What is a chimpanzee diet?
- Chimpanzees eat a wide variety of foods in the wild.
- Chimpanzees are omnivores, which means they eat plants and animals.
- At Chimp Haven, chimpanzees receive a nutritional diet that a team of animal care staff prepare each day with lots of chopping and measuring!
- At Chimp Haven the chimpanzee diet is made up of chow (a chimp protein biscuit), leafy greens (like kale), non-leafy greens (like cucumbers), starches (like potatoes), fruits (like bananas!), forage (like nuts and seeds), and sometimes food enrichment.
- The chimpanzees don’t get human treats like pizza and ice cream in their diets, but they may receive sugar-free popsicles or natural fruit snacks.
- Chimp Haven sources local seasonal produce, and also grows its own with fruit trees and a greenhouse.
- The chimpanzees may receive novel fruit treats like kiwi. The first time the colony received it they didn’t know what it was! It became a resident favorite once they realized it was edible.
- Last year the colony went through 200,000 pounds of produce! How many pounds of produce do you think your family ate last year?
- Chimp Haven’s veterinarian helps decide what each chimp group eats to maintain a happy and healthy colony. She does this by looking at caloric intake and considering things like age and activity level.
- Each chimpanzee troop has a labeled bucket marked with the number of family members. The labels help staff weigh out and distribute the diets.
- The chimpanzees receive their diets mostly outdoors either in their habitat or on a trough (like a table) outside of their habitats. Feeding outside means that animal care staff can spread out diets ensuring each chimpanzee gets their share.
