Hi guys!!

Good to see you back checking out what is new and exciting in the chimp universe here at Monarto.

Ok, well a few things to tell you, I will start with a little snowball that turned into a big one!

Recently I sent out an email to all the keepers at Adelaide and Monarto zoo asking them to keep in mind when cleaning out old items at home that I would love them for the chimps, things that might go into the bin or to the tip. The response we got was huge and lots of people donated unusual things. We got the following; a huge lava lamp, lots of stuffed toys, whistles, bells, musical instruments, puppets, wind chimes, old perfumes, old children’s toys, a bike!, tinsel from the Christmas tree, blankets, wicker baskets... the list goes on.

We have enough items now as the store room is full to the brim! But the chimpanzees LOVED all the things we got. Of course we don’t give them all the items, the bike for example was ridden around on the deck so the chimps could watch... they got very excited! The lava lamp is turned on some nights so they can watch the colours float around, they make nice comfy beds with the blankets and the perfumes make a nice change for them, we try to enrich at least most of the chimps senses every day.

We are very grateful to all that donated.

The next bit of news is that the chimps are starting to walk on the bark chip bio-floor! They were unsure of it at first and then Laura (one of their keepers) thought about placing big sheets on the bark chip to see if they would walk on the sheets... they did! We have been putting food on the sheets to encourage the scaredy chimps to come down.

Tsotsi was put on a ‘greens’ diet for a week as he decided to start taking food off Sandali. We managed to catch him in the act and now sneakily hand feed Sandal higher calorie foods because it turns out his metabolism is a lot higher than Tsotsi’s! (Poor fellow)

Their training sessions are going very well and now Tsotsi is presenting his chest on queue for a banana. We will soon be able to listen to his heart with a stethoscope without needing to put him under anaesthetic!

Well, I have arranged to do a puppet show for the chimps through one of their private viewing windows so I have to go... look forward to seeing you again soon.