch on them. I love the vast space they have on Young’s Hill—this really captures that. As if that didn’t brighten your…
Read MoreExtra photos
As you can imagine, we take hundreds of photos of the chimps. Who wouldn’t? They’re so photogenic and a really good lookin’ crew. Sometimes not all of our photos make it to the blog. Today, I found these of each of the chimps taken in the last month or so, but never-before-seen! Annie: Jody: Missy:…
Read MoreChimpanzee Teeth
Apes (humans included) all have the same dentition pattern, which is a fancy way of saying we have the same number of teeth, and in the same order, across the board. We also have baby teeth, or “milk teeth,” that we loose when the adult teeth come in. One difference between our dentition is that…
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