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Raisin would like to know

Raisin would like to know.......... if you're coming to the Fiesta in the Jungle event, which will help raise funds to support her and all of her friends that reside at Primarily Primates.

The festivities begin at 7 pm on Saturday, June 8, at Green Vegetarian Cuisine-located at the Pearl Brewery. Every fiesta needs great music, and we will definitely have it!

And we'll have wonderful food and drink provided by Green--all free with your event ticket! Don't miss the amazing silent auction, which will include items like beautiful prints of the sanctuary animals, one of a kind framed animal hand prints, art from local artists, spa packages, pictures signed by celebrities, and more!

Get your tickets now! RSVP online at www.primarilyprimates.org or by phone with Maggie Rodriguiez at (830) 755-4616. We'll make sure to let Raisin know that we will be seeing you soon!

Baby Grace

Baby Grace had more fun with the blanket than anyone else. For her the blanket was a fun to drag around, and wave in the air.

Grace even created a game that can only be called "catch"!

In this picture, she is sitting up in her habitat looking down (about 20 feet) at the grass floor bottom. With the best seat in the house, Grace used her left arm to push the towel high above her head and then she dropped the towel.

While still in her seated position, she would catch the falling towel with her feet.

What a cute little smarty pants!

 

 

Musical enrichment

Musical enrichment at sanctuary today-- classical and jazz with carestaff performing below:

Alex, Shawn, Joseph and volunteer, Nadia.

 

 

 

 

4 Great Apes-1 Tragic Story: Cheetah, Little Boy, Oliver & Kelly

For Susan Cho and Lee Hall: Cheetah, Little Boy, and the late Kelly and Oliver are 4 chimpanzees with one thing in common: they were formerly owned by the Berger family in Florida where they were at some time used in the entertainment world.

Oliver was paraded around like the "Missing Link". Meanwhile Kelly, Cheetah and Little Boy made the talk show circuit as well as other entertainment venues.

Some of the venues they were commercially used in include: Chimpany 3 - Astronauts, Radio City Music Hall, Shrine Circus, David Letterman, MTV Music Awards, Ed Sullivan, etc....

For 15 years, Kelly, Little Boy and Cheetah performed for audiences across the US. Little Boy was the darling favorite of the Berger's and is a really nice ape. Cheetah was probably named after the well-known Tarzan of the Apes movie chimpanzee. There is no record on his file stating that he performed with the late actor who played Tarzan. Oliver arrived at Primarily Primates in 1996 after he was found living in a laboratory. At some point, the Bergers sold Oliver after he became too amorous towards one of the Bergers.

Eventually the individual who bought him from the Bergers sold him into research. The last three chimpanzees arrived at Primarily Primates in 2003. All four of these apes were captured from the wild as infants, (their mother or even their family unit may have been killed to acquire them}.

In some early reports, one out of ten baby primate infants captured from the wild made it alive to their destination point. To do the math (correctly this time), if 1 out of 10 primate infants survive to reach adult-hood (infants often died from exposure, depression, poor diet, disease etc...), and if you presume that each infant's mom is killed so that the infant can be obtained: then the four chimpanzees mentioned here Oliver, Kelly, Cheetah and Little Boy represent the 4 chimpanzees who out of 80 chimpanzees survive to reach adulthood.

So enjoy these very wonderful pictures of the moments we had with them and remember, for each of these chimpanzees 19 others may have died so that this one could be paraded around for years just to entertain us.

It's my anniversary!

I just realized something this morning.... It's my anniversary.

I started volunteering for Primarily Primates on April 20, 1986. I shoveled monkey poop on day one.

Eventually I produced the newsletter, helped with grants, sat on the board till 2006... and now the Executive Director since 2007.

So that means if I started in 1986 when I was 19 years old and that was like 9 years ago... then I am like 30 years old or something like that right?

Where did the time go....?

Gonna take this 30 year old something bod back to the gym.....

What's in the box?

Recent enrichment project was a "What's in the box?" event where pretty, brightly colored and wrapped pink boxes were presented to chimpanzees.

They enjoyed unwrapping the boxes and some used the paper to decorate their enclosure. Boxes were filled with dry cereals, fruits and other items.

Wonderful Wanda had a doll in her box, and last reported, she was still holding it.

Loquats from a farm

Brooke brought loquats from a farm and Dianiel, a caregiver offers them to a fabulous group of spider monkeys lead by the most amusing spider monkey in that group -- W.C.

Please think of Primarily Primates for extra produce you might have from gardens this Spring and Summer.

 

 

 

Black bean and corn salad enrichment treat for primates!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natural enrichment period

This weekend was a more natural enrichment period. At several locations on the sanctuary, there are patches of bamboo, honeysuckle, mulberry trees, hackberry trees, grape vines and others that grow either naturally or that we have planted over the years.

During the colder periods, there are 2 main sources of "browse" we can use and those are rye grass and bamboo. With spring approaching new browse will soon be available.

In the meantime, bamboo is still used as the main primate enrichment browse. Animal Caregiver Alex Luna seen here is taking one of the four large trash bags seen here that are filled to maximum capacity by volunteers clearing bamboo at their home.

Thanks to these off-site volunteers, the days are still green for the residents!

Primarily Primates Newsletter
Spring 2013

Project Oliver

Film Producer Andy Cockrum On Inspiration From Chimpanzees

Q:About a decade ago, you chose Primarily Primates’ chimpanzees, monkeys and lemurs to feature in art and on film. What inspired you?

In 2003, when I was looking for a new documentary subject to shoot, Primarily Primates invited me for a tour. While walking around, I found myself wanting to help the sanctuary. It quickly became apparent that the best way I could help was to begin telling the stories of these animals — giving people a window into the sanctuary’s efforts.

Q:What was it about the chimpanzee Oliver that sparked your interest in making the lives of captive chimpanzees as full and interesting as possible?

read newsletter articles

Music to My Monkey Ears

What a cool afternoon it was as live music echoed across the sanctuary. Of course i had forgotten that it was MUSIC enrichment day for the residents but quickly realized that for many of the animals, it was an afternoon to sit, watch, and listen.

For some residents like Burt, it was therapuetic. He is a rhesus macaque who "self bites" when under stress. As soon as Emma played her clarinet, he focused his eyes on her and just sat there peacefully listening.

A family of capuchins who were next all raced to their feed pans where they grabbed a monkey biscuit and then all sat next to each on a branch listening to the music. It looked like it was "dinner theater" day at PPI.

We would like to thank Emma Hengst (friend of enrichment coordinator Brooke Chavez) for taking time out of her schedule to make Music Day so special.

HELP IS NEEDED to make Music Day possible as we need old am/fm radios or even unwanted ipods that we can set and play music for the residents. Chavez is even working on creating Monkey Playlists that we can play for the residents and observe their reactions.

This way we can figure out what music styles the monkeys positively reacte to and have that music style set for those animals. All we need are the old radios in your attic, closet, garage, . . .

Brooke makes our own dried banana chips to avoid high levels of sodium in commercial varieties.

Here's a view for primate enrichment 115 bananas later and into 24 hours of dehydrating.

 

Veggie Cacciatore wrapped in Romaine

Here's the winner enrichment treat today -- Veggie Cacciatore wrapped in Romaine. Delighted the chimpanzees.

Today's menu for enrichment is Veggie Cacciatore, wrapped in Romaine lettuce. Ingredients include onions, red bell peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, garlic, basil, oregano bay leaves, tomatoes and tomato paste.

In other news and sports, we welcome Michael Malley back to the sanctuary as a caregiver, and announce Brooke Chavez as our new enrichment coordinator. Cheers to both talented people with many years of sanctuary experience.

Primate Diets

Nutritional biscuits and a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and nuts. Enrichment treats include grains, rice, beans, pasta, unsweetened fruits, cereals, nuts and seeds. No added sugars or salts are added to prepared foods, nor is candy allowed.

When ex- pet lemurs, monkeys and chimpanzees arrive at the sanctuary, their health is typically jeopardized by misguided owners who feed them candy, marshmallows, cookies, and junk food including sugar-loaded beverages, hot dogs and fast-food from restaurants.

Primarily Primates' role is to rehabilitate these animals -- giving them proper independence, socialization with other other primates of their own kind, and a proper diet that reflects what they consume when living free and wild.

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