Board Member Profile: Kimber Leblicq

Kimber portrait

Learn all about our current Board President, Kimber Leblicq, in this post. This is the second post in the series profiling our fantastic Board of Directors. If you missed the first one that introduced outgoing Board President David, you can view it here. While Kimber is just beginning a term as Board President, she has…

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Jamie’s Brain

You know that whole thing about right brain vs. left brain and people identifying themselves as one or the other? Well, Jamie seems to be ambidextrous-brained. You know she’s an artist because you’ve been voting for her piece in the chimp art contest every day this week, right? Her left brain side is pretty strong,…

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Jamie’s sunflower seed painting

So, by now you hopefully know that Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s chimpanzee boss-lady Jamie is entered in this very unique chimpanzee-only art contest sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. You can and should vote for her piece every day until the contest ends on August 22nd at 5:00 ET. The sanctuary that cares…

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Fire and Art

fire on hil above chimp house from highway

One year ago today, the sanctuary property was engulfed in flames and smoke. We thought at one point that the caregiver house that J.B. and I live in was gone (it turned out the roof and siding had caught fire, but the interior was saved). J.B. stayed with the chimps as the flames spread, and…

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Window Play

Burrito and Debbie had a fun game of chase going this morning, with Debbie running on the outside of the chimp building where the garden is, and Burrito running inside from window to window. At one point in the game, Burrito generously shared a little bit of his water. Jamie played a bit too, but…

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Board Member Profile: David Brotherton

David Brotherton

We have some largely unsung heroes that are a big part of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest – our Board of Directors who volunteer countless hours overseeing the organization. We decided it’s about time we sung about them, so this is the first of a monthly series of blog posts about our amazing board members and how…

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the best rest

I do not jest Jody loves to nest For chimpanzees a nest is a bed A place to put a heavy head It’s a joy everyday to create a spot to lay with blankets, paper, or hay Sanctuary for Jody is the best rest It’s a literal nest fest

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Christmas in July!

Help Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest by donating items from our Christmas in July wish list The past few months have been full of parties, as we celebrated Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s five-year anniversary, Negra’s 40th birthday, Independence Day and the announcements by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Institutes of Health. Plus the Roslyn…

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Burrito’s Rain Display

Burrito rain display

As the video at the end of this post says, free-living chimpanzees in Africa sometimes perform rain displays. Jane Goodall and Bill Wallauer (two heros of mine) have witnessed these displays at Gombe National Park in Tanzania. We don’t get a lot of dramatic rainstorms here in Cle Elum, but today was an exception. The…

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Olympic Games, New Products, and an Evening Stroll

jamie missy diana walking around young's hill

This is a blog post full of information! Today is the beginning of a heat wave in our area, and we decided to keep things open longer tonight so the chimps could enjoy the cooling-off period of the evening. Most of the chimpanzees followed their normal routine and went to bed after dinner, but Jamie…

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Big Step

Jody before and today

A big step forward for chimpanzees today. The NIH has decided to accept most of the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations proposed in January that include the retirement of the vast majority of chimpanzees supported by the federal government. Read the NIH press release here and the full report here. It is unfortunate that the NIH…

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