It’s been like a mad house the last few months, and since we managed to get the two male chimpanzees “Sandali” and “Tsotsi” to live together happily, life has been a lot happier for them and for the keepers!

There is nothing we love to see more than two happy chimpanzees that spend their whole day playing with each other. They even take turns playing ‘wheelbarrows’ with each other grabbing legs and arms... so much fun and I can’t wait until you can come and visit us to see for yourself!

We have started doing more training sessions with the boys; this means we teach them to present different body parts so we can check them... imagine being a chimpanzee with a sore tooth and no one could figure out what was wrong with you; that’s why we teach them to show us every day.  It’s a lot of fun too because the chimps get a reward (usually bananas) and they love the attention.

Tsotsi has changed so much because of his new home you may not even recognise him! He has a play face on most of the time – chimpanzees do this when they are relaxed or happy (or just being downright silly!) He has also toned up because he has a much larger area to run around and new ropes that are very high so he has almost been going to the gym for almost 2 months now!.

Sandali likes to make a nest in his favourite spot every day... if you come and visit the zoo, come to chimps, you will probably find him right at the window in the first corner you come to.

The keepers Laura, Gale and me have been coming up with lots of new creative ways to keep the chimps busy and amused, we have also been cleaning a lot too... chimpanzees are the MESSIEST animal ever!!

We like to say “the more mess they’ve made, the more fun they’ve had” so we don’t mind a bit.

The last of the news is that we are expecting two new male chimpanzees from Wellington New Zealand very soon to join Sandali and Tsotsi in a brand new home. I have worked with these new boys in New Zealand... they are very funny characters.

I will keep you all posted about the arrival of the new chimpanzees and look forward to seeing you all at our chimp keeper talk!

Take care and visit again soon

Cassandra, Laura, Gale, Sandali and Tsotsi