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  • From: Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>
  • To: monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [monkeywire] New chimp home features Vegemite, yogurt
  • Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 18:06:34 -0400

The Australian
August 29, 2002, Thursday

SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 3

LENGTH: 294 words

HEADLINE: New pad is really swinging

SOURCE: MATP

BYLINE: Benjamin Haslem

BODY:
THERE'S Bessie, who at 52 is getting long in the tooth and slow on the uptake. Then there's Lulu, the outrageous flirt with the hots for senior veterinarian Larry; and Kuma, a graceful and athletic beauty who hogs the coconuts. And at the top of the pecking order, toy boy Lubutu, who at just nine years of age, has even the oldest girls swooning.

Meet Taronga Zoo's chimpanzee family, which this week moved into its new pad, a forest of ironbark trees with views to make the richest harbourside Sydney resident green with envy.

Wet weather on Monday and Tuesday kept the monkeys indoors until yesterday when sunny skies tempted them onto the branches for the first time.

The 17 chimps had worn out their old forest, so taller trees were planted, reaching up to 16m in height and linked by a network of timber bridges.

The zoo's African division manager Maria Finnigan said treats such as Vegemite and low-fat yoghurt and custard are hidden in artificial termite mounds in the exhibit. Ms Finnigan said the treats stimulated the chimps to make basic tools from sticks to retrieve the food from the mounds as they would in the wild -- where Vegemite and yoghurt make way for a more organic diet.

Launching the new chimpanzee forest yesterday, NSW Environment Minister Bob Debus announced an $11,000 grant to support the zoo's work in Uganda at the Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where orphaned chimps and injured are rehabilitated for release back into the wild.

"Chimpanzees in the wild, although they are found across central and west Africa from Senegal to Tanzania, are under threat from habitat loss due to practices such as forest clearance, the burgeoning bushmeat industry sourced from wild animals and the pet trade," Mr Debus said.

--
Carrie McLaren
Editor, Stay Free!
718.398.9324
www.stayfreemagazine.org
www.illegal-art.org



  • [monkeywire] New chimp home features Vegemite, yogurt, Carrie McLaren, 08/30/2002

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