Monkeys and bananas, they go together like…well, monkeys and bananas! While most of our monkeys and chimps do like bananas, their diets consist of much, much more.
Our residents eat A LOT of food everyday, so we make it a top priority to make sure we are feeding everyone a nutritious diet to ensure a long, happy life. Our days here at the Primate Rescue Center begin and end with feeding. Every morning the chimps start the day with a fresh piece of fruit. It can be an apple, a pear, or even, yes…a banana, while the monkeys start their day off with some lettuce and seeds. After that, our staff and volunteers begin chopping a mixture of fruits and veggies to feed to the chimps and monkeys. Later, the chimps get lunch which our staff and volunteers prepare from our PRC cookbook. All of our recipes take in to account the total carbohydrate, fat, and sugar levels in order to maintain a healthy level of each. Non- human primates can suffer from diabetes and other weight related heath issues, so it is imperative that we feed them a healthy, balanced diet to prevent these diseases. The monkeys also have a dinner prepared from the cookbook along with another serving of lettuce mixed with nuts or seeds. The chimps end their day with another mixture of chopped fruits and veggies. We also supplement their diets with monkey and chimp chow.
Needless to say, we are so grateful to our area Kroger stores who graciously donate food on a daily basis. Every afternoon our staff and volunteers spend time unloading and sorting through the produce donated by Kroger. We keep a variety of fruits and veggies, as well as nuts and other dry goods that we can use in recipes or in monkey and chimp “chop” each day. We also use monetary donations to buy groceries to feed all of the monkeys and chimps. If you would like to contribute to the care of a specific resident in our care, check out our Primate Pals program where you can “adopt” one of our monkeys or chimps and provide food for them through your generous donations.
It’s a big job to feed all of these animals, and it takes up a lot of time to prepare meals each day, but we love doing it because we love our residents!
