Volunteer Karine left a rubber ring the other day in the pond of the nursery group to observe the reactions of the chimps.
At first, most of the chimps seemed worried to see something new and some even refused to come close to the pond. The first ones to come closer were Ekolo, Kimo & Tommy and the rubber ring suddenly became THE great attraction of the day!!
Ekolo
Kimo (right)
Kimo & Tommy
Then, Elia arrived…
…and she confidently grabbed the new enrichment item and made it hers for hours and hours. Her friends were allowed to look at the ring but not to touch it!
Finally, what was supposed to happen, happened indeed: the rubber ring became flat to Elia’s surprise. But this didn’t prevent her from still using the rubber ring as enrichment tool as she carried it around her neck or on her head all day and it kept her busy all the time!
Once the novelty had worn off, Elia let the others play with the flat plastic ring…
J.A.C.K.