Given the buffalo's reputation for aggression, it might be that the chimps had more to worry about! It's a moot point as I cannot imagine the exhibit that would be able to keep both species together.
Mixed species exhibit with Chimpanzees?
- Thread starter Haliaeetus
- Start date
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I know the African buffalo are aggressive in general but I thought the Congo / forest buffalo was slightly more manageable than the Cape buffalo as it is kept in mixed species exhibits in many zoos.
Forest buffalo in Magdeburg are actually very often dominated by temperamental baboons.
I wonder if hippos would work, if hippos are provided with a pool and a safe island to rest, and chimps with an area inaccessible to hippos (for example blocked by tree trunks). They could share the near-water part.
However, I think much better idea would be a rotation exhibit.
I wonder if hippos would work, if hippos are provided with a pool and a safe island to rest, and chimps with an area inaccessible to hippos (for example blocked by tree trunks). They could share the near-water part.
However, I think much better idea would be a rotation exhibit.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
That is interesting what you mention about the forest buffalo and baboon mix, it makes me think that with chimps the dominance would be even more marked.
Regarding hippos mixed with chimps, that sounds to me (and granted I don't have much knowledge on either of these animals) like it would end up very badly for the chimps.
Magdeburg does not keep forest buffaloes. I think you mean the aforementioned Zoo Augsburg
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I don’t think even a hippo/chimpanzee rotation exhibit would work. Hippos require a large body of water, which is just wasted exhibit space for chimpanzees. The barriers needed to enclose both species would also be drastically different.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
What do you think the interaction between these species would be ?
I kind of imagine a scenario of an alpha male chimp getting a bit too carried away with a dominance display too near a hippo and being drowned and disembowelled.
It would be carnage. The best you could hope for is the chimpanzees huddled in a corner out of reach, screaming with fear. Even a female hippopotamus would be highly dangerous.
Hand raising them alongside each other could habituate them to each other to a point; but even then, hippos are naturally aggressive. Auckland Zoo had a mother and daughter, who got on well, but killed each other’s calves.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Yes, I tend to think that the idea of @Jurek7 is very utopian to put it mildly...
I also share your view that the reality would be carnage and I think even if these animals were hand raised together the hippo would prove unpredictable and would eventually kill one or several of the chimpanzees.
I think the other thing to consider is having a deep pool of water next to a chimp exhibit is a recipe for disaster.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Yes, absolutely, I believe there have been chimps (and other great apes) that have fallen into water in moated exhibits at zoos and drowned before so it is dangerous enough without having a herd of hippos occupying it.
I do usually admire Jurek's out of the box thinking (even if I rarely agree with him) but I'm afraid this time with his hippo / chimp idea he is channelling John Lennon's "imagine".
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Just last week or so a chimp drowned in the moat at Sydney Zoo (not Taronga, the other one). Not a good idea.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Pretty sad but I suppose it is quite predictable that these kind of drownings occasionally happen in zoos.
Do you think there are any species that could be kept with chimpanzees in a mixed exhibit ?
Personally really can't think of any species that could be mixed with chimpanzees.
There’s also been two drownings at Taronga Zoo in 1996 and 1999.
Hippos have been known to eat monkeys, might do the same to chimpanzees
I can't see why you would want a mixed species exhibit full stop.
They rarely work well. Many species don't tolerate their own kind, let alone something they would regard as competition, or even prey in the wild.
And in a cage, it's not like they can put distance between them.
If you are only doing it for aesthetics then you are not doing your animals any favours. You are treating them like living wallpaper.
They rarely work well. Many species don't tolerate their own kind, let alone something they would regard as competition, or even prey in the wild.
And in a cage, it's not like they can put distance between them.
If you are only doing it for aesthetics then you are not doing your animals any favours. You are treating them like living wallpaper.
What?
The purpose of mixed-species exhibits is to add living enrichment for animals and display what true ecosystems could look like in the wild. What do you mean they rarely worked well? Have you never seen or heard of mixed African exhibits, aviaries with multiple species, Orangutan and Siamang? There isn't really competition in zoos, some animals might want to get food first but in the end, it doesn't affect their general food status so they couldn't care. Good zoos do give mixed exhibits a large amount of space, also good zoos don't keep large mammals in cages so don't use that to try and prove a point.
I’m not advocating for them to share a mixed exhibit, but as a point of interest, I watched a doco once where a chimpanzee and baboon troop were foraging side by side. The juvenile chimps seemed wary of the baboons. When one of the adult female chimpanzees tried to move towards them, her offspring frantically tugged at her as if to stop her. In this case, I’d say they tolerated each other with mutual respect, but in captivity would do little to enhance each other’s lives.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Yes, you are right, definitely interspecific affiliative behaviour occurs between baboons and chimpanzees in the wild.
I remember when I read a few books by Jane Goodall a long time ago and there were several examples of strong bonds between infant chimps and baboons and even adult individuals mentioned in these, however, there were also cases mentioned of incidents of interspecific aggression that led to predation of infant baboons by chimpanzees.
I agree, as you rightly say though these kinds of affiliative behaviours may occur in the wild between these two species it is unlikely that they would within the restricted space of captivity.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I think there should be more nuance in both of your arguments.
As you suggest correctly Gary's comment was far too reductive and he is wrong to assert that mixed-species exhibits rarely work as a blanket statement because there are plenty of examples of this working and in fact working very well and providing enrichment for the species kept.
However, he is also right in a certain sense to suggest that where this is done for banal and whimsical aesthetic reasons or with incompatible species it is not only indefensible but also a very stupid and destructive management decision.
For example, think about the chimp and jackal exhibit mentioned earlier in the thread or the langur and otter exhibit in the Bronx or all of the ridiculous and insane mixed species exhibits at South-Lakes zoo in the UK.
All of those examples I mentioned above led to the wasteful deaths or injuries of animals, some of which were individuals of endangered or even critically endangered species and for what reason ?
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