For most lab chimpanzees, food comes in the form of a fortified pellet made from corn meal and rendered fat. Some chimps are lucky to get some fresh fruits and vegetables in addition to their “monkey chow”, but it is often only a few pieces per day, with very little variety. For comparison, I decided to look back at what the Cle Elum Seven have eaten over the last week. We still offer them a little bit of chow, so as not to switch their diet too abruptly, but you’ll see that they get to enjoy a large variety of produce, as well as some small, fun prepared meals:
Almonds, apples (fresh and dried), asparagus, bananas (fresh and frozen), blackberries, blueberries, bread, broccoli, brown rice, brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, carrots, cashews, celery, cherry tomatoes, clementines, coconuts, corn (raw and popped), garlic, grapefruit, grapes, green peppers, herbal tea, honeydew, kidney beans, lemons, lettuce, limes, mushrooms, onions, oranges, pasta with peanut butter & raisins, peaches, peanuts, pecans, pineapple, plums, pomegranate, potatoes (raw, cooked & mashed), red peppers, scallions, strawberries, tomatoes, vegetable soup, vegetable stew, walnuts, watercress, and watermelon.
Here’s missy enjoying the peanut forage this morning:
WOW!!! I want to come over and eat at the sanctuary! The chimps must feel like they’re in heaven after what they were use to eating in the past! I’m imagining it would be so much FUN to sit outside and have a barbecue with the Cle Elum Seven. 🙂 We could have barbecue corn-on-the-cob and potatoes and a nice salad, and then some watermelon!! YUMMY!! Then we could play tug-o-war….(sorry….my imagination is getting carried away). 🙂
Audrey, I like the way your imagination ran! That would be so cool. And while we have eaten our barbeque we could make enrichment goodies for the next day.
The food sounds a heck of a lot better than what I get. Way to go JB!
Hey, Jeani…I like your thinking too!! A Barbecue Enrichment Party…that would be really fun!! 🙂
I have a question: What goes in must come out. When and where do the chimps go to the bathroom? Just wherever they are and when they need to?
I hope this doesn’t sound gross. I was just wondering.
Yummy food choices indeed!
Enormous thanks to the C7 staff for providing AWESOME food for the chimps!!!! And to Safeway in Cle Elum, too, especially the Produce Manager, I think his name is Chris. These chimpanzees deserve the very best and thank heavens, the C7 staff are dedicated to giving them just that – they very best they can.
We (humans) are beginning to talk more about the emotional connection we have with food ~ and one of those connections, as most of us know all too well, is food = comfort (i.e. the term “comfort food”). Since the chimps share so much of our DNA – and by the expressions on their faces in the photos of them eating – my guess is that this fabulous food comforts them and makes them feel better emotionally, too.
It makes ME feel good, just knowing how well they are eating 🙂 Cheers C7!
Just wondering if that is Foxie in the background with her troll or just the sunlight playing tricks?
Yumm! I can only imagine what joy this selection of great food brings to the C7! Not to mention how happily their systems must be responding to all those vitamins and enzymes. 🙂
Have they run into anything they *don’t* like, or do they happily scarf down everything you offer them?
I just finished watching the DVD “Chimpanzees ~ An Unnatural History” (Thank you, Shelly K., for loaning it to me). If you have not seen this…….Oh My Gosh, you have to! You just HAVE to! It’s hard for me to find the words to describe it, but it will tug at your heartstrings & make you want to do even more to help ALL chimpanzees into sanctuaries!! At the end, when Tom climbs the tree……..well, I had already lost it, but I REALLY lost it then!!
Amy – You’re right. For the most part, the chimps at CSNW go wherever they are, whenever they need to. Some animals instinctually avoid soiling certain areas, especially near a den or feeding area. But free-living chimps are usually on the go, so they don’t have to worry about dealing with the mess. The chimps at CSNW don’t have to worry either, because they have a team of staff and volunteers to clean up after them. Its not all fun and games caring for chimps!
Jeani – That is Missy’s other half, Annie, behind her. Don’t worry – I have been so obsessed with trolls lately that I am starting to see imaginary ones too 🙂
Wll everyone, it is official, the CSNW Myspace page is finished, with a minor few tweaks that =need to be done, and we will be updating dailt, the staff will be handling pretty much all of the issues and I said I would keep the pictures and videos up to date. Sorry it took me so long, I generated most of the codes myself so that they would match the CSNW logo. Beleive me there were plenty of nights up at 3am still trying to get it right, finally tonight I think I will sleep good knowing the job is finished and Diana loves it! So check it out, and if you have your myspace we can put you on the friend’s list and we can all blog there too!! Diana added a link in the blog section taht takes you directly to CSNW website to the blog also!!!! Okay check it out and get signed up, if you have any questions regarding building your space contact me, as Diana is so busy 24/7. I have missed so much in the last coule weeks, have to get caught up!
Here is the link to CSNW myspace:
http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user
And again if you need my help with your myspace email me at : [email protected]
or click on my URL, it will take you to myspace and you can submit a comment there!!
Peace Out!
Shelly C
OOPS!!! My URL was not attached! 🙂
SORRY AGAIN the CSNW Myspace link is:
http://www.myspace.com/chimpsanctuarynw
Speaking of Trolls JB, I get an email everyday from ebay with tons of trolls fro bidding. How did the ballerina troll go over, was she as big as the picture looked, and was she a stuffed troll????
I hope one day I can come and help out on a vacation, I love to cook, and most of my family and guest make all types of grunts, moans, hoots and whining because they ate too much!! I have 2 peach trees in my backyard that are so full of peaches they are starting to fall on the ground, I usually have 10-30 deer outside fighting over the peaches, but my neighbor put up a fence so the deer could not get in his yard, so I will have to scatter peaches all over my front yard, the babies always come right up to me and eat out of my hands, I always have tons of fruit for the deer because it is so hot here they need the juice, I love them, they are so cute, I have mamas that have certain marking like scars and such, they have been coming here for years always wating for me to drive up the driveway, if I am not home when it starts getting dark, they go around the blcok into the neighbors backyard so they can see in my windows, another smart animal that people think are nothings!!!
Good Night!
Shelly C
They are so loved, to get all that goodness – and the poster children for what all of us children should be eating. :o)
What a great diet all those fruits and veggies.
I know Jamie gets excited at meal time when fresh fruit is being served, has she calmed down any now that there is an abundant amount being offered?
Anna – They each have their own individual preferences, but the only thing that no one has liked so far was raw mushrooms. Cooked mushrooms seem to go over OK.
Debbie – Jamie still likes to stir things up once and a while during meal times, but overall things are pretty calm.
I would love to be in that kitchen, I love to cook, I love to give, and I love to see the happiness on the receiving end!!! I cannot even imagine what is was like all those years eating monkey chow, that is why I make my dogs a big batch of homemage food, filled with swiss chard, kale, yams, brocolli, garlic, green beans, squash, and tons of other tasty stuff, they get so excited watching me prepare the food, they know it is for them. I read here a chimp, not Washoe, I cannot remember their names but hey would just shiver all over their body at meal time when they would see their favorite food item on the tray, I love that, what a feeling it must be, so much excitement that you quiver all over, it just makes me so happy that they are getting great food!!! Life is too short to not get to taste some of the finer things on the menu, especially friuts and veggies! I wish I were closer, I have 2 peach trees that are loaded with ready to pick baseball size peached, and my pears are huge, I wish I could give them to the chimps!!!! I will take alot out front to my Deer friends, they get pretty excited as well! JB I read wear some sanctuaries give chimps ice cream, have they ever tried it, there are so many varieties, sufar free, fat free, frozen yogurt???? Also I read where their favorite tv show are soap operas, I know someone didn;t like it last time I asked, but I am not saying to have the tv on 24/7, They said Billy Jo used to love to watch his facorite tv shows, and they called it enrichment, what are your thoughts on that JB and Diana????
what a great variety of food that you guys provide for them .. we can see how all that variety & nutrition makes them look (and probably feel) so much better …
blows my mind about the monkey chow they ate day in and day out, year after year with an “occasional” half of a fruit thrown in every now & then ..
it also blows my mind to think that these biomedical testing & research labs that have/use these primates (chimpanzees, monkeys), they get hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars (plus tax payers $$’s) a year to supposedly “care” for these guys and they can’t provide them daily (or even multiple times a day) with fruit & vegetables? you’d think that they’d want their “test subjects” to be physically healthy .. I don’t get it.
oh yeah that’s right, it slipped my mind for a second that, most, if not all of these places really don’t care about their animals that they are mistreating & torturing ..
I am so happy for the Cle Elum 7 and for all the chimps & monkeys that made it out to a good sanctuary!
(have not forgotten all those who are still imprisoned)
oh yeah, do they like the creamy buttery goodness of an avocado?
I was a bit surprised it wasn’t on the list .. so much good stuff to offer I guess it’s not easy to offer them all! (or maybe they don’t like it)
Hey JB ~ to Shelly C’s question re: ice cream or maybe soy ice cream – I know that Courtney Taylor sent the Sanctuary an ice cream maker – could that be used for making soy ice cream or something like that for the C7?
btw, lookin’ good Missy – your hair looks nice and shiny too
Shelly C – that’s great that you cook for your pooches and that you make sure your Deer friends outside get some peaches! and thanks for doing the CSNW myspace page (it looks really good) – I haven’t made a myspace page for myself (yet) because there’s just so much to maintain & to keep up with already! (one of these days I’ll do it!)
Ice cream makers can also be used to make fruit sorbee which sounds good on a nice hot day and since it is made with fruit maybe the C7 will think so too!
Dee – Yes, they love avocados. The foods I listed were just the ones served over the previous seven days. I would guess that we’ve served 4 or 5 times as many items since they’ve gotten here.
Shelly K – Yes, the ice cream maker was a great gift (thanks Courtney!) and we use it to make fruit sorbet. We try to avoid added sugar in the chimps’ diet, but thankfully they love natural frozen desserts. I wish I could take as much pleasure in healthy food as the chimps do.
JB- Do the chimps ever have jackfruit or durians? I tried a jackfruit for the first time recently and loved it. I even thought it had a pleasant smell.
thanks for your replies J.B.
mmmm, fruit sorbet – especially raspberry
JB – ditto, thanks so much for your replies 🙂
I just watched a video from the Peta newsroom, I cried all the way through, now I have to go to bed, I am very saddened by this video, why don’t these people get put in prison, what makes what they do any better then what Michael Vick did, I just do not understand, here is the first paragraph, I sent letters to everyone Peta had listed to send letters to, this is horrible, this is why I feel like I cannot do anything for animals, it happens every minute, every second, of everyday of every week of every month of every year, WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THIS ABUSE???
PETA’s new undercover investigation at a pig factory farm, that supplies piglets to be grown and killed for Hormel, revealed cruelty to animals. Sows were beaten, spray painted in the face, and left to suffer. Watch the footage that shows workers and management abusing animals, then take action. Read the full article here and send letters….PLEASE! Pigs are such sweet and intelligent creatures, why do they have to sufferlike this? God help them!
http://www.peta.org/index.asp
Shelly C, so glad you blogged about this – not even 1 full minute ago, I sent an email to the National Pork Producers Council to let them know that until this abuse – which is the norm, not the exeption, is 100% addressed – not only will I not purchase ANY pork product, I will educate my family & friends and encourage them to boycott pork as well. I also sent an email to Hormel – this particular pig farm is their supplier – but the email to Hormel bounced back – go figure.
Folks, you don’t have to watch the video to take action – the article is at:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/abused_pigs. You can go to the bottom of the article and send an email to the Pork Producers or also, as Shelly C’s email indicates, participate through PETA’s web site.
Pigs are as intelligent and loving as dogs and cats – and frankly, even if they weren’t, all sentient beings deserve to be treated humanely.
Shelly C – just part of the answer to your question is – education and awareness can lead to legislation so continue with the efforts your involved in. Hitch your wagon to big organizations such as PETA, the Humane Society and others. Keep us all fired up. Scream it from the roof-tops. Go vegan – that could have one of the largest impacts. Buy only products with the bunny/cruelty free logo. Share all cruelty free information with everyone you know. Learn about and share information about the Certified Humane seal for your friends and relatives who aren’t comfortable becoming vegetarian or vegan. Attend some of the national conventions related to animal welfare. Volunteer to educate school children on how to treat animals with kindness. There are lots of ways to help, these are only a few, and no one has a bigger heart than you ~ you are already making a big difference. Keep going.
Thanks Shelly K. I have not been able to eat meat since the last undercover abuse of the cows went public, I sent an email to Peta and asked if they could please air that video on national tv like the cow video, they need to show the world what is happening to the animals used for human consumption, the world nrrds to see that video, I thought about those pigs all night“`Very Sad!!!!“`
I’m in complete agreement Shelly C ~ and frankly, most people have no idea about how unbelievably horrific the process is in chicken factories either – won’t go into the graphics here – folks can easily find the information on the Humane Society’s web site. Chickens DO FEEL and they may not be smart, but then neither are humans with certain types of disorders but we wouldn’t even think of supporting torturing them just because they aren’t “smart”.
While not everyone might be ready to be vegetarian or vegan, at least the Certified Humane label is there and that’s something easy for everyone to do.