Life for the chimpanzees at the Jackson Zoo will soon be getting easier thanks in part to the Vicksburg Fire Department.

The department donated about 800 feet of damaged hose to Thomas Henderson, whose grandfather Ken Hicks lives in Vicksburg, to use during his Eagle Scout project at the zoo.

“We asked the Vicksburg fire department because my grandfather lives up there if they could share some old fire hose,” Henderson said. “They did, which we are thankful for that. We got fire hose and we kind of weaved it into a hammock and it is going to go in the chimpanzee exhibit. It is not quite up yet. It should be up in a month or so.”

VFD chief Craig Danczyk said the hose was no longer usable and they were happy to help as they were looking for something to do with it.

“We gave him damaged fire hose that was either burned or had burst,” Danczyk said. “We were trying to repurpose it so we though that was a wonderful way to repurpose it and make the animal habitat because it would involve life safety. I think it was awesome, so we were very happy to collaborate … We actually have more damaged hose, so in the event they wanted to do that again, we could probably accommodate them.”

Henderson, who is a freshman at Rosa Scott School in Madison, also helped build a new feeding mechanism for the cougars at the zoo.

“It gives the cougars physical and mental stimulation,” he said. “I had to decide what I wanted to help for my Eagle Scout project, people, animals, the elderly. I want to be a veterinarian when I grow up, so I knew I wanted to help animals. I thought about places to do it and I thought the Jackson Zoo was in need and I have a special connection to it because I grew up going to the Jackson Zoo.”

Henderson said the project took a couple months to complete, as they had to build the device for the cougar area. The hammock for the chimps has been made, but they are still waiting to hang it in the enclosure.

“It felt really good because the past couple months that is what I have been doing,” he said. “It felt really like accomplishing and it was really excited to see the cougars get right at it.”

The Jackson Zoo has also been receiving help recently from an AmeriCorps team based out of Vicksburg. Eight corps members have been working on a variety of projects at the zoon since Jan. 5 and will work there until Feb. 6.

“We are divided into two sub teams,” team leader Ashley Smith said. “One team is focusing on education and marketing and the other team is focused on infrastructure refreshments around the zoo. We built some benches to go in the chimpanzee night house, painted two buildings and we are going to fix some fences around the zoo.”

The other team is helping with a “zoo case” that can be used in classrooms to bring the zoo to students too far away to make a trip to the zoo.

“It is a case filled with artifacts, furs and skulls and lesson plans that teachers in schools can use and modify to their classroom,” Smith said. “It is kind of like bringing the zoo to them.”

On the weekends, the corps team transitions to guides at the zoo and helps introduce visitors to the different animals.

“It is like a piece of the world is brought to them. It is not like they are going to be able to travel to Africa just on the weekend. They can come to the zoo and being here we can educate people about it,” she said. “As people come around we can tell them about the animals in each area. It is really a great experience seeing their faces light up.”