Chimpanzee Sanctuary

7th and 8th July, 2012

We held a Tanabata Star Festival for the chimpanzees.

On the first day, we all worked together to replace the old bamboo in the chimpanzees' playground with fresh, new bamboo. The bamboo which we placed there a year ago was badly damaged because male chimpanzees shake them when displaying. Not just the men, but the women too acted as a team to carry the heavy bamboo down from the mountain. All participants worked extremely hard in the hot, humid weather.

On the second day, the day of the Tanabata Star Festival itself, we prepared fruit and vegetables in the shape of Tanabata ornaments and used them to decorate the bamboo. Participants also wrote their wishes onto bread as extra decoration. There is a Sanctuary Project belief that the wish written on the first piece of bread to be eaten by the chimpanzees will come true. Whose wish will come true this year?

Once we had put the beautiful and delicious-looking ornaments onto the bamboo, the Tanabata Star Festival bean. The chimpanzees appeared with joyful food grunts. The Chimpanzees were really excited! They bit into juice frozen in the shape of bottles, searched only for the banana frozen within, and ate it. Participants were very happy to see the chimpanzees experiencing so much joy and pleasure as a result of their efforts.

Many thanks to all participants and the staff at Kumamoto Sanctuary!

BACK TO HOME