Great Ape Nutrition

We are often asked what our chimpanzees and orangutans eat. To answer simply: we give them three meals a day of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and “primate biscuits” (which are basically thick, granola bar-looking biscuits that have additional vitamins, minerals, and protein needed for their diets ). Orangutans are vegetarians in the wild as well as captivity. Our chimpanzees enjoy a mostly vegetarian diet, but chimps in the wild will sometimes hunt small game and eat it. Our ape nutritionist weighs out the primate biscuits, veggies, and fruits using a formula based on each individual apes’ weight to make sure they are all receiving the proper amount of food in their diets.

This is the Center for Great Apes Feedroom

We’ve found that some of our apes who were raised as pets were not always given the nutritious and healthy meals they should have been given (i.e. pizza, cake, cookies, candy, sodas, etc.). So, once they arrive at the sanctuary, it is difficult to get them to enjoy a nice head of romaine lettuce and fresh vegetables. They would rather have candy or a soda (and who can blame them!). But our ape nutritionist does an excellent job of finding delicious gluten-free and sugar-free recipes for our apes. Surprisingly, with a little tweaking of the recipes, orangutans and chimpanzees can enjoy some of the same foods that we eat! Some favorites are meat-free veggie & bean tacos, Primarily Primates’ version of “Sloppy Joe’s”, fresh greens cole slaw with orange juice dressing, extracts mixed with water to create flavored popsicles, etc.

Different types of primate biscuits

For our elder apes, they enjoy a nutritious Ensure smoothie with their veggies and primate biscuits to give them the extra boost of vitamins and minerals that they need. A special shake of Spiru-tein mix and whey protein is given to those apes in need of a protein boost, as is oat bran for fiber.

As mentioned in a previous blog, the apes all get “cake” for their birthdays. It isn’t covered in icing or dripping with candy-coated toppings, but it certainly is a special treat. For our summer birthdays, our ape nutritionist will create a frozen masterpiece by freezing sweet fruits in with a juice mixture and decorating the outside with edible flowers and more fruit. Our apes who like to share their birthday treats with their companions really enjoy monkey chow cupcakes, and some will get a big monkey chow cake with peanut butter “icing” and fruit. Another treat the apes love is soft serve ice cream (which is all just really healthy, frozen fruit!) using our Yonanas® ice cream maker. Our apes’ health is one of our top priorities, but we also want them to enjoy their meals.

Becoming Brave

Our adult male chimps, Jonah and Jacob, are the epitome of physical strength and assertiveness.   These former actors make sure to show all our visitors and volunteers how tough they are by “displaying.”  A dominant chimpanzee display typically starts with the chimp standing up and swaying back and forth.  Their hair becomes pilo erect (when their hair bristles and looks more puffed-up). Then the macho male will typically shove enrichment objects around their habitat, push their toys and large items around to make noise, bang on the mesh of the enclosure, all to show how big, tough, and loud they can be.   The purposes of these actions are to appear larger in size to intimidate their inferiors, which Jonah and Jacob achieve with ease.  To watch them is truly remarkable- they are so strong and impressive.

But…..recently these “tough guys” showed their more vulnerable and sensitive side.  So what can intimidate a big, strong chimp?  Apparently, grass can!  When we decided to spread grass seed inside the outdoor habitats, the grass flourished and looked just lovely.  But, Jonah and Jacob were scared to step on the new green grass that covered the floor of their habitat.  One of our caregivers snapped the picture below of Jonah thinking about whether or not to place his feet on the lush green grass.

“Go ahead…just step on it, Jonah…just put your feet down, you can do it” the caregiver encouraged. So what did Jonah do?  He raised his foot and tapped his ankle down to touch the grass then immediately raised it back up and decided it was safer on the sidelines.  It is hard to imagine, and quite sad when you think about it, that a chimpanzee would be afraid of something as natural and ordinary as grass. Happily, after the first week, Jonah and Jacob faced their fear and now play and run on the grass.  What brave chimps!

Birthday Blog!

At the Center for Great Apes, we enjoy celebrating the birthdays of each of our apes.  Not only is it enriching for our chimpanzees and orangutans, but it also gives us the opportunity to celebrate their progress each year!  Enrichment is so important for all primates in captivity.  They are highly intelligent and need stimulation and new challenges to keep them happy, healthy, and occupied. Birthdays are just another way for us to do something exciting and fun for our apes!

Pebbles, one of our youngest orangutans, just turned 12 years old.  Our staff held a fun and enriching birthday celebration for her, and she thoroughly enjoyed the delicious treats and attention she received (so did her companion, Christopher!).

The Birthday Girl

Our caregivers sometimes celebrate our apes’ special day by decorating their habitats with colorful paper streamers, leafy green plant browse, and even occasional birthday cards sent by our members. And, there’s always a tasty birthday treat!  This year, Pebbles shared some delicious cupcakes made of monkey chow and mashed apples, covered with peanut butter, guava slices, and grapes with all our 15 orangutans!

Once their habitat is decorated, all the staff are invited to attend and watch the birthday ape (and their companions) explore and find their treats.  (Fun enrichment for both the apes and the staff!)

Handsome Christopher, Pebbles’s companion, enjoyed the birthday party just as much as Pebbles did!

Pebbles knows how to party. What’s more festive than wrapping yourself in red streamers?

Christopher wanted to make sure we got a good look at the delicious monkey chow cupcakes…Thanks, Chris!

Happy Birthday, Pebbles!! 

Safety First at CGA!

No one loves and cares for our apes more than we do.  They are engaging, intelligent, sometimes comical, and just plain extraordinary!  But the reality is, they are very strong, wild animals.  They could be playing one minute, then throw a temper tantrum the next.  Because they are up to seven times stronger than a human, we have strict safety protocols at the Center for Great Apes.  Our mission is to provide our residents at the sanctuary with a healthy, enriching, and safe environment for the apes, as well as our staff.

For the safety of everyone involved, our care staff never goes into the enclosures with the chimpanzees or orangutans.   The only contact between the caregivers and apes is done through the protection of the strong steel mesh of the enclosures.*

In every outdoor habitat and indoor bedroom area, we use double safety doors with three strong padlocks on each, and a standard safety procedure mandating that two caregivers check and double-check the locks before and after the shifting of the apes.

Jackie and Casey are performing a lock-check.

Whenever staff and volunteers are cleaning the outdoor habitats or indoor nighthouse rooms, there must always be two doors closed and locked between the humans and the apes.  The extra doors and multiple locks on each door is more expensive, but an important extra safety step because occasionally one lock can fail or not engage correctly, so there will always be extras for safety backup.

Since most of our apes are from the entertainment industry and former pets, they were raised by humans and naturally have a bond with us.  There are certain “hands-on” activities, where the apes can “groom” a member of the care staff through the mesh using “tools” (like Ellie’s stick mentioned in our previous caregiver blog), which the apes thoroughly enjoy, as well as getting manicures and pedicures from our staff.  The apes present their fingers and toes through the mesh so that the care staff can file their nails.

*(The only exception to this policy and practice is with two very special-needs and handicapped individuals who need more in-depth care and physical therapy: chimpanzee Knuckles and orangutan Allie.  With both of these great apes, only a few very experienced staff help them with their therapy, always mindful that Knuckles and Allie are strong and can be unpredictable also.)

Here, caregiver Sherry is filing Kenya’s nails. As you can tell from her face, Kenya finds the manicure very amusing!

Melanie had to use a dremel on Linus’s strong, tough nails!  He loves the attention from his friend. 

Heart Health is Important at CGA!

Apes in captivity, particularly males and those that are progressing in age, have been seriously challenged with heart problems such as cardiomyopathy, valvular diseases, and even aortic aneurysms.  Heart health statistics for apes in captivity are actually very similar to those of humans.  But what causes these heart diseases in apes?  Is it genetics?  Is it the more sedentary life of a captive environment?  More often than not, cardiac problems come to light when it is too late to prevent …or it’s discovered after the ape has died.

Our apes’ health is a top priority at the Center for Great Apes. Not only do we give the chimpanzees and orangutans the freshest and most nutritious meals, along with plenty of space for climbing, playing, and roaming the sanctuary grounds in our elevated chute system, but we are also proactive in our apes’ heart health. Our veterinarian has trained some of our caregivers to listen for arrhythmias (irregularities in the force or rhythm of a heartbeat) and changes in heartbeats.  As part of our husbandry routine at CGA, these caregivers perform “Doppler training” on the apes.  This allows them to use a non-invasive diagnostic instrument to detect and measure the heart rate of our residents.

One caregiver, Shannon, also assists in all veterinary procedures and health checks for our apes at CGA’s Arcus Great Ape Health Center, where she carefully monitors each ape’s heart rate while health checks are performed.

 

Shannon trains Jonah, a 16-year-old male chimpanzee, on the Doppler heart monitor.  For the safety of our staff, as well as our apes, everything is done through the wire mesh of the enclosure. 

Great job, Jonah!

Ellie is more interested in checking out the Doppler machine!

Silly time after doppler training-  Ellie LOVES when Shannon makes this face!

Jacob, Jonah’s twin brother, is helpful and gets really close to the mesh for his Doppler reading!

Mari is very patient and helpful during doppler training too!

Handsome Pongo makes doppler training look good!

Mari is given yummy treats and pieces of fruit for her participation.

Very Studious Apes!

Another type of enrichment we use to stimulate our apes’ intelligent minds are books and magazines.  They LOVE looking at the pictures and can become immersed in a good magazine!  One of our chimpanzees, Jacob, will actually “food bark” at pictures of food!

As you can see here, Jonah is relaxing and enjoying a good book.

One of the pages had a tiny mirror on it and Bella just couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she is!

Maggie seems to be very interested in koalas!!

Ellie loves reading about marine mammals….

And even tigers!

Apparently, something in the book looked delicious to Jacob!

Artist’s Corner

One of the many ways we enrich the lives of our apes and keep those intelligent minds of theirs occupied, is letting them express themselves through painting!  We have several artists here at the Center, and as you can see below, some enjoy partaking in body art as well!

Bella is admiring her beautiful work of art!

Pebbles is really concentrating on her artistic expression…

Kenya likes to get up-close to her masterpiece!

Linus loves painting himself, as well as the canvas! Doesn’t he look fabulous in green?  (Don’t worry, its non-toxic paint!)

It’s Officially Summertime in Florida!

With the temperatures teetering between sweltering and scorching, we are doing everything we can to keep our apes cool and comfy in this hot weather.  That means handing out a ton of popsicles, frozen treats, and the most entertaining pastime…..water play!

Just look at Chuckie’s face…he is DEFINITELY having some fun!!

Jessie and Bubbles love popsicles, where Mari prefers a little spa time in her own personal pool.

Summer also means our apes get to enjoy delicious summer fruits!  As you can see, Kiki is having a hard time choosing between watermelon…or…..watermelon!