Posts by Diana
Year Six
Continuing the trip down memory lane in celebration of the sanctuary’s 8th anniversary, today is all about the Cle Elum Seven’s sixth year of sanctuary. After the harrowing experience of the Taylor Bridge Fire in the late summer of 2012, our thoughts continued to turn towards safety and security. We put the finishing touches on…
Read MoreA Day of Sanctuary in Honor of Ben & Annie
Today’s day of sanctuary is sponsored by Elliott Sumers for Ben Sumers and Annie “who treat humans and animals with love and respect.” Thank you Elliott, Ben and Annie! It seems fitting to share some photos of beautiful Annie chimpanzees today. Happy Saturday, everyone!
Read MoreYear Three
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…
Read MoreYear One
Today marks the eighth anniversary of the arrival of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees–Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra–to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and a celebration of Negra’s 43rd birthday. It’s so hard for me to believe that eight years have already passed since the chimps’ arrival, and it’s even harder for me to…
Read MoreMeandering Night Adventures
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know a few things about Jamie–that she likes to patrol the outdoor area, that she likes to have the humans join her on the other side of the fence on these patrols, and that she often keeps the humans late at night in the summer…
Read MoreSpeaking on Captivity
Captivity. It’s been in the news a lot, and I know on a lot of our minds. It is simply a fact of everyday life and work when your occupation is caring for chimpanzees in a sanctuary. We go to great lengths to ensure that the chimpanzees are unable to breach the barriers we have…
Read MoreBirthday Wishes for Alisa
Today must be a magical day, because two wonderful people were born on this day who have loved ones that sponsored a day of sanctuary in their honor. For the 2nd sponsor-a-day, Ed Brooks shared this loving message for Alisa Lemire Brooks: Alisa loves animals with a boundless passion. She works on behalf of animals struggling…
Read MoreIntermission
This brief intermission in your day is brought to you by Jamie Chimpanzee. The roses grow wild on the sanctuary property. Normally, it is Jody who is the first to go for them, but Jamie was quite delighted by a bounty of roses spread out in the front rooms last weekend.
Read Morethis is what it’s all about
After a very successful gala and the outpouring of support for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s plans to expand, plus the incredibly exciting and long-awaited public announcement about the new sanctuary in Georgia, Project Chimps, I had all sorts of profound and deeply-felt sentiments to share in this blog post. But then, this morning, I filmed Foxie…
Read MoreWater and Ice Enrichment on a Hot Day
There’s a whole crew of people here building a new structure on Young’s Hill today! We will do a big reveal on Monday, so start making your predictions as to what the structure will look like. Because there are humans on the hill, the chimpanzees don’t have access. And today is HOT! It feels like…
Read MoreNEGRA on the Final Day of HOOT!
Tonight is the night – 212 attendees, 25 volunteers and staff, and approximately two co-directors will descend upon The Foundry for a night of celebration and fundraising for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest while Negra, the Queen of the sanctuary, sleeps soundly in her nest of blankets. Negra, who was ripped from her family and home in…
Read MoreJAMIE and friendship on the 5th Day of HOOT!
I had a realization not long ago. It occurred to me that Jamie is one of my best friends. We have mutual interests (shoes, being outdoors, eating grapes), we’re generally happy to see each other, we have routines that have developed over time, and I think we’ve established a mutual respect for one another over…
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