Intern Tasks at Project Chimps
By Emmett Johnson
Meet Willa!
Willa is a new Chimp Care intern at Project Chimps who helps the caregivers with supporting the chimps’ needs. Willa will be staying on-site throughout the summer in the intern cabin while spending the day assisting with the chimps. Their intern tasks are to help make chimp enrichments, laundry, and cleaning. Their favorite task is to be in the kitchen sorting food because they are surrounded by a fun environment of other animal-lovers. So far, Willa has mostly worked in Chateau A and B and loves to work with any of the chimps. When speaking to Willa, they light up when they talk about all the different chimps and their relationship to the different apes. While Willa is still getting to know the different chimps, they have a special connection with Paul. Willa has a strong connection with Paul because both of them get anxious around other people and do not prefer to be adventurous.
What are the daily intern tasks?
Willa’s intern routine begins at 8 AM when they have to attend a daily meeting which discusses the chimp’s welfare from the day previously. These meetings include documenting little details of the chimp’s diet and their interactions with others to watch if there are any long-term changes. Then, Willa goes to the kitchen to restock food for the chimps’ meals throughout the day. After that, Willa goes to one of the sanctuaries with whoever they are working with to prepare chimp chow which is a biscuit type of food and weighed out for each individual chimp’s weight. Then, they start cleaning the chimps’ rooms.
Cleaning the rooms takes a lot of time and after the rooms are clean the caregivers place “forage” around the rooms. “Forage” is a type of enrichment for the chimps that encourages scavenging for their own food rather than being fed from a caregiver. The foraged food is either a type of fruit or vegetable that is scattered around the room. Pauls’ favorite type of forage is when the food is on lower levels of the rooms because he can stay on the ground.
Enrichments encourage the chimps’ natural behavior as much as possible while within the sanctuary. While the chimps have their lunch, the caretakers are also able to have their own lunch. Then, it’s time to prepare for the chimp’s dinner. After all the tasks are done for the day, Willa has off-hours at the cabin where they can do whatever they want. The intern cabin at Project Chimps is a cozy atmosphere where Willa is enjoying their stay for the summer.
Willa’s Project
The typical routine of an intern at Project Chimps is full of work. Willa had the inspiration to make a video called “The Day in the Life of an Intern” to show the different tasks that interns must perform. The video explains to other interns how to do different activities that interns have to perform. The video is fun and informational and the topics cover duties such as: how to prepare chow, what cleaning is like and unpacking produce.
The video is informational to other interns who are just starting or interested in learning more about what the intern tasks at Project Chimps. The video helps other interns because there is so much going on in an intern’s day and it would be beneficial to have a source that explains the daily flow. Watch Willa’s video here edited by Communications Intern Brianna Arias:
Willa is currently a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and is pursuing a BS in Psychology. Willa loves this position because they get to see how the human brain and chimp brain overlap in psychology because of their similarities. By being able to identify different aspects of the human brain, Willa can also identify different behaviors within the chimps. After they complete their degree, Willa wants to further their study in primatology.
Looking to have an internship at Project Chimps? If so, check out the current opportunities on our official internship page.
