Banana pops
IPPL Blog | September 25, 2015
It’s officially fall now, but for the most part it still feels like summer. Lately the gibbons have been enjoying frozen banana pops as enrichment—our special recipe.
Ziggy
We had lots of very ripe bananas among our donated pallets of Costco produce recently, and in the warm weather those babies just don’t keep well, so our staff has gotten creative.
Kendra
The bananas are thoroughly mashed, and then the puree is thinned with a little bit of a nutrition drink to make the pops a little more healthful.
Erin
They were a hit—even if they did get a little squishy as they melted. Scrappy, Spanky, and Ziggy liked them especially!
Scrappy
The banana pops of summer—to be enjoyed while they last!
Ziggy
Posted: September 25, 2015
I am working with a group right now as they are trying very hard to open a sanctuary here in Wisconsin. I will be living on the land to care for them. I love this recipe and was wondering if you have any others or fun things for them to do? We are trying to retire monkeys from labs, circuses and people that think they are pets and realize they aren’t. Also do you have any information as to where we can get donations from foundations or such? It’s hard until it is up and running. But trying to get it up and ready seems hard. We did get a nice grant from the Bob Barker foundation. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Bless you for what you do!! Our site is primatesinc.com if you would like to check it out! Thank you for your time and recipe!! Have a good day.
Thank you in advance for all your hard work! The banana pops were really easy to make, just well-mashed bananas and a bit of protein drink to thin the puree and up its nutritional profile–no special recipe required. Sounds like you are looking to accept a lot of macaque monkeys. They are much more dexterous than gibbons, so they would be interested in different kinds of enrichment from the sort our little guys appreciate. If you haven’t already, you may want to get in touch with the OPR and Mindy’s Memory sanctuaries, both of which have macaques; I’m sure they’d have some suggestions about what works well with their rescues. Congratulations on your start-up grant–clearly, there are many people who already have faith in you. In the future, you may want to get in touch with your nearby community foundation and see if they have suggestions for growing local support. Good luck!