Watermelon feast
Although there was a slight chance of rain this week, it remained hot and dry. There was no more nutritious or refreshing way to deal with the hot June afternoons here in South Texas than to hand out watermelons. We were fortunate to receive a number of yellow ones this week much to everyone’s delight. Although not enough for 500 monkeys, those individuals living in the semi-natural enclosures all enjoyed large slices. For everyone else, there weren’t too many complaints as we had plenty of strawberries to go around.
Enjoying water
In their natural habitat, many primate species will swim and play in water. Yet, for most monkeys in research laboratories, the only water they know is in the form of a small tube that must be licked in order to get a small amount of water at a time.
Enjoying their new life
The longtail macaques retired from a laboratory have been with us for more than five weeks. It has been wonderful to watch the progress they have made during that time. They now spend their afternoons relaxing, grooming each other, sleeping and lazing around in the water and mud. Some will just sit in the wet mud pools we make for them and splash around, fascinated with the water. After years of living under laboratory conditions, it is great to see how much they are enjoying their new environment.
