A Matter of Chimp Poop

by Kayla Adgate

Everyone poops. And chimps poop A LOT!

Perhaps dealing with chimp feces isn’t the most glamorous part of a chimpanzee caregiver’s day, but it’s certainly one of the most important. Like in other species (including us!), fecal consistency is a great indicator of overall health, so, caregivers must constantly assess the quality of, well, chimp poop!

Why Poop Matters

According to Tawnya Williams, one of the chimpanzee care supervisors at Project Chimps, a chimp’s fecal consistency is one helpful, non-invasive glimpse into a chimp’s physical and emotional well-being. If a chimp’s feces is abnormal, it is an important cue for care staff to begin to watch a chimp more closely for health issues or issues related to stress.

But what is abnormal poop?

How Caregivers Assess Chimp Feces: What’s just right?

Although “normal” fecal consistency varies from chimp to chimp, caretakers watch out for particularly abnormal consistencies such as loose stools or hard, dry feces. For example, if a chimp’s feces is hard, in pebble form, or dry, it may indicate that they are constipated or dehydrated. Conversely, if their feces is loose, they may have GI issues that care staff need to address.

Interestingly, although these visual observations are extremely helpful, caregivers can also utilize the sound of feces hitting the ground to help determine their consistencies. Plop!

Another helpful tool that caregivers utilize to measure the consistency of feces over time is the WALTHAM Faeces Scoring System.

According to Tawnya, the WALTHAM Scoring System is particularly useful when care staff are closely monitoring the health of an individual chimp, or to take note if a feces sample is “off” within a larger group. Very low scores on the WALTHAM Scoring System are too dry, and very high scores are too watery.

Healthy chimp poop falls somewhere in the middle, where the feces is well-formed and slightly moist. The kind that makes the perfect kind of plop sound.

But Seriously, Whose Poop is Whose?

Sometimes this is not an easy question to answer.

Caregivers watch chimps closely, taking note of where and when they defecate to help answer this question. However, quite understandably, some chimps, like Greg, aren’t keen on an audience and like to utilize the restroom in private. (And let’s make a side note here, chimpanzees don’t actually use restrooms. In fact, even the most “trained” Hollywood actor chimps have never learned to use a toilet consistently.)

In these cases, care staff must get creative and carefully observe each chimp’s most popular “dumping” grounds in order to collect fecal samples. Sometimes they may even use food coloring that will dye the feces and give one individual chimp a fun flavored drink if they really need to get a specific sample.

Troubleshooting Upset Guts

There are several things that care staff can do to troubleshoot too wet, or too dry, poop. Just like in humans, hydration always seems to be part of the answer. Chimps love drinking water directly from a running hose, or bottles of water or juice squeezed directly into their mouths.

To treat constipation, fiber rich foods such as prunes or MiraLAX work great. In more difficult cases, the veterinarian may decide to prescribe medication to help out.

You can help make sure there is always medication on hand to help chimps continue to poop happy, please consider donating to the Project Chimps pharmacy with a Wishlist item today.