Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ

Giving monkeys the chance to bounce around their cages as they would
in the treetops has earned Drusillas Zoo Park in Sussex this year’s Zoo
Welfare Innovation Award. Keepers at the zoo replaced logs and ropes with
the elasticated cord used by people for bungee jumping.

The award is given by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
for an idea that enriches the life of captive animals. It is clear the monkeys
prefer the bungee cords simply because they spend more time on them, says
the zoo’s curator Martyn Williams. ‘They jump on the ‘branch’ and it doesn’t
stay still,’ he says. ‘They have to use their skills to hang on.’

In particular, monkeys with prehensile tails have taken to the elasticated
branches. Williams and his colleagues have also put food in a ‘hammock’
made from bungee cord. This increases the time monkeys spend feeding to
more like natural foraging times.