Annie and Missy have such a special friendship.
Annie
Annie’s favorite thing
Grass
The chimps were thrilled to have a grass forage this morning. I am still not sure what’s going to happen when we complete Young’s Hill, and they get to go out onto two acres of grass. Annie may never come back in again!
Foxie took one piece of grass at a time and carried them around like a pirate carrying a knife in his mouth while climbing a ship’s rigging. Strange analogy, I know, but that’s what it looked like.
The chimps eat grass differently than they do other types of food and browse. They take one piece at a time, fold it accordion-style, and swallow it without chewing (often gagging themselves in the process!).
Termite Board
Grooming
Missy and Annie spent some time grooming on the platform outside this afternoon. It had just started to sprinkle, so Missy covered herself up with a blanket to stay dry.
When chimps find something good during grooming (usually a piece of dead skin), they will often inspect it. Here, Annie is holding out her lower lip to check something out.
Annie gets creative
Annie and Missy never seem to tire of each other. Maybe it’s because they’re always thinking up new ways to play. This morning, during a lengthy play session, Annie decided to stand on Missy.
New enrichment
Volunteers Amanda and Tennyson helped us build a new enrichment device for the chimps. The woven fire hose has pockets to stick browse in (browse includes leaves, branches and twigs – an important part of a chimp’s diet). Many thanks to Chimps Inc. and the Honolulu Zoo for the idea! Annie, Missy and Jody spent hours picking out the cattails, bamboo and fennel.
While we were installing the browse feeder, we also hung a few more fire hose swings near the new windows. As you can see, they created the perfect game for Missy.