Taronga Zoo Chimpanzee Troop

Hamilton Zoo, like Monarto Zoo, are looking to source new females as they only have one female of reproductive age and she is 32 years of now. After their dominant male (Luka) killed a new female (Chima) in 2015 though, I think there will be some reluctance to relocate new females to Hamilton if other zoos are also a viable option. In my opinion, the introduction could have been handled better, the female was introduced around 4 days after arriving at the zoo and Hamilton stated on hindsight, the male was showing signs of fear (which led to a high level of aggression). Other mistakes included a failure to separate them for almost two minutes (enough to cause fatal damage) and the reliance of two females Chima had known only days to support her against the dominant male they’d known for years, one of which was strongly bonded with Luka, and one of which fears him as she’s hand raised. I think in the future, Hamilton would have more success if they introduced a pair (or group) of strongly bonded females.

Females Taronga Zoo will need to relocate include Lani and Sembe. Kamili should be relocated if Taronga Zoo are not willing to support her in hand raising her infants, and Koko should be kept with her daughter as she’d suffer socially if left alone at Taronga. Shona is sterilised so is of no use to Taronga for breeding (or any other zoo), but should only be relocated if another female she is strongly bonded with could go with her.

The best move for export could be:

Group 1: Koko and Kamili

Group 2: Shona, Hannah, Lani and Sembe

Group 1 to Monarto or Rockhampton; Group 2 to Monarto or Hamilton.

The only disadvantage to this export would be that Taronga would be left with much fewer females than males, something which had caused problems at Wellington and Monarto Zoo. Females like Shona and Kamili may not be contributing to the group reproductively but do balance out the testosterone in the group! Ironically, I believe it’s currently the males acting as a moderating force to counter the issues the females are causing at the moment!
 
According the the Taronga chimp family tree, Lani and Sembe could feasibly breed with Sandali... good suggestion Zoofan15!

While Kamili may be viable for breeding, having Koko in close proximity when any infant is born could be an issue... errr!

Another option for Taronga would be to maybe separate out - or export - some of their males. Is there any precedence for a chimp bachelor group in a captive environment?

Personally, I'd probably have selected which males from the original group I wanted to breed with the 3 new girls, and just put them together and kept them separate from the main group altogether. Trying to introduce 3 new chimps to a large established group was always going to be fraught with danger IMHO...

T.
 
tdierikx said:
According the the Taronga chimp family tree, Lani and Sembe could feasibly breed with Sandali... good suggestion Zoofan15!

While Kamili may be viable for breeding, having Koko in close proximity when any infant is born could be an issue... errr!

Another option for Taronga would be to maybe separate out - or export - some of their males. Is there any precedence for a chimp bachelor group in a captive environment?

Personally, I'd probably have selected which males from the original group I wanted to breed with the 3 new girls, and just put them together and kept them separate from the main group altogether. Trying to introduce 3 new chimps to a large established group was always going to be fraught with danger IMHO...

T.
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Exporting males is definately a possibility and something which was traditionally done at Taronga. I think if they were to go this route, the biggest factor to consider would be the implications on their mother left at Taronga Zoo. If all male offspring cannot be exported, which they cannot (due to the young age of Fumo, Sudi and Liwali), then females should be equally disadvantaged eg.

Lisa - export Lubutu, retain Lani and Liwali. Lisa loses her adult son (who is also the dominant male) but is left with an adult daughter and an infant son as support

Shiba - export Shabani and Samaki, retain Sembe and Sudi. Shiba loses her adult sons but is left with an adolscent daughter and an infant son as support

Kuma - export Furahi, retain Fumo and breed Kuma asap. Kuma loses the support of her adult son Furahi but still had a young son for support, and able to breed again

Sacha - Sacha is a diffcult one. Export Shikamoo and retain Sule? Ideally this would happen but how close are Shikamoo and Sule? Would they be better left at Taronga together?

So the four (possibly five males): Lubutu, Shabani,. Samaki and Furahi (and possibly Shikamoo) could then be relocated. If Rockhampton can only accomodate a small number of chimpanzee, Lucifer (1988) and Luka (1993) could be sent from Hamilton to Rockhampton and the four/five Taronga males be sent to Hamilton for breeding. Rockhampton's adolscent male could be transferred to Taronga and him and Sule head up the new breeding group. Rockhampton have four adult females from memory, two could stay to breed with Luka and Lucifer and two could be sent to Hamilton to breed with the newly improted Taronga males???

This would eliminate the need for bachelor group although I believe there is one at Monkey World in the UK which works well.
 
Chimpanzee bachelor groups can work well, as males naturally spend most of their time with one another anyway. I know Monkey World (though they castrate most of their males), Beekse Bergen (Netherlands), and Mona Foundation (Spain) have had success with bachelor groups, and I'm sure they are not alone.
 
So to go with the idea of exporting males: Lubutu (1993), Shabani (1994), Samaki (2001), Furahi (2003) and Shikamoo (2003), this would leave Taronga Zoo with the following females and offspring:

Spitter (1960)
Koko (1974)
Lisa (1979) + Liwali (2014)
Sacha (1980)
Shiba (1981) + Sudi (2014)
Shona (1987)
Ceres (1990)
Kuma (1991) + Fumo (2013)
Hannah (1993)
Kamili (1995)
Naomi (2001)
Lani (2002)
Sembe (2008)

13 females + 3 infants

In addition to Sule (2008), Alon (2008) could be imported as a second breeding male from Rockhampton Zoo. This would give Taronga Zoo the following males:

Sule (2008)
Alon (2008)

2 males

Total: 15 adults + 3 infants

One option from here would be to send the three adult females at Rockhampton to Hamilton Zoo or Monarto Zoo, both of which are in need of females to boost their numbers. The five adult Taronga males could then form a bachelor group at Rockhampton Zoo. The only issue here is where Cassius (1973) at Rockhampton would go. At 44 years of age. he’s unlikely to live much longer so could accompany Alon to Taronga Zoo with the hope of living out the rest of his days in their group. The females would be unlikely to give an adult male the same hassle they would a female, and he would already have the support of the adolescent male Alon, who he formed an almost instant friendship with 18 months ago. The two males would just have to win over the adolescent male, Sule, who out of all the males currently at Taronga is the most social and likely to form a friendship with them.

This would leave Taronga Zoo with seven females available for breeding which is probably too many to optimise their breeding potential. Females like Hannah (if she still hadn’t settled in the group), or Koko and Kamili, could then move to Hamilton or Monarto (which ever hadn’t already received the three Rockhmapton females).
 
Had my car in for a service today, so decided to go to Taronga to while away a few hours... made it as far as the chimps before the heavens opened up and made life pretty wet and revolting...

Still split into 2 groups - and the smaller group were in the larger enclosure when I got there.

Hannah is looking tatty still, but the wounds and foot seem to be healing nicely, and no evidence of any fresh wounds today. She was off on her own, but looked to be in much better spirits all around... still a way to go, but we may get there yet. She was chased out of the cave area when it was raining hard and everyone went in there, so she's still on the outer at the moment...

Caught glimpses of Naomi when the keepers decided to open the door to the night den due to the rain, but couldn't pick out Ceres in the rain and mad rush of chimps heading inside.

Hannah, Naomi, and Ceres are with Lubutu, Samaki, Shona, Sembe, and Lani... I bailed up a keeper to get the names, as I couldn't really see most of them up on the high platforms or when it started raining really hard.

They had at least 4-5 volunteers doing observations of both groups today.

Furahi is definitely acting as alpha of the larger group - plenty of displays today, right up near the glass, which made for a lot of fun watching. I had a wee moment with him when he decided to sit up against the glass - he looked like he had a sore on his finger, so I held my hand near him and stroked my own finger as if it were sore... he looked over and showed me his finger in return... mighty chuffed at that exchange I must say!

Fumo and Sudi were in fine form showing off near the glass... Liwali wasn't as sure about getting that close to the humans. Fumo and Sudi were interacting with small children, which is always fun to watch.

Shabani was sticking close to Sasha (must have a nice swelling), and Sule was trying to get between them as usual... lol!

Koko and Kamili stuck together all the time I was there, grooming each other.

Shikamoo is getting darker skintones of late, it's getting harder to pick him out at a distance... but up close, if he blinks, his eyelids are still pink... and he's still the prettiest of the boys IMHO.

T.
 
That sounds a lovely moment you had with Furahi. :) It is very encouraging to hear that Hannah is at least looking a little better; it sounds like she's with some of the chimps she's more comfortable with (Lani, Sembe, Shona). Gosh, I hope it works out! Thanks for the update (photos?).

I'll agree with you on Shikamoo being the prettiest boy. He has a very 'friendly' face, much like Sandali. Do you know if there are any intentions to allow Sacha to have another infant? Of course, her genes are being put out quite nicely by her sons, but it would be good to have a daughter to carry on the family line... though could just be another boy in the string of male infants!
 
As far as I know, they are hoping Sasha will breed at least once more... don't know whether she's off contraceptives though... she was a while back when they got every other fertile female pregnant... lol!

Sule is making it hard for anyone to mate with his mum... one protective little man that one! I've seen him take on Shabani more than once... and most times the little man comes away on top there! Head butting to the privates tends to cool the fires... err!

I have some photos of Hannah today, but I'd prefer not to post them in public, as they aren't exactly flattering...

T.
 
Great update tdierikx. Thanks for sharing!

I’ve often heard of Sule attempting to prevent Shabani from mating with Sacha. Does he display this behaviour towards the other males (jealously at anyone breeding with Sacha) or is it just directed at Shabani?

Shabani really has dropped in ranking over the years, it’s amazing to think he was the beta male only six years ago. Now well and truly behind Furahi and Shikamoo and of course his brother Samaki.
 
Sule is fiercely protective of his mum... but he's no real match for the other males if they want to mate with her... but he knows Shabani's weaknesses... *grin*

As for Shabani's ranking... the other boys have grown up bigger and stronger than him... he doesn't seem to mind though, as he is getting plenty of girlie action regardles... hehe!

T.
 
So how would you rate the six adult/adolescent males (Lubutu, Shabani, Samaki, Furahi, Shikamoo and Sule) in size?
 
Samaki is very large (the biggest), Sule is probably still the smallest, and Shabani is not a big chimp- or at least he doesn't have a very impressive physiche. Lubutu isn't the largest, but he's sturdily built and definitely looks strong. I would imagine Shikamoo's still growing; he has the same build as Sandali who has grown into a big lad.
 
Zoofan15 said:
So how would you rate the six adult/adolescent males (Lubutu, Shabani, Samaki, Furahi, Shikamoo and Sule) in size?
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I'd rank them by size as follows... largest to smallest...

Samaki
Shikamoo
Shabani
Furahi
Lubutu
Sule

Samaki and Shikamoo are similarly built, and fairly even in size, as are Furahi and Lubutu.

T.
 
Interesting; I would have put Shabani lower down the list, I think because he's not particularly 'impressive' looking.
In case anyone's interested, at Monarto Sandali is the largest by a considerable margin, then probably Boyd, then Tsotsi (who is short but very sturdily built), then Gombe... and then Enzi. ;)
 
Sounds like Samaki takes after his maternal line in terms of size then, as Shiba is a large, powerful female. Sutu’s daughter, Samantha, and her offspring at Wellington are all quite large so it’d be interesting to have seen Susie (Sutu and Shiba’s mother) to see how she comapared to the other founder females – Bessie, Lulu, Fifi etc.

Last I saw, Shikamoo was quite a bit bigger than Furahi which surprised me as most of the chimpanzee in Shikamoo’s maternal line are quite small (except Sandali as you mentioned Soona in your above post, while Kuma is a large and powerful female like Shiba. You’d have thought (considering they shared Lubutu as a father), Kuma’s genes would have made Furahi bigger than Shikamoo. I’d be interested to know if Furahi has caught up however as it’s possible he was just a late bloomer….
 
Shabani is long and lean... if he bulked up, he'd be very impressive IMHO.

Sule is starting to get much more stocky, and is growing in spurts... time will tell if he ends up as big as his brothers.

Furahi is every bit his father's son... he looks very similar to Lubutu in every way.

It will be interesting to see how Fumo develops as he gets older, as his father is Shikamoo. For now, he looks to be staying on the shorter side like Furahi - Sudi and Liwali are pretty much the same size as Fumo now, even though they are nearly a year younger than him.

T.
 
tdierikx said:
Shabani is long and lean... if he bulked up, he'd be very impressive IMHO.

Sule is starting to get much more stocky, and is growing in spurts... time will tell if he ends up as big as his brothers.

Furahi is every bit his father's son... he looks very similar to Lubutu in every way.

It will be interesting to see how Fumo develops as he gets older, as his father is Shikamoo. For now, he looks to be staying on the shorter side like Furahi - Sudi and Liwali are pretty much the same size as Fumo now, even though they are nearly a year younger than him.

T.
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It sounds like Shabani and Samaki both get their length from their mother then, and Samaki the bulked up build. Shabani probably takes after his father, Monte in terms of build. I'm surprised Kuma's offspring aren't bigger, although I think I remember you saying that Shiba is slightly bigger than Kuma???

I was looking at some of your photos recently tdierikx and was amazed at how much the three young chimps have grown. Liwali especially looked really tall and lean.
 
Liwali's dad is Samaki... nice big boy genes there methinks... lol!

I think maybe something in Kuma's line is dictating the adult size of her offspring... seeing as both her boys are from different fathers, but both probably won't be anywhere near as large as Shikamoo or Samaki... but who knows with Fumo? He may have a growth spurt later... hehe!

I think Shiba may be a bit larger than Kuma, but if I had to tip who'd win in a physical altercation, Kuma all the way there IMHO - she has the powerful build of her mother, and she has a hell of an attitude on her... lol! I wouldn't be surprised if Kuma would happily face off against any of the males in the troop if pushed... and would possibly be ferocious enough to beat most of them up! I've seen her face off to Lubutu and he backed down! Shiba runs screaming when faced off by Lubutu... she's not a fighter by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm still worried about what might happen when they eventually have to put Furahi and Lubutu back together... Furahi has well and truly taken the role of alpha in the old group, and I don't think he will easily go back to being subservient to another male. On the upside, I think the old group have accepted him as alpha happily, and he's not not "ruling" by force... so maybe he's learned from Lubutu well in that respect.

T.
 
tdierikx said:
Liwali's dad is Samaki... nice big boy genes there methinks... lol!

I think maybe something in Kuma's line is dictating the adult size of her offspring... seeing as both her boys are from different fathers, but both probably won't be anywhere near as large as Shikamoo or Samaki... but who knows with Fumo? He may have a growth spurt later... hehe!

I think Shiba may be a bit larger than Kuma, but if I had to tip who'd win in a physical altercation, Kuma all the way there IMHO - she has the powerful build of her mother, and she has a hell of an attitude on her... lol! I wouldn't be surprised if Kuma would happily face off against any of the males in the troop if pushed... and would possibly be ferocious enough to beat most of them up! I've seen her face off to Lubutu and he backed down! Shiba runs screaming when faced off by Lubutu... she's not a fighter by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm still worried about what might happen when they eventually have to put Furahi and Lubutu back together... Furahi has well and truly taken the role of alpha in the old group, and I don't think he will easily go back to being subservient to another male. On the upside, I think the old group have accepted him as alpha happily, and he's not not "ruling" by force... so maybe he's learned from Lubutu well in that respect.

T.
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I’ve never seen a picture of Kuma’s mother, Ficha, but I’m guessing she has the same powerful build of her own mother, Fifi and her brother JoJo. Seems to be a trait of her family line.

Most of the founders (Fifi, Bessie, Biddy, Susie, Lulu and Mary) were wildborn and would have been purebred (West African, Central Chimpanzee etc.). I’ve read comments before that some of the founders were so different in appearance, it was highly likely they were of different subspecies. These days, the entire troop is much more closely related, starting with Fifi’s son, JoJo, who fathered Lisa, Shiba and Sacha and continuing on to Lubutu, from which all surviving infants from 2001 are descended (either son/daughter or grandchild of Lubutu). While this all would of amalgamated the family lines, differences are still obviously showing up from the diverse maternal lines of the founders (size of Shiba and Kuma versus Sacha etc.)

Has Shiba lost her confidence with the recent and continuing shake up of the community? I know in the past, she’s been considered a ‘tough’ female, full of confidence and fiercely protective of her offspring. She put up a strong resistance when Lubutu (then eight years old) tried to assert himself as the alpha in 2001, following the death of Gombe, as she refused to show submission to a young male barely into adolescence. Obviously this relationship has long changed but up until recently she was still a solid second/third place in the hierarchy, due to her many offspring if nothing else. Taronga acknowledged recently that despite Shiba being a strong, confident female, she was taken aback by her reintroduction to the chimpanzees in the new forming group so I’m wondering if that’s all unnerved her?

Furahi will almost definitely put up a huge fight against Lubutu and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets the support to overthrow him. Like you say, he’s been proving himself as a good leader and will have the support of Kuma and Sacha against Lubutu. Shiba would have had a few months of experiencing him as the alpha and may be at least neutral to him being the new alpha as I don’t believe she’s strongly supportive of Lubutu given her sons have long been candidates for the position if not for Lubutu.

With Lubutu and Lani out of the picture (and Furahi still in the group), has Kuma risen to the position of highest ranking female or is Lisa still the alpha female?
 
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