Chimfunshi Chimpanzee Sanctuary Project Updates and Achievements from Q2 2018 - African Impact

Chimp Observations 118

Behaviour Enrichment 109 Food Preparation 69

Infrastructure 19

Other 215

Enclosure Cleaning 139 Boundary Patrol 11

Vet Assistance 41 AVG TEMP:

LANGUAGE LESSON:

17 C

Bemba “Kolwe” “Monkey”

Educational Activities 68

Farming 125

Bushwalk 68

WHAT’S NEW ON THE GROUND? • • •

In April we started harvesting ground nuts planted in November 2017 Chimfunshi had approximately 650 school children visit in May and June 2 new rescued chimpanzees began their integration into enclosure 4

• Volunteers spent 60 hours rolling nshima balls and preparing fruit and vegetables for the chimps’ supplementary feeds • 9 hours were spent patrolling the enclosure boundaries to ensure the chimpanzees were safe and secure • Nearly 60 hours of hard work was done scrubbing and sweeping the enclosures to help keep them clean for the chimps • We observed the chimpanzees for about 130 hours, watching them play, forage, eat, fight, groom, sleep!

• We were privileged to enjoy 50 hours alongside the special bushwalk chimps investigating the enclosure with them

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Volunteers spent 106 hours working hard in the heat of the Zambian sun at Chimfunshi’s farm

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The groundnuts planted in Nov 2017 were ready for picking so volunteers helped to dig out the plants and pick the groundnuts, harvesting nearly 10 sacks – impressive!

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We cut down and picked 7 sacks of mustard plants

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Volunteers fertilized an incredible 1000 tomato plants, 1100 impwa and 1000 chinese cabbage seedlings across 2 visits (using the ‘Jazel’ tool!). This will really help them to grow in these drier months

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3 and half rows of Chinese cabbage were harvested, producing 2 Chinese cabbage ‘mountains’

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Volunteers chopped 120 heads of cabbage, loading them directly onto the Chimfunshi truck to deliver straight to the chimps

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Volunteers spent nearly 140 hours planning and preparing enrichment activities for the 4 special chimpanzee ‘Escape Artists’, new chimp arrivals, Vervet monkeys, baboons and African grey parrots, engaging them for approximately 30 hours (that we observed!).

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The new quarantine chimps (arrived Jan & March) were each given a bamboo ‘puzzle’ (with holes in and food inside) to make feeding more fun/interesting for them

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The African Grey parrots enjoyed destroying the bamboo ‘holes’ from the chimp puzzles (multi-purpose enrichment!), as well as ripping strips of cloth and egg cartons we hung around their cage

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The baboons and Vervet monkeys were kept occupied with bamboo puzzles, a new swing, papier-mache piñatas, foraging sacks filled with hay and peanuts

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The Escape Artists were challenged with a mystery box, piñatas, padlock box, ‘toilet roll’ dispenser, pipe twist, stuffed hosepipes, and puzzle ball – all for mental stimulation

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They were also given a mirror tapped to the wall, colored nshima, sweet and spicy water, clothes with different scents, flour cookies with different fillings – to encourage curiosities

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Fishing for objects outside the enclosure still remains a fun game, as does throw and catch with Colin, as well as hide and seek/chase with Colin and Chiffon, whilst Milla and Cleo look on lazily!

“I had an amazing 2 weeks volunteering at Chimfunshi, it was my first time traveling alone and first time in Africa so everything was new to me. Seeing a totally different way of life was very interesting. I got to do so much in the time that I was here.”

Luc, England, Chimfunshi Volunteer 2018

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Volunteers spent 113 hours helping Chimfunshi’s vet, Thalita, in her daily duties

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Health checks were given to new quarantine chimps, and chimps Nicki, Clement, Bussy and Leban were also worked on. Volunteers monitored vitals, recorded information and generally assisted during the procedures. The rescued bush-baby in camp had its cage cleaned and was fed and watered when requested too

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58 hours were spent with the students at the local school

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Conservation Club is well underway with the students learning about nature and the chimps and their habitat. In Sports Club, some volunteers participated in a football match, while the others played circle games. Everyone had lots of fun in the sun!!

“In all the reports they tell you how brilliant the project is, how much fun it is and what exclusive stuff you do. But of course you don’t volunteer 24/7, so what happens after that? My highlight was Saturday night: After a nice dinner, prepared by one of your fellow volunteers and after the sun sets (quite early), everyone will usually get gather for a games night. On Sundays we often lazed around and tended to stay in camp watching a movie” Fritz, Germany, June 2018

“I cannot say that I have a specific experience that I like most at Chimfunshi. I really enjoyed making the food and watching the chimps feeding afterwards. Seeing how people’s ideas of enrichment for the Escape Artists may seem silly at first, but really keep the four chimps occupied for a while. A lot of the things we did felt very rewarding. I have learned how all of the captive chimpanzees could be kept, in such wonderful big enclosures where you cannot even see where the fence ends. Not truly wild, but the best alternative to it.”

Kim, Netherlands, May 2018

Until next time

The Chimfunshi Team!!