Australasian Common Chimpanzee Population

[Jambo]

Monarto Safari Park - no alpha male as of yet:

Today is world chimpanzee day and disappointingly, there have been no pregnancy announcements. Wellington and Monarto have females off contraception, so will probably be the next to welcome infants after Ceres at Taronga Zoo gives birth.

Monarto shared a brief update on their troop, where they noted it will take time for a new alpha to rise with new alliances to be formed and bonds to be cemented within the troop.

Irregardless of who the new alpha is; with the death of Tsotsi, this leaves Sandali and Enzi (father and son) as the only reproductively viable males in the troop. It therefore wouldn’t surprise me to see Zuri transfer out in a few years (possibly to Rockhampton).

Interesting news; Sandali has a lot of support from the girls so he’s potentially in the same boat as his younger brother Shikamoo was at Taronga recently - having all the support he could need to take the alpha role yet not necessarily having the complete desire to take on the role.

On the other hand, Enzi’s a young male, and despite his ambitions he’s still a seven year old male and wouldn’t have the support of many females at this point. Enzi would be my bet for alpha going forward but it seems there will remain a stalemate going forward as no other males will take the role of alpha in the mean time.

Boyd’s another indidivuals that can’t be ruled out; even considering his age. Although he is in his mid 40’s now and does lack the support Sandali and Enzi would have, he does have his prime aged son, Gombe to support him and unlike the other two would have the ambition; it can’t be forgotten that he was the alpha at Wellington for a while, albeit two decades ago.

Re. Zuri, I believe I remember someone mentioning that Monarto planned to retain Zuri at Monarto long term which makes sense to grow their troop going forward. She’s a valuable female but as you said, with the current two reproductive males being her father and brother it wouldn’t be the best situation for her to breed. Retaining her as a non breeding female shouldn’t be ruled out too, especially if her younger brother is to take the alpha role in the next few years. I’m of the opinion the best move would be too instead export Zuri’s younger (and more valuable sister), Zola who could be exported with an equally valuable female her age in Hope.

 

[marmolady]

Sandali may have support from (some of) the girls, but Boyd and Gombe have one another! All three are known to be ambitious, so it will be interesting how it plays out. I have no idea where the assumption is coming that these boys have no ambition— keepers have often told me quite the opposite.

I don’t see the point in exporting Hope when she’s unrelated to Sandali and Enzi. Any future daughters of Hannah’s will be related to them and better suited to export. As Zola is likely Tsotsi’s offspring (not confirmed though), it would be better to export Zuri. Tsotsi’s death certainly changes breeding options for Zuri— she may not have a suitable genetic match in the community until Happy grows up— assuming he’s sired by Tsotsi.

 

[Zoofan15]

Interesting news; Sandali has a lot of support from the girls so he’s potentially in the same boat as his younger brother Shikamoo was at Taronga recently - having all the support he could need to take the alpha role yet not necessarily having the complete desire to take on the role.

On the other hand, Enzi’s a young male, and despite his ambitions he’s still a seven year old male and wouldn’t have the support of many females at this point. Enzi would be my bet for alpha going forward but it seems there will remain a stalemate going forward as no other males will take the role of alpha in the mean time.

Boyd’s another indidivuals that can’t be ruled out; even considering his age. Although he is in his mid 40’s now and does lack the support Sandali and Enzi would have, he does have his prime aged son, Gombe to support him and unlike the other two would have the ambition; it can’t be forgotten that he was the alpha at Wellington for a while, albeit two decades ago.

Re. Zuri, I believe I remember someone mentioning that Monarto planned to retain Zuri at Monarto long term which makes sense to grow their troop going forward. She’s a valuable female but as you said, with the current two reproductive males being her father and brother it wouldn’t be the best situation for her to breed. Retaining her as a non breeding female shouldn’t be ruled out too, especially if her younger brother is to take the alpha role in the next few years. I’m of the opinion the best move would be too instead export Zuri’s younger (and more valuable sister), Zola who could be exported with an equally valuable female her age in Hope.

Although we can’t discount Boyd being a contender for the alpha role, he is 45 years old and has been content to take a backseat at Monarto for the past decade or so. I think it’ll be between Gombe and Sandali. Sandali would probably have more support from the females (including alpha female Zombi); but I’d expect Boyd to back Sandali.

Enzi is too young for the adult males or females to take him seriously. Though Lubutu technically became the alpha male at aged eight, females like Shiba didn’t respect him at alpha for at least a couple of years in. 10 years old is about the time males begin to dominate females.

Monarto are yet to undertake paternity testing for Zola and Happy, which may well influence Zuri’s placement. Hope is unrelated to Sandali and Enzi, so likely to remain in Monarto’s troop; and if Zola is sired by Tsotsi too, then it’d be preferable to retain her over Zuri as she could breed with either Sandali (unrelated) or Enzi (half brother). This would be preferable to Zuri being retained to mate with her father or full brother.

@Swanson02 reported last year that Monarto intended to retain Zuri, but like I say, I think Tsotsi’s death will be a game changer. She’s too genetically valuable to designate as non breeding; but since it doesn’t appear anyone will be going with her, a transfer to a small troop like Rockhampton is more likely than Taronga, Wellington etc.

 

[Jambo]

Sandali may have support from (some of) the girls, but Boyd and Gombe have one another! All three are known to be ambitious, so it will be interesting how it plays out. I have no idea where the assumption is coming that these boys have no ambition— keepers have often told me quite the opposite.

I don’t see the point in exporting Hope when she’s unrelated to Sandali and Enzi. Any future daughters of Hannah’s will be related to them and better suited to export. As Zola is likely Tsotsi’s offspring (not confirmed though), it would be better to export Zuri. Tsotsi’s death certainly changes breeding options for Zuri— she may not have a suitable genetic match in the community until Happy grows up— assuming he’s sired by Tsotsi.

I've never visited Monarto, so your information is probably far more reliable, especially if it comes directly from keepers. Sandali seems to have a lot of support from Zombi and Galatea especially and I feel could easily take the alpha role now if he wanted to. I've been told he's known to rarely challenge the alpha role and seems to have a lot of respect for the older males (especially the late Tsotsi). My money would be on him taking the alpha role sooner rather than later but it all comes down to whether he wants to fully make a play for the role.

On the other hand, Boyd and Gombe, as you say, have a powerful alliance and have the respect of most of the group. Despite his age, I definitely wouldn't rule out Boyd. From what I've been told, he seems to be a very ambitious male and is the 'leader' of Monarto's group. Well admired.

That's very true re. Zuri. The best place would be a smaller troop like Rockhampton, but then again I don't see why a zoo like Hamilton would pass up the opportunity to import some new unrelated females (and males) once their current males die.

Although we can’t discount Boyd being a contender for the alpha role, he is 45 years old and has been content to take a backseat at Monarto for the past decade or so. I think it’ll be between Gombe and Sandali. Sandali would probably have more support from the females (including alpha female Zombi); but I’d expect Boyd to back Sandali.

Enzi is too young for the adult males or females to take him seriously. Though Lubutu technically became the alpha male at aged eight, females like Shiba didn’t respect him at alpha for at least a couple of years in. 10 years old is about the time males begin to dominate females.

Boyd was very supportive of Tsosti and so was more than happy to let Tsotsi take on the alpha role and take a step back to a position where he would still have influence over things. I think Tsotsi's death really switches things up with the males. If Sandali dosen't step up, I can definitely see Boyd stepping up and taking on alpha (strongly supported by Gombe). Considering Boyd's age, we can't expect him to be fully competent as alpha but if there's no other legitimate candidates he should certainly jump in there.

I agree with the take on Enzi. He wouldn't be getting much support at the moment besides his mother (Zombi) and potentially Lani, who I've been told he's fairly close too. Since the dominant females usually have strong influence on who they back for the alpha role, he'd probably be a reach at the moment but as he grows in age he'll certainly gain more support. Once he fully reaches maturity in the next five years or so, he should theoretically only have Gombe/Sandali for competition, both of which will be reaching their 30's. A sure bet for alpha by then imo.

 

[Zoofan15]

I've never visited Monarto, so your information is probably far more reliable, especially if it comes directly from keepers. Sandali seems to have a lot of support from Zombi and Galatea especially and I feel could easily take the alpha role now if he wanted to. I've been told he's known to rarely challenge the alpha role and seems to have a lot of respect for the older males (especially the late Tsotsi). My money would be on him taking the alpha role sooner rather than later but it all comes down to whether he wants to fully make a play for the role.

On the other hand, Boyd and Gombe, as you say, have a powerful alliance and have the respect of most of the group. Despite his age, I definitely wouldn't rule out Boyd. From what I've been told, he seems to be a very ambitious male and is the 'leader' of Monarto's group. Well admired.

That's very true re. Zuri. The best place would be a smaller troop like Rockhampton, but then again I don't see why a zoo like Hamilton would pass up the opportunity to import some new unrelated females (and males) once their current males die.


Boyd was very supportive of Tsosti and so was more than happy to let Tsotsi take on the alpha role and take a step back to a position where he would still have influence over things. I think Tsotsi's death really switches things up with the males. If Sandali dosen't step up, I can definitely see Boyd stepping up and taking on alpha (strongly supported by Gombe). Considering Boyd's age, we can't expect him to be fully competent as alpha but if there's no other legitimate candidates he should certainly jump in there.

I agree with the take on Enzi. He wouldn't be getting much support at the moment besides his mother (Zombi) and potentially Lani, who I've been told he's fairly close too. Since the dominant females usually have strong influence on who they back for the alpha role, he'd probably be a reach at the moment but as he grows in age he'll certainly gain more support. Once he fully reaches maturity in the next five years or so, he should theoretically only have Gombe/Sandali for competition, both of which will be reaching their 30's. A sure bet for alpha by then imo.

We can almost guarantee Enzi will be a future alpha male as he was the youngest male by 19 years at the time of his birth (and is the eldest male by 7 years). He’ll almost certainly have Zombi’s support when challenging for the alpha role.

With the exception of Sule and Shikamoo’s recent takeover, there’s not a huge amount of precedent within the region of alpha males being overthrown - with death and export often taking care of the new alpha’s predecessor.

Some exceptions include:

Sonny (1978) at Taronga Zoo. Overthrew Danny (1974) in 1988 with the assistance of Spitter (kingmaker) and Melissa. He proved a tyrant and was removed from the troop with the intention to export him. He died shortly after.

Luka (1993) at Hamilton Zoo. Overthrew Mike (1973) in the late 2000’s. Mike was a tyrant and his days as alpha were numbered as soon as Luka reached adolescence. Mike later died of his injuries in a conflict with Luka.

Marty (1987) at Wellington Zoo. Overthrew Boyd (1978) in the late 2000’s, who became cantankerous as a result (a contributing factor to his export). Combined with Sam (1978), the three males almost had a shared leadership of the troop throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Alexis (1998) at Wellington Zoo. Overthrew Marty (1978) in a peaceful takeover, with Marty acknowledging the troop’s support for Alexis.

 

[Jambo]

Sonny (1978) at Taronga Zoo. Overthrew Danny (1974) in 1988 with the assistance of Spitter (kingmaker) and Melissa. He proved a tyrant and was removed from the troop with the intention to export him. He died shortly after.

That's interesting I never knew Danny was in position of alpha! And a little correction - I believe Spitter was the mother of Danny whereas Susie was Sonny's mother.

It would be interesting to see how the troop was slowly introduced to Snowy; eg. which members went first, ect. The introductions took 4 years, so the second troop lead by Danny were intact for a while. Some of the chimps would've been separated for a few years.

Luka (1993) at Hamilton Zoo. Overthrew Mike (1973) in the late 2000’s. Mike was a tyrant and his days as alpha were numbered as soon as Luka reached adolescence. Mike later died of his injuries in a conflict with Luka.

Speaking of tyrants, we certainly have two here! I believe Luka and Mike rotated the role of alpha in Mike's final years, with both males regularly displaying. The hierarchy was very inconsistent at the time as both males lacked support; with the other chimps avoiding the political displays.

On the topic of tyranny, I think it's possible this could be a learnt behaviour? Mike would've probably learnt it from his mother (Mary) who was a very aggressive and dominant female; and Luka would've therefore learnt from Mike.

In the case of Sonny, Susie was also said to have been a large and dominant female too, who wasn't scared of making her presence known. Her daughter, Shiba, has some of these characteristics too and is a very powerful female. Her eldest, Shabani, certainly displayed some of this behaviour's in his teenage years but has mellowed out as the years have gone on.

At the moment, Furahi's another male who seems to display tyrant behaviour and this may also be learnt from his mother, Kuma, who again, similarly, is a large, high ranking female who can also have a temper and be quite aggressive when something doesn't quite go her way.

 

[Zoofan15]

That's interesting I never knew Danny was in position of alpha! And a little correction - I believe Spitter was the mother of Danny whereas Susie was Sonny's mother.

It would be interesting to see how the troop was slowly introduced to Snowy; eg. which members went first, ect. The introductions took 4 years, so the second troop lead by Danny were intact for a while. Some of the chimps would've been separated for a few years.

Danny assumed the alpha role in 1986 when Jojo was exported to the US. Before paternity testing became routine, it was common to assign paternity to the alpha male; but retrospective testing proved Danny also sired at least one offspring during Jojo’s reign (Lewis - born 1985 to Lulu).

Between 1988 and 1989, Sonny succeeded in overthrowing Danny. Spitter wasn’t Danny’s mother, she was his half sister (they were both the offspring of Biddy). Despite this, she chose to support Sonny which subsequently increased her status in the community when he became alpha (as she was kingmaker). Danny took over again as alpha following Sonny’s removal in 1989 and was exported in 1992.

Shiba was apparently the first to accept Snowy. She was a juvenile when he arrived and would have been less hostile. Bessie was the first of the adults to be introduced to Snowy; while Lulu, who almost ripped Snowy’s arm off in an altercation through the bars, would have likely been one of the last - along with Fifi, who was the highest ranking female.

Speaking of tyrants, we certainly have two here! I believe Luka and Mike rotated the role of alpha in Mike's final years, with both males regularly displaying. The hierarchy was very inconsistent at the time as both males lacked support; with the other chimps avoiding the political displays.

On the topic of tyranny, I think it's possible this could be a learnt behaviour? Mike would've probably learnt it from his mother (Mary) who was a very aggressive and dominant female; and Luka would've therefore learnt from Mike.

In the case of Sonny, Susie was also said to have been a large and dominant female too, who wasn't scared of making her presence known. Her daughter, Shiba, has some of these characteristics too and is a very powerful female. Her eldest, Shabani, certainly displayed some of this behaviour's in his teenage years but has mellowed out as the years have gone on.

At the moment, Furahi's another male who seems to display tyrant behaviour and this may also be learnt from his mother, Kuma, who again, similarly, is a large, high ranking female who can also have a temper and be quite aggressive when something doesn't quite go her way.

Luka took over control of Hamilton’s troop around 2007 and it was the import of Fimi and Sanda that stirred things up. Lucy supported Luka; Fimi supported Mike; and Sanda (initially) supported Lucifer. She preferred Lucifer over Luka due to the latter’s closeness to his mother.

Though his genetics likely influenced Mike’s personality, his tyrant style of leadership was compounded by circumstance. He was the only adult male in Auckland’s troop for many years until his sons matured and when he went too far with discipline, there was no backlash from the troop. Suzie and Sally were handraised and lacked the confidence to support Lucy, who was often in the firing line. Lucy was highly protective of her youngest, Luka, who was shielded from Mike to the point where he didn’t receive enough discipline.

The last few years (2001-2004) were challenging for Auckland’s troop. Luka began targeting Suzie and Sally with dominance displays (typical behaviour for an adolescent male) and combined with Mike and Lucifer’s presence, they became fearful. It was a small exhibit and the troop had to be seperated at night into three groups: Mike and Lucifer; Lucy and Luka; Suzie and Sally.

 

[Jambo]

Danny assumed the alpha role in 1986 when Jojo was exported to the US. Before paternity testing became routine, it was common to assign paternity to the alpha male; but retrospective testing proved Danny also sired at least one offspring during Jojo’s reign (Lewis - born 1985 to Lulu).

It would be interesting to see the paternity results for all of the offspring born post Jojo's departure. I believe Snowy only sired a few surviving offspring in his 12 years at the zoo; only two of which he has surviving descendants through - Lubutu and Sandali.

Between 1988 and 1989, Sonny succeeded in overthrowing Danny. Spitter wasn’t Danny’s mother, she was his half sister (they were both the offspring of Biddy). Despite this, she chose to support Sonny which subsequently increased her status in the community when he became alpha (as she was kingmaker). Danny took over again as alpha following Sonny’s removal in 1989 and was exported in 1992.

So did Spitter mother Sonny as well? I have Susie down as being the mother of Sonny; but this might be wrong.

During the period when Danny and Snowy were together following the two groups reintroductions, did Danny assume the alpha role? I presume he would've had far more support, and of course the experience too being much older.

Shiba was apparently the first to accept Snowy. She was a juvenile when he arrived and would have been less hostile. Bessie was the first of the adults to be introduced to Snowy; while Lulu, who almost ripped Snowy’s arm off in an altercation through the bars, would have likely been one of the last - along with Fifi, who was the highest ranking female.

It would've been best to introduce the juvenile females too him first (Especially as he was a juvenile himself). Six year olds, Shiba, Cara and Ficha would've been the most theoretical options to introduce first. It appears though (through siring of offspring at the time) that slightly older females, Melissa, Lisa and Sacha remained with the older troop at least until Sonny's death in 1989. Taking this into account we can therefore assume; based on the demographics of the rest of the chimps, and Snowy's age; that he spent a lot of time in a smaller group with females around his age.

 

[Zoofan15]

It would be interesting to see the paternity results for all of the offspring born post Jojo's departure. I believe Snowy only sired a few surviving offspring in his 12 years at the zoo; only two of which he has surviving descendants through - Lubutu and Sandali.

Fortunately Snowy’s introduction to the troop caused them to paternity test every infant. They were very keen for him to sire infants - to the point where they vasectomised one of his competitors (Lewis). Snowy was confirmed as the sire of Kuma, Lubutu, Havidole (born to Sandra, died as an infant), Chimbuka, Kamili and an unnamed female (born to Ficha, died as an infant) and Sandali.

So did Spitter mother Sonny as well? I have Susie down as being the mother of Sonny; but this might be wrong.

That’s correct, Susie (1948) was the mother of Sonny (1978).

Spitter (1960) had seven offspring, but only the last three survived - Sacha (1980), Sally (1985) and Gombe (1988).

During the period when Danny and Snowy were together following the two groups reintroductions, did Danny assume the alpha role? I presume he would've had far more support, and of course the experience too being much older.

I don’t believe Danny ever met Snowy face to face. I recall reading an article that said he’d never be introduced to Danny and Sonny because they’d kill him. They were keen to export both those males, to the point where there were imminent plans in 1989 to export Sonny and four females to the US. Around 1991, there were plans to send two males from Taronga (presumably Danny and Mervin) to Melbourne Zoo to form a bachelor troop with Ernie. This was canned and they went to Hyderabad in 1992.

It would've been best to introduce the juvenile females too him first (Especially as he was a juvenile himself). Six year olds, Shiba, Cara and Ficha would've been the most theoretical options to introduce first. It appears though (through siring of offspring at the time) that slightly older females, Melissa, Lisa and Sacha remained with the older troop at least until Sonny's death in 1989. Taking this into account we can therefore assume; based on the demographics of the rest of the chimps, and Snowy's age; that he spent a lot of time in a smaller group with females around his age.

I agree. Juveniles of both genders would have been the safest option. I have an article from June 1989 that notes the following were friendly with Snowy: Shiba, Lisa, Samantha, Sally and Monte; as well as Bessie. It says Bessie was one of the adults introduced to Snowy (implying there were others).

It appears there was a fission-fusion introduction style as Shiba conceived her first offspring around August/September 1989 and paternity wasn’t assigned to Snowy. This makes sense as otherwise they could be separating juveniles from their mothers for the 3-5 years it took to bring in some of the adult females.

Ficha gave birth to two offspring in 1991 - the first (non surviving) was sired by Danny; the second (Kuma) by Snowy. I assume this again represented fission-fusion, with her mother (Fifi) being one of the last to be introduced.

 

[Jambo]

That’s correct, Susie (1948) was the mother of Sonny (1978).

Spitter (1960) had seven offspring, but only the last three survived - Sacha (1980), Sally (1985) and Gombe (1988).

Susie had an incredible rate of success, bar the death of one of her twin offspring (going 8/8). This was rare to see at the time, as you mention Spitter herself lost four of her first offspring with the old chimp cages presenting a high rate of infant mortality.

I also found it interesting that Susie's line seems to be 'majority' girls. Out of her nine offspring, eight of them were females. Her daughter Gemini delivered a daughter at Taronga, and her other daughter, Sutu delivered three! This trend hasn't seemingly carried on otherwise as Shiba (her final daughter) has mothered four males out of six offspring and her two other circus daughters (Lola and Mary) also delivered four known surviving sons between them.

I don’t believe Danny ever met Snowy face to face. I recall reading an article that said he’d never be introduced to Danny and Sonny because they’d kill him. They were keen to export both those males, to the point where there were imminent plans in 1989 to export Sonny and four females to the US. Around 1991, there were plans to send two males from Taronga (presumably Danny and Mervin) to Melbourne Zoo to form a bachelor troop with Ernie. This was canned and they went to Hyderabad in 1992.

That's interesting to hear, but of course not surprising. Snowy would've been an adolescent male at the time, and Danny, who was in his late teens would've been much bigger and much stronger than him - not a very fair fight imo.

The likely candidates for the four females that were to be transferred with Sonny would've had to have been young but still of suitable age for transfer. Looking at the size of each line at the time and each individual the four most suitable would've been: Lisa (1979), Sacha (1980), Cara (1981), Samantha (1983).

I agree. Juveniles of both genders would have been the safest option. I have an article from June 1989 that notes the following were friendly with Snowy: Shiba, Lisa, Samantha, Sally and Monte; as well as Bessie. It says Bessie was one of the adults introduced to Snowy (implying there were others).

It appears there was a fission-fusion introduction style as Shiba conceived her first offspring around August/September 1989 and paternity wasn’t assigned to Snowy. This makes sense as otherwise they could be separating juveniles from their mothers for the 3-5 years it took to bring in some of the adult females.

Ficha gave birth to two offspring in 1991 - the first (non surviving) was sired by Danny; the second (Kuma) by Snowy. I assume this again represented fission-fusion, with her mother (Fifi) being one of the last to be introduced.

The fission-fusion introduction style does make sense as it would have been difficult to permanently separate individuals for long periods of time (especially mothers and offspring). I was also long mystified with the fact that some of the chimps would've been kept apart for around four or five years, and it was interesting that they were all seemingly put back together with Snowy without any major hitches. The fission-fusion introductions do explain this though.

Bessie would've been one of the best females to introduce to Snowy. She was a middle ranking female, had no young offspring of her own, yet was a very respected female within the troop and had a very caring and mellowed nature which would've been perfect for Snowy. The other founding females at the time were either high ranking (in the case of Fifi and Lulu) or very aggressive and protective (like Mary and Suzie).

It's also intruiging to me why they decided to send Ficha to Taipeng in 1998 and not Kuma. Ficha was unrelated to the alpha male at the time, Snowy, whereas Kuma was Snowy's direct offspring. Ficha would've also been more placed in the hierarchy and would've been closer to the other females at the time, and her reproductive timeline would've almost matched Fifi's lifespan, allowing her to have adequate support. Instead they choose to retain Kuma who had to grow up with limited support and is closely related to Taronga's males now via Snowy.

Maybe Ficha was causing problems in the troop? Fifi was a high ranking female at the time, and so we can presume Ficha probably would've been up there too.

 

[Zoofan15]

Susie had an incredible rate of success, bar the death of one of her twin offspring (going 8/8). This was rare to see at the time, as you mention Spitter herself lost four of her first offspring with the old chimp cages presenting a high rate of infant mortality.

I also found it interesting that Susie's line seems to be 'majority' girls. Out of her nine offspring, eight of them were females. Her daughter Gemini delivered a daughter at Taronga, and her other daughter, Sutu delivered three! This trend hasn't seemingly carried on otherwise as Shiba (her final daughter) has mothered four males out of six offspring and her two other circus daughters (Lola and Mary) also delivered four known surviving sons between them.

Susie was apparently an exceptional mother, which surely contributed to the survival of her offspring. I’m guessing the backgrounds of the founders, taken from the wild as infants etc. led to varying degrees of socialisation which impacted their ability to rear offspring.

Lulu reportedly struggled with some of her later offspring and since Chiki and Cara (daughter and granddaughter of Bessie) both had offspring fatally injured by other chimpanzees, it’s possible they learnt a habit of leaving their infants laying around from Bessie?

Shiba, Samantha and presumably Sutu (who had all her offspring survive) were all exceptional mothers.

The likely candidates for the four females that were to be transferred with Sonny would've had to have been young but still of suitable age for transfer. Looking at the size of each line at the time and each individual the four most suitable would've been: Lisa (1979), Sacha (1980), Cara (1981), Samantha (1983).

I believe the six strongest candidates based on age and lack of offspring were:

0.1 Melissa (30/01/1978)
0.1 Lisa (23/08/1979)
0.1 Sacha (11/06/1980)
0.1 Shiba (22/05/1981)
0.1 Cara (10/09/1981)
0.1 Samantha (25/12/1983)

I’d agree with you on three of those (Sacha, Cara and Samantha), but think Shiba might have been sent rather than Lisa. The reason being Melissa and Lisa were the only (remaining) daughters of their respective mothers. Susie still had Sutu and her two daughters in the community in 1989.

It's also intruiging to me why they decided to send Ficha to Taipeng in 1998 and not Kuma. Ficha was unrelated to the alpha male at the time, Snowy, whereas Kuma was Snowy's direct offspring. Ficha would've also been more placed in the hierarchy and would've been closer to the other females at the time, and her reproductive timeline would've almost matched Fifi's lifespan, allowing her to have adequate support. Instead they choose to retain Kuma who had to grow up with limited support and is closely related to Taronga's males now via Snowy.

Maybe Ficha was causing problems in the troop? Fifi was a high ranking female at the time, and so we can presume Ficha probably would've been up there too.

It’s never made sense to me why Ficha was exported. The export included Melissa and her son, who ended Mary’s line in the community; so they presumably didn’t want to end another (Susie’s) by exporting Shiba and Shabani, which is another way they could have removed chimpanzees without breaking up family lines.

Like you say, Kuma could have taken her place. She and Chunga (the other young female exported) were both approaching dispersal age and perfect candidates. About the only reason I can think of is they were restricting breeding by that stage - which decreased the chance of enough females to ensure succession. They already had three females born between 1979 and 1981 (Lisa, Sacha, Shiba) and likely didn’t want Ficha as a fourth.

By exporting the females they did (Sacha’s daughter Kike left as well around this time), it left them with two reproductive females a decade older (Chiki and Koko) and two a decade younger (Kuma and Kamili). The following decade, they welcomed Lani and Sembe; with Ceres and Naomi effectively replacing Kamili and Lani respectively.

 

[Jambo]

Susie was apparently an exceptional mother, which surely contributed to the survival of her offspring. I’m guessing the backgrounds of the founders, taken from the wild as infants etc. led to varying degrees of socialisation which impacted their ability to rear offspring.

Lulu reportedly struggled with some of her later offspring and since Chiki and Cara (daughter and granddaughter of Bessie) both had offspring fatally injured by other chimpanzees, it’s possible they learnt a habit of leaving their infants laying around from Bessie?

Shiba, Samantha and presumably Sutu (who had all her offspring survive) were all exceptional mothers.

That makes a lot of sense. Fifi was another mother who had her good and bad days with her offspring. Occasionally she could be very careless, and this is especially evident when she killed her own offspring, Faye (born in 1978) during a reintroduction.

Some of the females wouldn't have learned the correct mothering behaviour depending on when they were taken into captivity, and we can therefore assume Susie was taken into captivity as a slightly older infant or she could've potentially had more social experiences around other mothers and infants when she was younger.

I certainly believe mothering behaviour is a learnt behaviour and if both Chiki and Cara were rather careless mothers, it's reasonable to trace it back to Bessie who lost many young infants of her own too (potentially in a similar manner).

I believe the six strongest candidates based on age and lack of offspring were:

0.1 Melissa (30/01/1978)
0.1 Lisa (23/08/1979)
0.1 Sacha (11/06/1980)
0.1 Shiba (22/05/1981)
0.1 Cara (10/09/1981)
0.1 Samantha (25/12/1983)

I’d agree with you on three of those (Sacha, Cara and Samantha), but think Shiba might have been sent rather than Lisa. The reason being Melissa and Lisa were the only (remaining) daughters of their respective mothers. Susie still had Sutu and her two daughters in the community in 1989.

That would make sense. Sacha, Cara and Samantha made the most sense as all three were adolescents females who left their family with still enough individuals to continue the line. Lisa and Melissa were a little iffy as both would leave their older mothers with only sons, and with both females ageing this wouldn't have really worked. I hazarded a guess with Lisa as Lulu did give birth to a daughter, Leakey that same year but Shiba would make even more sense.

The export of those five would have left each family with three or four individuals (with the exception of Fifi's):
- Bessie, Chiki, Cheena
- Fifi, Ficha
- Suzie, Sutu, Shona
- Mary, Melissa, Mervin, Monte
- Spitter, Sally, Gombe
- Lulu, Lisa, Lewis

It’s never made sense to me why Ficha was exported. The export included Melissa and her son, who ended Mary’s line in the community; so they presumably didn’t want to end another (Susie’s) by exporting Shiba and Shabani, which is another way they could have removed chimpanzees without breaking up family lines.

Like you say, Kuma could have taken her place. She and Chunga (the other young female exported) were both approaching dispersal age and perfect candidates. About the only reason I can think of is they were restricting breeding by that stage - which decreased the chance of enough females to ensure succession. They already had three females born between 1979 and 1981 (Lisa, Sacha, Shiba) and likely didn’t want Ficha as a fourth.

By exporting the females they did (Sacha’s daughter Kike left as well around this time), it left them with two reproductive females a decade older (Chiki and Koko) and two a decade younger (Kuma and Kamili). The following decade, they welcomed Lani and Sembe; with Ceres and Naomi effectively replacing Kamili and Lani respectively.

It also mystified me why Melissa was exported. It seems with Taronga wanting to export her brother Monte to limit Snowy's competition, they believe Melissa would lack support which made her a reasonable option for export. Whilst this may have been partly true, they instead left Kuma in a very similar position as she received little to no support from her grandmother; and Shiba was also in a similar boat (with her only support being her infant son). In regards to that I think we can only assume Shiba was more high ranking at the time and had a more stable position in the hierarchy compared to Melissa. She may have also been one of Snowy's biggest supporters, which would've been a vital component to retaining her.

At the time there wasn't many other options for export. Shona would've been the most logical choice to join; but otherwise Taronga didn't have many options to limit troop numbers.

That does make sense re. separating the breeding females across multiple decades to ensure succession. If Taronga does still follow that trend, it pretty much ensures that both Cebeli and Safiri will be breeding females eventually.

 

[Zoofan15]

That makes a lot of sense. Fifi was another mother who had her good and bad days with her offspring. Occasionally she could be very careless, and this is especially evident when she killed her own offspring, Faye (born in 1978) during a reintroduction.

Some of the females wouldn't have learned the correct mothering behaviour depending on when they were taken into captivity, and we can therefore assume Susie was taken into captivity as a slightly older infant or she could've potentially had more social experiences around other mothers and infants when she was younger.

I certainly believe mothering behaviour is a learnt behaviour and if both Chiki and Cara were rather careless mothers, it's reasonable to trace it back to Bessie who lost many young infants of her own too (potentially in a similar manner).

That would make sense. Sacha, Cara and Samantha made the most sense as all three were adolescents females who left their family with still enough individuals to continue the line. Lisa and Melissa were a little iffy as both would leave their older mothers with only sons, and with both females ageing this wouldn't have really worked. I hazarded a guess with Lisa as Lulu did give birth to a daughter, Leakey that same year but Shiba would make even more sense.

The export of those five would have left each family with three or four individuals (with the exception of Fifi's):
- Bessie, Chiki, Cheena
- Fifi, Ficha
- Suzie, Sutu, Shona
- Mary, Melissa, Mervin, Monte
- Spitter, Sally, Gombe
- Lulu, Lisa, Lewis

It also mystified me why Melissa was exported. It seems with Taronga wanting to export her brother Monte to limit Snowy's competition, they believe Melissa would lack support which made her a reasonable option for export. Whilst this may have been partly true, they instead left Kuma in a very similar position as she received little to no support from her grandmother; and Shiba was also in a similar boat (with her only support being her infant son). In regards to that I think we can only assume Shiba was more high ranking at the time and had a more stable position in the hierarchy compared to Melissa. She may have also been one of Snowy's biggest supporters, which would've been a vital component to retaining her.

At the time there wasn't many other options for export. Shona would've been the most logical choice to join; but otherwise Taronga didn't have many options to limit troop numbers.

That does make sense re. separating the breeding females across multiple decades to ensure succession. If Taronga does still follow that trend, it pretty much ensures that both Cebeli and Safiri will be breeding females eventually.

On hindsight, it was fortunate Taronga’s community was founded by a number of young chimpanzees that mostly arrived around the same time (early 1950’s). They were basically peer raised (even those who lived in pairs initially e.g. Susie and the male she killed ).

Opportunities to learn through observation were high, so even poor mothers at least showed some inclination to raising their offspring versus rejecting them outright. Females like Bessie may not have even achieved that if she hadn’t observed Biddy, Susie etc. raising offspring.

On the subject of Bessie, many of her offspring were either stillborn or died at birth. She also had many miscarriages. Even if her mothering skills weren’t first rate, I’m inclined to believe a medical factor contributed to the lack of success. Naomi’s stillborn infants were attributed to a calcium deficiency; but blood type incompatibility is also possible - leading to miscarriage, stillbirths and neonate deaths.

That’s a good point re. Leakey, I’d actually forgotten about her! She was born August 1989, so with the US export planned for around March 1989, so I’m guessing they either didn’t know Lulu was pregnant - or in any case, couldn’t guarantee a surviving female. She was 29 years old by that age and I’ve found articles from that era describing 20 year olds as older mothers!

It’s also interesting to note Lisa and Sacha were also pregnant at this time (due June and August 1989). That may have dissuaded them from exporting Lisa, though they happily exported Lucy and her newborn to Auckland Zoo in 1985.

As you mentioned, Susie had a lot of female births and indeed the community as a whole had a spate of female births from the mid 70’s and throughout the 80’s. Combined with the decrease in mortality once they moved to the open air exhibit in 1980, I think Taronga found themselves with a chimpanzee population that was breeding out of control. How Auckland must have envied them! (Pre-Lucy’s import)

I like your idea of exporting Shona as her link to Shiba in tenuous and she’s never thrived in Taronga’s community. She could have accompanied her mother and sister to Hyderabad in place of Cheena; or gone to Taiping in place of Ficha or Chunga. Retaining Cheena or Chunga would have provided a valuable contingency to Chiki’s failure to continue her line (which tragically happened).

 

[Zoofan15]

Wellington Zoo - Chimpanzee Weights

In November 2006, the weights of Wellington Zoo’s chimpanzee troop were as follows:

1.0 Sam (22/08/1977) Tom x Sarah - 73.0 kg
1.0 Boyd (29/10/1978) Tom x Bebe - 58.5 kg
1.0 Marty (28/01/1987) Tom x Bebe - 64.0 kg
1.0 Gombe (04/02/1993) Boyd x Jodie - 52.0 kg
1.0 Temba (27/08/1994) Sam x Samantha - 68.0 kg
1.0 Alexis (28/08/1998) Boyd x Cara - 45.2 kg

0.1 Jessie (10/07/1978) Tom x Yoka - 83.5 kg
0.1 Cara (10/09/1981) Jojo x Chiki - 53.0 kg
0.1 Samantha (25/12/1983) Jojo x Sutu - 56.5 kg
0.1 Sally (13/01/1985) Jojo x Spitter - 60.0 kg
0.1 Chima (24/05/1994) Boyd x Cara - 48.2 kg
0.1 Keza (06/07/1998) Marty x Samantha - 46.0 kg

The weights provide an interesting insight into genetics:

You can tell Temba is Sam’s son - he’s huge! Given Sam’s size versus his half-brothers (same father, different mother), it wouldn’t surprise me if Sam’s wild born mother (Sarah) was a Central chimpanzee; while Tom was likely a Western chimpanzee as we believe Yoka was.

The Tom-Yoka line has produced several small males. Gombe (twice inbred) is 18 months older than his adolescent counterpart, Temba, but 16kg lighter! Boyd is a small male and his then eight year old son Alexis is the same weight as a female peer.

It should be noted that the paternity of the Taronga females has been assigned to Jojo, but this is an assumption. Danny was a potential sire for all three; Mike and Flint were potential sires for Cara; and Sonny was a potential sire for Sally. Nonetheless, it’s unsurprising that Cara (the smallest adult female) and Boyd (the smallest adult male) have two small offspring together!

Jessie is obese, so it should be noted that no should conclusions should be drawn from her weight, which is 20kg heavier than the alpha male!

I will link the source in a subsequent post. It’s a large document and I want to double check a couple of suspected errors before I report that information on here.

 

[Jambo]

I just had a thought surrounding our recent discussion re. Ficha's export.

It seems most likely imo the decision to export her was simply to hold off breeding from the 'F' line as much as they could, especially as Fifi was so well represented through Jojo, who in turn was the father of four of Taronga's breeding females at the time; and also the trio of breeding females at Wellington. Exporting Ficha in her prime would've given them a few years before Kuma would be able to conceive, and it seems they've only allowed Kuma to breed once every decade or so ever since.

It would've been much easier and more logical to export the 'F' line as a whole here, especially due to representation whilst retaining Melissa and her son- but it seems they were keen to retain at least some sort of support for Fifi who was going into her final years.

On the topic of the 'F' line, I've also long wondered why Furahi has never sired any offspring; although he's not a favorable male with the girls, he still mates with them a lot and seems the most keen when a females in season. Is there a possibility he might be vasectomised? Taronga would be wanting to continue restricting the 'F' line and so the due course there would to be vasectomise Kuma's sons to avoid any further 'F' line overrepresentation.

 

[Zoofan15]

I just had a thought surrounding our recent discussion re. Ficha's export.

It seems most likely imo the decision to export her was simply to hold off breeding from the 'F' line as much as they could, especially as Fifi was so well represented through Jojo, who in turn was the father of four of Taronga's breeding females at the time; and also the trio of breeding females at Wellington. Exporting Ficha in her prime would've given them a few years before Kuma would be able to conceive, and it seems they've only allowed Kuma to breed once every decade or so ever since.

It would've been much easier and more logical to export the 'F' line as a whole here, especially due to representation whilst retaining Melissa and her son- but it seems they were keen to retain at least some sort of support for Fifi who was going into her final years.

On the topic of the 'F' line, I've also long wondered why Furahi has never sired any offspring; although he's not a favorable male with the girls, he still mates with them a lot and seems the most keen when a females in season. Is there a possibility he might be vasectomised? Taronga would be wanting to continue restricting the 'F' line and so the due course there would to be vasectomise Kuma's sons to avoid any further 'F' line overrepresentation.

That’s possible as by the 90’s, zoos were keenly aware of the importance of genetic diversity and making management decisions based around this.

A huge emphasis was placed on Snowy’s genes being represented within the Taronga community and though at the time of Ficha’s export they had no idea Snowy would drown a year later, it would have been obvious his days as alpha were numbered. Kuma and Kamili were his only female offspring, so perhaps they planned to retain them for breeding with the concept of a bachelor troop at Dubbo still up in the air (originally planned for 1994).

The Dubbo facility was planned to house six males and as of 1998 (Ficha’s export), Taronga could have planned to transfer Snowy, Gombe, Lubutu, Shabani, Chimbuka and Sandali and thus purged their community of males (with Monte and Mali exported overseas). This would have allowed them to undertake an import of unrelated males once Kamili was old enough to negate the risk of infanticide.

I had wondered that myself re. Furahi but to my knowledge he’s not vasectomised. My assumption is as a middle ranking male, he has the worst of both worlds. He’s not high enough ranking to secure exclusive access to females; but he’s high enough to be preoccupied with overtly fertile high ranking females while the low ranking males occasionally get lucky with a cycling female with no swelling (that flies under the radar). This is how Sule (then low ranking) sired two infants and Enzi was similarly observed following Lani around while the adult males were preoccupied with the higher ranking Galatea.

 

[Zoofan15]

Taronga Zoo - Cebele (2017-2023)

This is one of the saddest pieces of news I’ve ever reported on the forum:

Last week, Cebele passed away due to an underlying medical condition. She would have been six years old in November.

The loss of any young chimpanzee is tragic and but Cebele’s death is particularly sad given the implications for her mother.

Ceres came to Taronga Zoo as a 25 year old in 2015 and unlike many of the females established in the troop, she had no offspring. She previously gave birth to an infant in 1998 that died at Givskud Zoo in 2008.

As most of us are aware, the integration of the three females from Europe was an extremely challenging process and one of them was transferred out. Ceres and Naomi remained and while in the split troop, Ceres conceived Cebele - the first surviving infant from the import.

Ceres is pregnant and will give birth again in September. The decision to artificially extend the birth interval was made so as not to overwhelm Ceres with two infants close together while she was still finding her place in the hierarchy. While her sister, Naomi, has thrived, Ceres has had a difficult road.

It appears the long term plan was for Cebele to remain in the community and one day breed. Ceres will never be a high ranking female, but with her daughter’s support, it was easy to see her maintain a stable middle ranking long term. Ceres will now have to begin her journey to motherhood again.

The one positive is that Ceres is 33 years old and as evidenced by Lemba’s birth, females can breed successfully into their early 40’s. She potentially has another decade to produce another infant or two, following her birth in September.

 

[marmolady]

How absolutely devastating, what a shock. I can't even imagine what Taronga's chimp team must be going through right now.

 

[Zoofan15]

How absolutely devastating, what a shock. I can't even imagine what Taronga's chimp team must be going through right now.

It came as a huge shock to me as well. Chimpanzees have a high survivorship throughout the juvenile phase and looking back on Taronga’s records proves their colony is no exception. Since the 1960’s, they’ve only lost one other juvenile, which was Lobo - who drowned in 1996 (aged seven years).

It’s also sad when you consider Cebele’s sire, Samaki, is unlikely to sire more infants going forward. As a first generation female, there’s been an effort to breed with Shiba but despite having five living offspring in the community (more than twice of any female), Shiba now only has one surviving grandchild (Liwali). Compare this to Sacha who has four grandchildren at Taronga through her two sons; a further two confirmed at Monarto; and the promise of countless more. Shikamoo and Sule are the alpha males and at Monarto, it’ll be either Sandali or Enzi siring infants for the foreseeable.

 

[Jambo]

Taronga Zoo - Cebele (2017-2023)

This is one of the saddest pieces of news I’ve ever reported on the forum:

Last week, Cebele passed away due to an underlying medical condition. She would have been six years old in November.

The loss of any young chimpanzee is tragic and but Cebele’s death is particularly sad given the implications for her mother.

Ceres came to Taronga Zoo as a 25 year old in 2015 and unlike many of the females established in the troop, she had no offspring. She previously gave birth to an infant in 1998 that died at Givskud Zoo in 2008.

As most of us are aware, the integration of the three females from Europe was an extremely challenging process and one of them was transferred out. Ceres and Naomi remained and while in the split troop, Ceres conceived Cebele - the first surviving infant from the import.

Ceres is pregnant and will give birth again in September. The decision to artificially extend the birth interval was made so as not to overwhelm Ceres with two infants close together while she was still finding her place in the hierarchy. While her sister, Naomi, has thrived, Ceres has had a difficult road.

It appears the long term plan was for Cebele to remain in the community and one day breed. Ceres will never be a high ranking female, but with her daughter’s support, it was easy to see her maintain a stable middle ranking long term. Ceres will now have to begin her journey to motherhood again.

The one positive is that Ceres is 33 years old and as evidenced by Lemba’s birth, females can breed successfully into their early 40’s. She potentially has another decade to produce another infant or two, following her birth in September.

Wow very tragic and unexpected news. My thoughts are with the keepers and of course the chimp community, especially Cebeli.

It’s a large shame as Cebeli was a big support to Ceres and this loss will surely effect Ceres’s status. It’s also tragic as she was almost destined to remain in the troop to breed long term.

Ceres being 33 does concern me a bit. She’ll only have two, maybe three offspring at most. Since she’s never destined to be a high ranking female, support from offspring would have been essential going forward and Cebeli would’ve provided that for her, especially when she too would’ve breed down the line. Ceres will now have to rely on maybe some sons to help her going forward but taking into account her age any future offspring won’t be around with her long enough to provide major support in adulthood.

It’s also sad when you consider Cebele’s sire, Samaki, is unlikely to sire more infants going forward. As a first generation female, there’s been an effort to breed with Shiba but despite having five living offspring in the community (more than twice of any female), Shiba now only has one surviving grandchild (Liwali). Compare this to Sacha who has four grandchildren at Taronga through her two sons; a further two confirmed at Monarto; and the promise of countless more. Shikamoo and Sule are the alpha males and at Monarto, it’ll be either Sandali or Enzi siring infants for the foreseeable.

I had the same thought. Shabani and Samaki will likely not site any more infants; and the same might go for Sudi too if Shikamoo and Sule stay in power. I do see Taronga’s reasoning on breeding Shiba more frequently than the other females now; Susie’s line will be heavily reliant on breeding from Shiba’s daughters now. It would make a whole lot of sense for Sembe to be bred from in the next interval.