Phantom Nesting and Coconut Cracking

I hope you enjoy the video above and think about the different ways that primates (including human primates) learn. I was searching for other blog posts where we talked about phantom nesting and found this video from way back in 2010 that shows Burrito and Foxie phantom nesting. It goes with this blog post, which…

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Send Love to the Caregivers

Today is Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day, a day co-founded by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) & the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA), as a way to celebrate and recognize the contributions of animal caregivers to the sanctuary field. You know how amazing the staff and volunteer caregivers are at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. You know…

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In honor of the graduating primate students!

April Binder sponsored today’s day of sanctuary with this message: “Congrats to all 2024 graduates of CWU primate behavior programs – BS and MS!” Central Washington University and the primate program play a special role here at the sanctuary. Several staff members, past and present (present company included), got our start in this field at…

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Auctions and Legacies

I’m not sure how to start this post. Ultimately, it is about the legacy of support that’s possible and how that ties into the fast-approaching Sweet 16 Online Auction, with some history behind some of the pieces of artwork featured in the auction. The reality is that we’ve lost several donors over the past few…

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New Things Outside!

As Sabrina mentioned yesterday, we’ve had a crew of folks out yesterday and part of today making some wonderful enhancements to the outdoor habitats on both sides – Young’s Hill for the original group and The Bray for the group of nine from Wildlife Waystation. The motivated crew was led by none other than the…

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Forage in the Rain

There’s so much left to experience – for all of us! Thanks for those who have already given towards days like these via GiveBIG, either on our main page or my and Monica’s birthday page!

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Today is in honor of Monica and Love a Chimpanzee Day!

Join us in celebrating Love a Chimpanzee Day by honoring this day with a donation of any size on what also happens to be the first day of early giving for GiveBIG! Donate specifically in honor of Monica (leave a birthday note for her) on our joint birthday fundraising page or on our general GiveBIG…

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How do you know when Burrito wants to play?

We are always thinking about how we portray the chimpanzees. It’s easy to forget that our videos and social media posts reach people who don’t know much about the sanctuary, or sometimes much about chimpanzees in captivity in general. When I was starting to put together today’s video, I had that in mind, and instead…

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Today is Sponsored for Jason Merritt!

Join us in celebrating Jason Merritt today! Jason is connected to the sanctuary in many ways. His wife Krissy and he live locally and they have been supporters of the sanctuary for years. Krissy is also an extremely dedicated volunteer, currently transitioning to paid staff (more on that in a later post). Jason is an…

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More of Brave Mave on the Bray

As J.B. excitedly described last week, Mave finally decided to explore the outdoors. We don’t know what prompted her newfound bravery, but we are here for it! And so, apparently, is Gordo.

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Ten Seconds

Every ten second counts at the sanctuary. What was your favorite 10 second clip from the video? Isn’t it exciting to see Mave and Honey B outside??!! It still takes a little bit of drama for them to go out, but today Mave ventured out in between actual conflicts, which I think was a first!…

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