THE CHIMPS…… and us

......Don't miss Bill Platti's message on the message board about Elgin and the Alligator. And add your own anecdotes so we all can enjoy them. Sorry that more of you could not be at the meeting last night. It was very informative and we hashed out a lot of different topics. For those of you who are intimidated by the very technical way we now take data, Terry and the group decided that narrative observations are perfectly acceptable. We will very shortly come up with a format showing the facts that should be on each page you submit and how you should submit it. Our first thought is to have you post them on the website so they are available for all of us to read. These observations will be most helpful to Terry and the keepers. Those of you who are used to the old way and are comfortable with it may still do that and submit your observations to the Chimpanzoo website.

......We all decided that to better understand and share all of our concerns, it would be helpful to meet at regular intervals. The decision was made to try to meet in various homes every other month beginning January 7, 2004 at Eloise's home. None of this is set in stone, but it is a start to making the group more cohesive and active. We may do enrichment at some of these meetings also.

......Terry asked for and got volunteers to take over some of the responsibilities of the group. Tom Wichele is going to compose a letter to send to condo associations to try to interest some retired people in our group. Tina Scharn offered to write a piece we could put in local newspapers and Tracy Anderson, Sharon Powrozek, Ruth Cassidy and Bill Platti offered to take new people out to the preserver to get them started. Betty Mulhearn and her daughter, Mia Porter are going to arrange for this month’s enrichment program. They will show us how to make piñata’s to hang on the islands.

......Terry brought a large array of pictures of the chimps and him, going back many years. It was such fun to see them and see the changes. We also had two albums of Lauren Malcom’s current pictures to thumb through. One of her pictures was supposed to be on the current issue of the Chimpanzoo Newsletter from the JGI Institute, but I have not seen any copies around.

…..and STUFF

......The biggest problem with enrichment is thinking of new and interesting things to do so I want you all to get involved in looking up ideas on the Internet or anywhere else you can think of. We need more non-food related ideas, we are placing too much emphasis on food and we need to challenge their minds and hands and feet. There are some links to enrichment on the web site and plenty more to be found. Just SEARCH for chimpanzee enrichment on Google or any other search engine and see what you come up with. We can use some kinds of enrichment in the “house” that we can’t use on the islands so keep that in mind also.

......We will probably have time to do a few of our usual things at enrichment this month also if enough people show up.

......It is time to get out your enrichment list and start collecting things on it. Next month we pack the boxes of gifts for the chimps so we need lots of stuff. We will have enrichment on Sunday, December 14 which is the second Sunday instead of the third. Santa will give out the gifts on Friday the 19th . They are going to take everyone out in buses this year so they are asking us to be at the parking lot at 9:30 a.m. that day. There were incidents with the zebras last year that need to be avoided, so we will not take our cars out this year. Mark the date on your calendar so you won’t miss this wonderful morning that the chimps just love.

......I am still not able to go out to the preserve for any length of time because of the heat, but as soon as it gets cool I will be up and running. In the meantime I would be glad to answer any questions either by phone or email. 561-965-1250 or e_conn@bellsouth.net

......The link to the website went out again this week so those of you who have not signed up, please follow what the link tells you to do so you can see all the things we have put on the web for you. If by chance you did not get the link , please email me and I will send it to you. It is going to be a wonderful way for our group to stay in touch and share what we see and do for the chimps.

FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL EDUCATORS

......Four of us were fortunate enough to attend the workshop that the above group held during their fall meeting held at Lion Country Safari. We met people from all over the State - from schools, Epcot, zoos etc. It was fun and very interesting too. We all worked in groups on different enrichment projects, got good ideas for our own groups and all shared ideas with each other. The next morning we joined the group again as they toured the preserve and saw what the animals did with the enrichment made the night before. I just thought I would share a few pictures from that event with you. Unfortunately when I went to scan the ones from the preserve drive thru, my scanner decided to be ornery so this month I can only show you the workshop ones.