China News Service, Jinan, November 19th (Sun Tingting) The news that a chimpanzee in Jinan ate a green onion and added three or four cloves of garlic every day during the changing seasons made the topic "In Shandong, even animals love to eat green onions" a hot topic. The list sparked heated discussions among netizens.
The reporter learned from an interview with the Wildlife World in Jinan City on the 19th that in addition to onions, ginger and garlic, wild animals also like to eat dried fruits such as walnuts and peanuts, as well as yogurt and other foods.
The chimpanzee "chocolate" will peel off the outermost white skin of the onion and eat the innermost part first.
Photo by Sun Tingting
On that day, in the Jinan Wildlife World, the 10-year-old chimpanzee "Chocolate" was holding a green onion about 60 centimeters long.
It starts eating from the white of the scallion, grabbing the scallion with the left hand, and peeling off the outermost layer of the scallion with the right hand, eating only the white of the scallion inside.
Finally, "Chocolate" also picked up a few green onion leaves that fell on the ground and stuffed them into his mouth.
The chimpanzee "chocolate" will peel off the outermost white skin of the onion and eat the innermost part first.
Photo by Sun Tingting
Breeder Wang Lingfang told reporters that in October 2019, the chimpanzee "Chocolate" who was born in Dalian first arrived in Jinan, and there was temporary acclimatization.
"It's also possible that 'Chocolate' had a slight cold symptom just in time for the season change. We gave it a little green onion and garlic, and the effect was very good." Wang Lingfang said that every season since then, the staff will feed the gorillas some Onion, ginger and garlic.
"It may also be doing as the Romans do. 'Chocolate' likes to eat scallions very much. Moreover, the scallions in this season are crispy, tender and sweet, and taste very good." Wang Lingfang said that as a dietary prescription, scallions and garlic can play a role in anti-inflammatory, sterilizing and preventing colds .
A chimpanzee is usually fed with one green onion and three or four cloves of garlic a day.
"When eating garlic, chimpanzees sometimes peel the garlic, and occasionally pick it up and put it in their mouths to eat."
After eating a whole scallion, the chimpanzee "Chocolate" picks up the fallen scallion leaves, pops them into his mouth and eats them.
Photo by Sun Tingting
The news that chimpanzees eat green onions and garlic has attracted the attention of many netizens.
Some netizens said, "Shandong scallions have completely controlled the chimpanzee" and "This is doing as the Romans do"; some netizens joked, "As a Shandong native, I can't stand it anymore, I want to eat it with sauce, it is more delicious!" "Give some miso Big cakes, you can’t eat them dry.”
"Chimpanzees are the closest primates to humans, and they are very smart. Just like 'chocolate' has a cold, it will point its finger at its nose, which means that its nose is blocked and its nose is not ventilated." Wang Lingfang told reporters that autumn and winter change seasons , Animals are most susceptible to diseases such as colds and enteritis, especially primates such as macaques, whose bodies have many characteristics similar to humans.
"Chimpanzees have a relatively short period of cold, and the symptoms are very mild. Under normal circumstances, they can recover within 3 days."
Wang Lingfang told the reporter that chimpanzees have very regular schedules, going to bed after dark, getting up around 5 am in summer, and getting up around 6 am in autumn and winter.
Every morning, the staff will let the chimpanzee eat warm water after waking up.
"It also takes a lunch break every day."
"Chimpanzees are omnivores and eat vegetables and fruits together." Wang Lingfang said that chimpanzees are fed twice a day, bread, fruits, and vegetables in the morning, and eggs, concentrated feed, vegetables, and fruits in the afternoon.
The weight of each meal is about six or seven catties.
"Apples, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, bananas, etc., they all like to eat."
Breeder Wang Lingfang was cleaning the glass of the cage, while "Chocolate" watched from inside the cage.
Photo by Sun Tingting
The 1.7-meter-tall, 10-year-old "Chocolate" is equivalent to a human's 20-year-old, and is in his youth.
"'Chocolate' has been raised artificially since it was born in 2012, and its habits are becoming more and more similar to humans." Wang Lingfang said that when she usually cleans the cage, she will play music for "Chocolate".
"When it sees a child, it will make funny faces to 'make' the child happy, very cute."
The reporter learned that in addition to chimpanzees, primates such as baboons, gibbons, mandrills, macaques, orangutans, and golden monkeys also eat some onions.
In addition, zoos in Harbin, Tianjin, Zhengzhou and many other places will supplement some animals with green onions and garlic when the autumn and winter alternate between cold and warm.
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