Archives for June 2015

Can we all agree that we love snacks? I mean, fresh fruits, vegetables, smoothies and primate chow is usually enough to elicit foot grunts and high pitched food squeaks from the Cle Elum Seven. But, come spring, the chimpanzees tend to head out to Young’s Hill specifically to find wild plants (and bamboo) to snack on.

In the wild, chimpanzees are known to spend between 6 to 8 hours foraging for food each day. The amount of time varies during the seasons, depending on when fruits are ripe and how far apart the food resources are. And although chimps are primarily frugivores (fruit-eaters), they do supplement with leaves, buds, flowers, bark, seeds, roots, insects and occasionally meat. JB’s blog in mid May describes in more detail some of the plants these chimps gather from Young’s Hill, their 2 acre outdoor enclosure.

This morning, Negra made her way out toward the middle of Young’s Hill before sitting down to snack.

Sometimes she is hard to find on the hill; disappearing in the tall grass and bamboo.

She did save one of the plants to bring back to the Greenhouse to enjoy out of the direct sunlight.

Missy ran to the top of the hill to gather her plant snacks to bring back to the Greenhouse.

Annie also harvested a wild plants from Young’s Hill today. This is the one she was after this morning.

Each of the chimps spent time on Young’s Hill today. And each time I saw them come back to the Greenhouse with more plants. It’s wonderful that these chimpanzees have the outdoor space to display some of their natural behaviors, including foraging for wild plants.