Project Primate

Senior Primate Keeper, Holly

For this blog I thought I would give you an insight into one of my favourite aspects of my job… DIY projects. As much as there is a part of me that loves picking up poo (you kind of have to, to be a zookeeper); training, enriching and building different things for the monkeys is what brings me the most joy about being a zookeeper. And if you asked any member of the primate team, they would all tell you that getting stuck in with a building project is a no brainer for me. This is as long as I have supervision with some things as I can be a little clumsy at times!

What is Project Primates?

Towards the end of last year, we decided as a team to start “Project Primate”. Each member of the team was able to pick any animal or enclosure that they fancied to spruce up with some new home furnishings, or by carrying out some research, create a new enrichment device that we could use with different species of primates. These projects could be done individually, solely working on individual DIY skills with other members of the team on hand for advice. Or they could be done in pairs, working as a team to bring ideas to life. 

Not only was “Project Primate” started to help sharpen and develop keepers DIY skills, promote teamwork and allow keepers to further understand the needs of the animals through researching natural behaviour and instincts but it also allowed the animals to explore new areas of their enclosures, experience different furnishing materials and promote natural behaviours within the species. By creating new and exciting things for our animals it allows us to provide mental stimulation and improve their environment based on their natural behaviours and instincts. 

So, let’s take a look at some of the projects we’ve completed over the last year shall we.

Barbary Macaques

One of my absolute favourite projects to work on so far has to be the macaques. Seeing each macaque slowly come and investigate the new items and especially watching Momo sit on top of the tunnel rather than running through it are moments imprinted in my memories. So far, the macaques have had the additions of a tunnel (which nine times out of ten I have seen them sat on top of), a vertical cargo net (which Pip loves to scale up to get higher in the enclosure), a comfy hammock (which Twiglet loves to dive bomb into) and a hanging firehose hide (where Pip likes to shelter from the rain).

Vervet Monkeys

The Vervet enclosure is definitely still a work in progress. However, it was great to see them utilise all enclosure space when we picked up all the ropes and revamped the area. We have also installed three new ramps to allow easier access into the houses. We’ve chosen a different design for each one and used different materials and textures. By building the ramps it also allowed Darwin, our oldest Vervet in the group, easier access around the enclosure. The addition of a small cargo net was unfamiliar territory for the group too and so far, I have only seen Rizzle go near it. Hopefully, with time the group begin to love it.

Armadillo

Jose the Armadillo recently moved from his enclosure with the Sloths to join the Bushbabies down in the Nocturnal House. You may have seen him zooming around from time to time but with Jose no longer showing his cute little face for Sloth experiences, he’s missing all the back scratches. So we decided to install a new scratching station for him using a variety of brush heads.

Gibbons

Swinging high in their enclosures we have our three very vocal gibbons who have enjoyed some new hessian hammocks and suspended platforms. This allows them to laze around higher up in the enclosure. It was great for keepers to see Pickle go to the new furnishings almost straight away! 

Mandrills

Bounding around the enclosure at 100mph is very much in the personality of our group of Mandrills. So, keepers decided that they would benefit from the additions of some new strips of firehose and some floating feeding platforms to run and jump along. We also added a new tyre hammock for them to enjoy plus a vertical tyre wall to hide food inside. Surprisingly our fairly confident group weren’t too fond of the new enclosure alterations. Only Mathias and Rafiki have been brave enough to go over to explore.

Lemurs

Our walk-through Lemur enclosure has been blessed with a fair few colourful new addition which the Lemurs have absolutely loved. Flo, our youngest Lemur, has thoroughly enjoyed the arrival of a tyre swing. She is often seen asleep inside in the evening. A few new suspended feeding platforms have increased the space available to hide food higher up and out of reach of the mischievous wallabies. We also installed a new log swing and some ramps to allow our oldest Lemur, Lulu, easier access to feeding platforms and inside the house. 

Callitrichidaes

All of our small primate enclosures are currently undergoing a revamp with old branches being removed and new ones added. This is a slow and ongoing process as small primates rely on scent marking to establish their territory. Meaning it would not be a good idea to take all of their branches away at once and replace them. You may also have noticed our Squirrel Monkeys, who share their enclosure with two Goeldi’s Monkeys, have had a new firehose ladder fitted and a new feeding station. It includes an Astro turf base (an additional material that was new for the monkeys) and some puzzle feeding tubs.

Sloths

We of course couldn’t miss out one of the most popular animals amongst visitors, our adored Sloths. Sid and Noco have been seen lazying around on a new comfy hessian hammock and navigating a couple of new cargo nets. We also added some new platforms with the intention of placing food on to them. However, Sid thought that one would make a better bed instead!

Colobus Monkeys

We installed a browse barrel feeder and different browse holders including hollow bamboo pipes and firehose strips. This meant that the food lasted longer than five minutes for the greedy monkeys. We also added the hanging tyre stack which the Colobus can quite often be seen people watching from. Plus a firehose spider web.

Howler Monkeys

If you haven’t already seen the TikTok of our baby Howler Monkey, Marlowe, diving into a cargo net then I highly recommend you see that after reading this blog. It’s sure to boost anyone’s day!

Who knew a cargo net could bring a baby monkey so much joy! The addition of a tyre hammock for the Howlers to chill out in, also went down a treat. To allow more higher feeding opportunities we added some feeding platforms and a browse winch, encouraging more natural feeding behaviours.

Other Builds

Enrichment devices

Removable items of enrichment allow us the ability to share them with other species. We can see which animals were more successful at figuring out the goal of the enrichment device. Some of the items that were created were foraging boxes, lid towers (bottle lids stacked on top of each other which the monkeys have to move around to get the tasty treats underneath); slow bottle feeders, bottles with a bung covering the open cap area which the monkeys had to move to one side so that the treats would fall out, which were so successful with the colobus we now only have 2 left; live food slow feeders, sensory boards which not only have feeding puzzles but also different textured materials for the animals to play with, and one for Jose only, a slow feeder ball which he rolls around to get snacks out of. 

Some projects take longer than others, but we never consider any enclosure to be fully completed. There are always things to be worked on. Whether that is a new enrichment device or a new furniture addition to an enclosure. So far, I only have one notebook full of exciting ideas that I would love to complete… “So far” being the key words in that sentence. Keep your eyes peeled when you next visit the park, we could just be working on or installing something new! 

Source: winghamwildlifepark.co.uk