Every day at Chimp Haven the chimpanzees get some type of enrichment. Enrichment is used to entertain and to occupy the chimpanzees. On Sunday, the chimpanzees were given articles of clothing. The clothes ranged from socks, shoes, shirts, slacks, skirts, skorts, scrubs, sport bras purses and hats. The chimpanzees reacted in several ways to the clothing. Some ignored the clothes while others went around and picked them up and carried them around as babies. Farra had a yellow rain coat from the local casino that she treated as a “baby” or child. She carried her “baby” everywhere she went. If the “baby” wasn’t riding on her back, Farra neatly tucked “the baby” into her hip pocket. Other chimpanzees such as Tracy used a maroon sports bra to wrap around her waist and swung around her bedroom with underpants on. Jessica, one of our newest arrivals, loved to pick up sheets, drape them over herself and walk around the bedrooms. I like to believe she was dressing up like a ghost. Rusten is very fond of white shirts. He liked to place them around his neck. He looked like an old-time aviator. Juan loves baseball caps, he particularly liked to carry around an orange construction cap in his hip pocket. Emma ran into a bedroom and upon seeing an old prom dress, held it up to herself. I guess she liked what she saw because she then proceeded to put it on. Sheena likes purses. She got a black purse with a pink letter “S” on the front. Sheena carried that purse around for 3 days. Henry likes to put on boots and walk around. Harper received a sleeping bag liner which he crawled into on a chilly morning to keep himself warm. This Sunday, Sarah picked up a white muscle t-shirt and put her head through the top. The shirt at this point was just draped over her shoulders. She eventually pulled the shirt all the way down and to the delight of her caregivers walked around the play yard showing off her new outfit. The best part of giving the chimpanzees clothes for enrichment is after the chimps are done trying things on or finding new “babies” most of the clothes are then used to make a very comfortable nest to sleep in for the evening.
~Joseph Elliott
Thanks for the great post, Joseph! Henry was carrying a large purse around yesterday. The chimpanzees are certainly creative with their use of clothing.
— From Linda
Love it Joseph!!
— From Jennifer Whitfield