chimpanzee rescue

So, I’m pretty sure this may one of my favorite “holidays” to celebrate at CSNW. We are always trying to mix things up for the chimps, and April Fools’ is just a blast! Last year, we decided to “fool” the chimps and play out the day backwards by serving dinner at breakfast time and breakfast at dinner time. Last year was so successful, we decided to make that a tradition- one day a year we do everything backwards. So, we started the morning by saying “Good Night!”, followed by night bags. Then, we served a “dinner” of barley with coconut, lettuce, and a pear. Negra was completely beside herself when Diana brought out night bags with “breakfast”! She was squeaking louder than ever!

After we cleaned the playroom, we decided to mix things up a bit further and we set up a “kitchen” in the playroom. We had several older bowls, utensils, cookie sheets, and kitchen canisters to complete the look of a kitchen. We filled large bowls with soapy water for the kitchen sink, which you will see was a hit in the video. Jamie immediately picked up the cookie sheet and started licking it. The chimps were thoroughly enriched by our kitchen in the playroom.

Here are a few photos of the aftermath:

Volunteer Stephanie just served “breakfast” for dinner, which consisted of smoothie and fruit. Once again, everyone was super excited! However, unlike last year we didn’t fool Negra on the night bags– she was still asking for it at the end of the day, but it was a fabulous day for everyone involved.

Good Morning!