The Perfected Hand Eating Techniques

By Madelyn Kos

No utensils? No problem. Chimpanzees use their hands for basically everything – including eating. They rely on their hands in the same way humans do, if not more! When it comes to eating, the chimps are always showing off their hand eating skills. Over the time of learning from others and figuring out what feels comfortable, every chimp has perfected their hand eating techniques.

The different techniques

Every chimp eats their food in a unique way. Depending on their mood, who they are around, and what type of food is provided, the techniques vary. Samira is very particular about her food. She likes to take her food and eat it on a ledge with her hands. Jabari, on the other hand, tends to lay on his back and use his feet to eat. He loves to play with oranges by poking at them and tossing them around.

Oranges are popular among the chimps. Emma is known at the sanctuary to eat oranges in a strange way, so strange; it often tricks the caregivers! Emma uses her finger to poke a hole in the orange and hollow out the inside. She does this so well, the orange often looks like it was never touched. When cleaning out the enclosure, the caregivers sometimes mistake the empty orange for a forgotten fruit.

Keeping hands clean is an important task among a few of the chimps. Washing hands is an uncommon task with most of the chimps, but the chimps who do are routinely enthusiastic about it. Alan, a caregiver, talked about how Harriett, Lance, and Gertrude always wash their hands in the lixit before eating.

Whenever given the opportunity

The chimps use their hands to eat every chance they get. At the sanctuary, the chimps are hand fed their breakfast and dinner. This is to ensure every chimp receives at least two, full meals a day. However, lunch and scatters (snacks given twice a day) are a free-for-all.

We encourage the chimps to forage lesser value food items in order to promote natural behaviors. It is important for their minds to stay engaged throughout the day and by doing this, it helps them behave in the most natural chimp way. Whoever gets to the food first, keeps and eats it. Social rankings come into play, as well as sharing and stealing. By interacting with food foraging, the chimps learn from each other how to live within their community.

The menu

Various foods are used every day that help perfect the chimps’ hand eating techniques. Lunch consists of fruit, corn, sweet potatoes, rice, pasta, and sometimes cups of soup. This variety differs every day in order to keep the chimps interested. Scatters of chow also occur twice a day. Chow are small biscuit-like treats that are homemade specifically for the chimps, similar to dog biscuits.

Because lunch and scatters promote foraging behaviors, upset actions are sometimes displayed. When stealing takes place or if someone teases someone else, food may get thrown.

One time, Haylee got upset with the group of boys near her and threw her bag of chow at the group, hitting Arthur. Luckily, he never got angry, he just got more chow! The caregivers try to make sure every chimp gets an equal amount of chow. When incidents like this happen, the chimp with the lesser amount of chow always gets a little more.

There are many factors that contribute to a chimp’s hand eating techniques. Depending on the chimp, their habits and their community, the techniques are endless. The perfected hand eating techniques among the chimps are unique and always interesting to observe.

If you would like to help out with providing food for the chimps, you can donate here or check out our Amazon wishlist!