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Center for Great Apes-
Enrichment List
Everyday,
at least three forms of enrichment are given to every ape.
Usually only one type of enrichment is food related and the
rest are non-food related. In addition, all of the apes are
provided with browse everyday.
- Bedding
Bags- Burlap bags, pillowcases, or other cloth bags.
Many times given at night in addition to blankets used
for bedding.
- Boots/Shoes-
Cleaning boots, work boots, sneakers or other shoes.
Shoelaces and other dangerous buckles or snaps are
removed.
- Boxes-
Any clean boxes (shipping, large appliance, etc.) Tape and
other labels are removed.
- Brushes-
Any plastic or wooden cleaning, paint, or hairbrush.
Brushes with long handles are not given to those apes
who use them to bend wire mesh or break lixits.
Be aware some brush bristles are fastened to brush with
sharp staples!
- Bubbles-
Volunteers or staff blow bubbles in front of apes or into
enclosure. Bubble
machines work well.
- Water
Buckets- Water buckets & horse tubs filled with warm
and/or cold water.
Sometimes
treats are put into water to encourage water play.
Sponges are given to those apes who do not eat the
sponges. Wads of
paper works also.
- Carpet
Pieces- Samples from carpets stores, small area rugs or
small hallway runners. Sometimes
given as bedding along with blankets.
- Coconuts-
Whole coconuts with or without outer husks.
- Cups-
Heavy plastic cups or paper cups.
Sometimes filled with treats- frozen juice or Gatorade,
ice, or lined with small amount of peanut butter and raisins.
(Large and small heavy plastic cups can be found at
Wal-Mart, K-mart, etc.)
- Fan
Palms- Large palm fronds are given along with other daily
browse. Sometimes
smeared with honey or PB.
- Musical
instruments- Volunteer or staff play musical instruments
in front of apes. Keyboards,
guitars, flutes, xylophones, rain sticks, drums, etc.
- Frozen
Treats- Fruit (grapes, bananas, mango), fruit shakes, ice
cubes, juice or Gatorade, water ice blocks with fruit frozen
inside, homemade or sugar-free store popsicles.
Given as is or in other enrichment- cups, Kong toys,
dog toys, etc.
- Fruit
Shakes- Various fruit blended with water or juice.
Given frozen or fresh in cups.
- Funnels-
Automotive or toy plastic funnels, any size.
Sometimes given with water tubs or with cups.
- Gloves-
Snow, work, or garden gloves.
Extra large sizes work best.
- Hats-
Baseball caps, snow hats, plastic hard hats, baseball helmets
etc. Any metal or
dangerous pieces are removed first.
- Hula
Hoops- All small pieces, staples, and inside beads are
removed. Can be
used along with reach treats.
Be aware apes can reach very far outside of their
enclosure! Hoops
can be cut in half or smaller to create tubes and used as
heavy plastic straws.
- Jello-
Made in cups, ice cube
trays or other various enrichment toys.
- Kong
Toys- Heavy duty dog toys, any size.
Many times treats are put inside and frozen.
- Magazines/Books-
Telephone books or old computer manuals work great.
Staples are removed from magazines.
- Masks-
Paper or cloth masks are given to apes.
Volunteers or staff can wear plastic or Halloween type
masks in front of apes.
- Mirrors-
Large mirrors are set up outside ape enclosures.
Handheld, plastic, unbreakable mirrors are given to
apes. Video
cameras and monitors can be set up so apes can also see
themselves- great for recording self-recognition behaviors.
- Music-
Various music is played during the day with either CD player
or radio. Natural
sounds or rainforest sounds are interesting.
 Paper-
Large sheets of butcher paper, shredded paper (sometimes used
as bedding along with blankets), rolls of paper tape (cash
register receipts), computer printout sheets, rolls of raffle
tickets, etc. Non-toxic
crayons, chalk, or paint are sometimes given along with paper.
- Pine
Cones- Either plain or
filled with treats.
- Plastic
Toys- Various heavy plastic children toys- Frisbees, sand
box toys, rakes, shovels, etc.
- Popcorn-
Used alone as a forage item or with other enrichment.
Low fat popcorn is preferred, plain air-popped is best.
Popcorn air popped in front of apes is very exciting.
- PVC
Toys- Various PVC piping.
Treat puzzles can be made using PVC pipes.
PVC pipes are not given to those apes who use them to
bend wire mesh or break lixits.
- Reach
Treats- Various treats (nuts, fruit pieces, biscuits) are
place outside ape enclosures.
Apes must use tools (sticks, browse,
palms, hula hoops) to “fish” for treats.
Be aware apes with long stick can “fish” for other
items placed too close to enclosures.
- Ropes-
Short dog rope pull toys
works best.
- Scatter
Treats- Various treats (nuts, fruit pieces, cereals,
berries, frozen treats etc.) are scattered around ape
enclosure.
- Shaker
Balls- Boomer balls or similar hard plastic balls are
drilled with one or more holes and treats are placed inside.
Small dry treats work best- nuts, seeds. Also juice or Gatorade frozen inside will keep apes busy
for a long time.
- Shaker
Toys- PVC pipes filled with various noisy items (sand,
rocks, bells etc.) then both ends are capped and sealed shut. Makes a great heavy duty noisemaker.
Items inside should be non-toxic in case apes get pipe
open.
- Smear
Walls- Indoor enclosure walls are smeared with small
amounts of treats- PB, jelly, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce,
baby food, oatmeal. Great
way to encourage apes to come inside for the night or in an
emergency.
- Soapy
Water- Non-toxic, tear-free, baby shampoo is mixed with
water in horse tubs and kiddie pools to create lots of soapy
bubbles. Sponges,
brushes, or hand towels are sometimes given along with soapy
water.
- Socks-
Any type, larger sizes work best.
Apes, especially orangutans, should be carefully
supervised since they tend to wrap clothing around their body
parts and can get stuck or cut off blood circulation.
- Sport
Balls- Soccer, footballs, tennis balls, basketballs work
great. Be aware
there are sometimes plastic linings or metal air pins inside
some balls that apes can remove if they deflate and open a
hole into the ball.
- Sprinklers/Hoses-
Wand or oscillating sprinklers are set up outside ape
enclosure and only sprinkle inside part of the enclosure. Garden
or pool misters are attached to hoses and set up to spray
inside ape enclosures. Great enrichment on hot days. Old hoses can be attached to good working hoses, then
woven several times through wire mesh of safety cage, then the
old hose is inserted into ape enclosure.
This allows apes to play with hose, while not being
able to pull entire hose into enclosure.
- T-Shirts-
Any shirt, larger sizes work best. Other articles of clothing can also be given to the apes
as long as metal parts or other dangerous items are removed
first. Apes,
especially orangutans, should be carefully supervised since
they tend to wrap clothing around their body parts and can get
stuck or cut off blood circulation.
- Treat
Bags- Paper bags (large grocery or small lunch bags)
filled with various special treats (frozen berries, crayons,
hats, nuts, chalk, small hard plastic toys etc.)
Can be handed out individually or hidden in enclosure.
- Treat
Boxes- Same as treat bags only boxes are used. Cereal and other cardboard food boxes are great for
this.
- Treat
Dipping- Heavy trays or shallow tubs are placed near ape
enclosure and treats (ketchup, honey, sticky rice, mustard,
oatmeal, baby food, PB, jelly etc.) are spread in bottom of
tray. Ape must
use tools (sticks, browse, hula
hoops) to dip into treat.
Similar to termite fishing.
Some facilities create concrete mounds that can be
placed inside ape enclosures and easily filled with treats and
cleaned.
- Treat
Logs- Various sized and placed holes are drilled
into tree and wooden play structures inside ape enclosures.
Treats are hidden inside holes.
Dry treats (nuts, seeds, cereal etc.) work best.
- Zipper
Bags- Bank moneybags or small nylon/vinyl bags with
zippers. Can be
handed out alone or with treats inside.
Apes can break zippers, broken pieces are removed from
bag and bag can be reused without zipper.
There are many
other structural enrichment and enclosure toys that are changed on
a various schedule. Tree
& wooded climbing structures, large wooden & plastic
culverts, ship ropes, fire hose, horse tubs & buckets, sealed
55-gallon plastic drums, heavy plastic (Playskool) outdoor toys,
heavy plastic kiddie pools, cargo nets, hammocks (nylon or fire
hose), large tire swings, etc.
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Treat
Food List
Treats should be
limited and when possible low fat, non-fat, reduced salt, low
calorie, and/or sugarless.
- Applesauce
- Baby
food or Baby rice cereal- any flavor, dry or jars
- BBQ
sauce
- Berries
or seasonal fruit- fresh or frozen
- Bread
or bread crumbs
- Cereal-
sugar cereals used sparingly
- Cottage
cheese
- Crackers-
Graham or saltines
- Cranberry
sauce
- Cream
of wheat
- Croutons
- Dried
fruit- food dehydrator is very useful, also makes fruit
roll-ups
- Figs
- Frozen
foods- corn, mixed veggies, beans, peas
- Grits
- Gum,
sugarless
- Honey
- Jellies
or jam- any flavor, sugar free
- Jello-
sugar free
- Jerky-
beef or turkey, reduced salt
- Juice-
bottle or concentrate, often diluted in water
- Ketchup
- Maple
syrup / Molasses
- Mashed
Potatoes
- Mushrooms
- Mustard
- Nuts-
whole with shell
- Oatmeal
- Pasta-
any, sometimes used as evening starch
(usually potato or rice)
- Peanut
Butter
- Pickles
- Pretzels
- Prunes
- Pumpkins
or other squash- drill holes into, fill with Gatorade, &
freeze
- Relish
- Salad
dressings- any flavor
- Salsa-
homemade is best
- Spices-
any; basil, nutmeg, cinnamon, Mrs. dash, garlic, onion,
parsley
- Tabasco
sauce
- Wild
bird seed or other seeds
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