December 2009 Archives

The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on a university campus. As such, the number of interns who are able to put time in over school holidays is limited. But, those interns who do stay find ways to have a good time, even without their home-bound comrades.

Today is Tatu's birthday and an exciting day for her indeed, filled with the many treats she loves, pants and hugs from her dear mates, Dar and Loulis.  As I pondered Tatu's birthday this morning on my commute, I thought about her mother, Thelma.  Tatu's birthday, like most mammal's birthdays, really involved two people, Tatu and her mother.  Usually mothers are overjoyed at the appearance of their wrinkled baby.  I wonder how Tatu's mother, Thelma, felt.  On December 30, 1975 Thelma lost her baby.  Tatu arrived in the Gardner's cross-fostering laboratory on January 2, 1976, just 3 days old.  Meanwhile Thelma had a total of 8 babies; she was used as a breeder by the biomedical community.  She went from the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, to the Laboratory for Experimental and Surgical in Primates (LEMSIP), to Coulston Foundation and now thankfully she is in sanctuary at Save the Chimps in Ft. Pierce, FL.  So Tatu's birthday gave me pause today to think of the sadness that her mother endured on the day she lost yet another baby.  I follow this with applause to the many people who continue to work to end this cycle of exploitation.  Thanks to you all.

 

Here are some pictures from the party today!

 Humans prepping all the exciting treats for the day - including Tatu's favorite: MILK!

Tatu enjoying some of the treats from the party!

Dar stuffed his mouth with three clementines before heading up to the cargo net.

Editor's Note: Audrey is a new Chimp-Care Trainee. She is in the beginning stages of her Chimp-Care training. This is her first Sweet Tree Day with the chimpanzees

Today was a great day to be at CHCI...it was finally SWEET TREE DAY!! Yay!!  The wait was finally over for Tatu, Loulis and Dar.   We all put up decorations in the east room, with Tatu getting more and more excited to go OUT.



As all of us volunteers gathered in the observation area to watch the chimpanzeess come into the East Room to start Sweet Tree Day!!  Loulis went straight for the gingerbread house, ripped the top off and put it in his mouth.  Tatu went straight for the meat, cheese and cracker filled baggies, trying to find as many as she could.  Dar went to the little picnic area and started drinking all the apple cinder.  He then found a lunchables pack, and took off with it to the West Room to try to eat it in private.  He enjoyed the Reese's candy first, and then bit into the Capri-Sun juice.  Tatu eventually caught up with him, and tried to take it his lunchable.  Dar shoved a lot of the cheese and meat pieces into his mouth, then gave Tatu just one piece of cheese, as he quadrupedally walked away, his mouth bulging with snacks.



Later, while Lou was examining his gingerbread house, Tatu tried to steal it, but he oriented himself away from her, and she lost interest.



Dar found a pomegranate, and went up into the cargo net in the east room and held it with his foot, looking pretty sleepy.



Not long after, while I was on berm in the observation area, all three chimps were sleeping.  It seems that they had "Sweet Tree'ed" themselves out.  Today was a very ''black'' day!! 

Christmas celebrations abounded at CHCI this morning. Chimpanzees and caregivers alike came together to celebrate with a big party.

There were bags full of meat and cheese, whole pomegranates and tangerines, peppermint candies, sparkling cider, lunchables packs, leeks, and a beautiful gingerbread lighthouse. There were also wrapped toys and plenty of decorations. The chimpanzees had a wonderful party and, after several hours of eating and playing, settled down for a long winter's nap.

Thanksgiving dinner was a huge affair at CHCI. The ovens were going for hours before dinner started, and the chimpanzees were waiting anxiously as the sweet and savory smells of turkey, stuffing, and homemade cranberry sauce filled the building.

 

Dinner started with an apple cider forage, which elicited many food grunts and squeaks. There was sweet potato casserole, topped with toasted marshmallows, painstakingly arranged by Lani Gusman, rolls fresh from the bakery, green bean casserole with almonds toasted by Missie Cole. The coup de grace was the turkey, roasted to perfection by Lisa Schuster Lyons. Debbie Metzler made the gravy, which was poured over the turkey and potatoes. Madeleine Leake made stuffing and Janie Gibbons freed the cranberry jelly from its can, and sliced it meticulously. Rebecca Hendershott helped with the roasted potatoes and cranberry salad.



For dessert there was a homemade pumpkin pie, baked with love by Robin Potosky, topped with whipped cream

 

Tatu especially liked the turkey, potatoes, and both cranberry sauces, and had many helpings. Dar ate every roll in sight, and had several helpings of cranberry sauce. Loulis devoured the sweet potato casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauces, and the almonds from the green beans.



Dar and Loulis both enjoyed the pumpkin pie immensely; Dar had two slices!



In the end, everyone seemed to get just what he or she wanted for dinner, and in great quantities. What a party, indeed!

Just in time for the holidays: a list of things that the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Center needs.

Just click the link below and it will take you to an Amazon.com wishlist with many things that can help enrich the lives of the chimpanzees that live at CHCI. You can make a direct impact on the lives of Tatu, Loulis, and Dar. There's something for every budget!

Just click here, or copy/paste the below web address into your address bar.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/DQAKW0M8SXUT

Thank you, and Happy Holidays!

I started at CHCI this quarter as a Primate 220 student; therefore I am not allowed to have any type of interaction with the chimpanzees.  The only way that I can interact with them, is to plan an enrichment activity.  I decided to do a food enrichment, which consisted of frozen bananas covered in peanut butter.  I froze six bananas with sticks, and 2 whole ones, which I cut up.  I brought in my enrichment on Friday, and I was able to put it out that same day.  Kelly, one of the techs at CHCI, showed the chimps the bananas beforehand, and they started to get really excited. I threw some of the bananas on top of the human cage, threw some up on the platform, and hid them in various toys and other objects throughout the room.  Kelly and Anna filmed and photographed the enrichment for me, so I was able to see how the chimps reacted.


When they first came in the west room, they started emitting high pitched calls, which Kelly told me they do when they are really excited over a food item. Tatu and Dar seemed to get the most treats.  Dar was finding all the hard ones, even climbing on top of the human cage to get the piece that was thrown up there.  When he first came into the room, he began stuffing as many pieces as he could fit into his mouth. Tatu ate all the peanut butter off her bananas first, and then would suck on the banana part.  Loulis seemed more private about his banana eating.  He found one that had a stick, and also found a piece that I had put into a small cup.  He held everything in his mouth, then went outside, and ate his treats, with his back turned to everyone.  I didn't see that he was able to get anymore treats than just the two.


Doing this enrichment for the chimps, and seeing them react so well to it, was such an amazing experience for me.  I hope to prepare lots more enrichment activities in the future.