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Background  Lengthy social separation and prolonged fasting time contribute to increased risks associated with anesthesia in captive primates. This study is an initial attempt to identify a safe pre‐anesthetic fasting procedure by identifying gastric emptying time (GET) and gastrointestinal transit time (GTT) of captive chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Methods  Seven adult chimpanzees at the North Carolina Zoo immobilized for annual physical examinations were fed barium‐impregnated polyethylene spheres to measure GET. Eleven animals were individually fed a color dye marker and fecal passage was observed to determine GTT. Results  Gastric emptying time (GET) was approximated to be >3 hours but <16 hours. The mean GTT was 16.5 hours. Conclusions  This study indicates that a fasting time of 3 hours would allow for complete gastric emptying and could potentially replace the current overnight fast (≥16 hour) to help minimize complications associated with pre‐anesthetic fasting in captive primates.