They have sent me honest information in the past. I don't think they would deliberately mislead you in a case like that.
Twycross Zoo Bonobos
- Thread starter Upali
- Start date
They have sent me honest information in the past. I don't think they would deliberately mislead you in a case like that.
The female Maringa pregnancy was un detected untill later on, as she has no real signs hence lack of milk. It has not been advertised about the baby as he is not on show to the public. Hoping that when he is stronger he will be sent of to a specialist collection.
Hoping the new bonobo re furb will create illiulsion barriers and so then hopefully the bonobos can be mixed back together as one group. Reasons that they are seperate is fighting from a female, Cheeka, 12yrs who has bit off some of Keke's & Kakowets toes and fingers, also inbreeding between the bonobos. It is not Twycross fault or the keepers it is down to the EEP/studbook on who breeds, contraceptive/ goes etc. Keepers are desperate to put them together but have no say, plans have been put forward but......watch this space.
Generally if keepers are approached then they talk! I have met some really good keepers on the ape sections, open, honest and seem very hard working. Having to speak to alot of public and do there jobs, i heard they are short staff due to a recent death of the Bonobo keeper (plaque up in public passage)- must be very sad having to come to terms with that for keepers and the bonobos x
Gorilla- maybe a new male coming soon, they have to see the male in question first to see if he fits the requirement.
Hoping the new bonobo re furb will create illiulsion barriers and so then hopefully the bonobos can be mixed back together as one group. Reasons that they are seperate is fighting from a female, Cheeka, 12yrs who has bit off some of Keke's & Kakowets toes and fingers, also inbreeding between the bonobos. It is not Twycross fault or the keepers it is down to the EEP/studbook on who breeds, contraceptive/ goes etc. Keepers are desperate to put them together but have no say, plans have been put forward but......watch this space.
Generally if keepers are approached then they talk! I have met some really good keepers on the ape sections, open, honest and seem very hard working. Having to speak to alot of public and do there jobs, i heard they are short staff due to a recent death of the Bonobo keeper (plaque up in public passage)- must be very sad having to come to terms with that for keepers and the bonobos x
Gorilla- maybe a new male coming soon, they have to see the male in question first to see if he fits the requirement.
1. Bonobos- That would be very good news. Presumably some females would have to be on contraceptives, or some exchanges made, to prevent inbreeding.
2.Keepers- In the past I've found Twycross keepers as informative as anywhere else, but only IF you can find them. On recent visits I haven't seen anybody about really.
3. Gorillas- any idea what male (location) they are looking at? Any news on the exact plan with them would be very valuable.
I do not want to criticize the Twycross keepers or the management, but I cannot believe, that Maringas pregnancy was undetected. Bonobos are very gracil apes, even the smallest increase in weight and abdominal girth can be detected very easily.
I do not know how Twycross keepers deal with, but the keepers at Leipzig, Frankfurt or Stuttgart are looking after changes of weight and abdominal girth very carefully and they are starting to watch the females behavior and to check the hormon level as soon and frequently as possible.
Because of this accurate procedures Yasas' pregnancy at Leipzig was already known in March, 5 months before her first birth on July 28th.
I do not know how Twycross keepers deal with, but the keepers at Leipzig, Frankfurt or Stuttgart are looking after changes of weight and abdominal girth very carefully and they are starting to watch the females behavior and to check the hormon level as soon and frequently as possible.
Because of this accurate procedures Yasas' pregnancy at Leipzig was already known in March, 5 months before her first birth on July 28th.
@Pertinax
Contraception, especially for young females, is a bad solution.... The EEP and the zoos should take great care to establish new bonobo keeping zoos. They should arrange for more exchanges to prevent inbreeding and to release tense situations like in Twycross or Stuttgart, where 18 bonobos are occupying an indoorn enclosure of 56 square meters and an outdoorn enclosure of 48 square meters with a ceiling height of at the most 4 meters.
Contraception, especially for young females, is a bad solution.... The EEP and the zoos should take great care to establish new bonobo keeping zoos. They should arrange for more exchanges to prevent inbreeding and to release tense situations like in Twycross or Stuttgart, where 18 bonobos are occupying an indoorn enclosure of 56 square meters and an outdoorn enclosure of 48 square meters with a ceiling height of at the most 4 meters.
I agree that with young Apes contraception can spoil their reproductive ability longterm.
Ideally the Twyross group(s) could be reduced in size by removing some of the closely related animals and distributing them elsewhere, to give one single functioning group again.
the outdoor enclosure is fairly spacious and not too small for e.g. 7-8 animals, though it is very bare and will be improved massively by additional climbing equipment.
Lil' Lotte
New Member
I agree with Custard. It is easy to criticise the ape situation but I think not enough is mentioned on here about the fact that EEP/studbook has the final say so and some things are out of Twycross's control. Everyone must agree it is not a great situation but if mixing the two groups causes tension, aggression, injury or possible fatality to individuals then it should say like that for now.
This is the same for the gorilla situation. A group with no Silverback is unnatural and defiantly required. I am sure they are in contact with the studbook for a new male.
This is the same for the gorilla situation. A group with no Silverback is unnatural and defiantly required. I am sure they are in contact with the studbook for a new male.
The situations regarding the Gorillas and Bonobos at Twycross are rather different. The original Bonobos were received from other EEP zoos and probably under direct control of the EEP so yes, they probably have a major say in their future organisation. I hope that with some exchanges they can be amalgamated into a single group again.
None of the current gorillas were obtained through EEP programmes, though a new male will probably have to come with EEP approval. I hope, as it seems the obvious outcome, that a single social group with at least some breeding potential, will now be assembled.
Great to hear that Twycross have welcomed another baby bonobo 
Congratulations to Maringa, just such a shame that she was not able to support the new boy by herself.
If anyone gets any information as to the whereabouts of the youngster, please let me know - I will have to head down there soon and say hello to my favourite apes and hopefully the new guy, although it seems likely that he may not be on show at all if he is being hand reared & potentially moved to another collection??
Also great to hear that some of the ape enclosures will be getting a makeover, I am sure that will be appreciated greatly by the inhabitants
Pertinax - "Unfortunately the end result will probably also look even uglier- (like the Orangutan enclosure) since firehoses, nets and poles are functional rather than naturalistic. Its a pity they can't instead put in natural vegetation e.g. bamboo, natural logs and dead trees and green plastic 'swaypoles' or 'vines'to blend in better, as Chester and many other zoos nowadays do. A total or partial roof over the enclosure would help too."
I understand your view here Pertinax, at the same time I think you have to consider what is good for the animals - they don't give a damn if an enclosure looks natural and personally I really dislike the current trend of building natural looking enclosures that are designed around the public rather than the animals - I have seen the bonobos and indeed other apes making great use of the "rubbish" in their enclosure, sliding on boxes & crates, playing with tennis balls, building a fort out of cardboard boxes!, wearing clothes, filling bottles, swinging on hoses etc etc.. and I can't help but think that such activities provide much more stimulation for the animals than some of the things that would be included in a "natural" enclosure. I can't help thinking that many of the natural items you suggested could be expensive and easily destroyed by the group.
@ Bele - does this mean that Kakewet and Keke are now together with Jasongo being the only male in the group? I would be interested to know why as I hoped the group dynamic was working well
Congratulations to Maringa, just such a shame that she was not able to support the new boy by herself.If anyone gets any information as to the whereabouts of the youngster, please let me know - I will have to head down there soon and say hello to my favourite apes and hopefully the new guy, although it seems likely that he may not be on show at all if he is being hand reared & potentially moved to another collection??
Also great to hear that some of the ape enclosures will be getting a makeover, I am sure that will be appreciated greatly by the inhabitants
Pertinax - "Unfortunately the end result will probably also look even uglier- (like the Orangutan enclosure) since firehoses, nets and poles are functional rather than naturalistic. Its a pity they can't instead put in natural vegetation e.g. bamboo, natural logs and dead trees and green plastic 'swaypoles' or 'vines'to blend in better, as Chester and many other zoos nowadays do. A total or partial roof over the enclosure would help too."
I understand your view here Pertinax, at the same time I think you have to consider what is good for the animals - they don't give a damn if an enclosure looks natural and personally I really dislike the current trend of building natural looking enclosures that are designed around the public rather than the animals - I have seen the bonobos and indeed other apes making great use of the "rubbish" in their enclosure, sliding on boxes & crates, playing with tennis balls, building a fort out of cardboard boxes!, wearing clothes, filling bottles, swinging on hoses etc etc.. and I can't help but think that such activities provide much more stimulation for the animals than some of the things that would be included in a "natural" enclosure. I can't help thinking that many of the natural items you suggested could be expensive and easily destroyed by the group.
@ Bele - does this mean that Kakewet and Keke are now together with Jasongo being the only male in the group? I would be interested to know why as I hoped the group dynamic was working well
I understand where you are coming from too, and you are right that the animals themselves don't care if their enrichment is natural looking or not. I think there's a middle ground though and as much enrichment as possible should come from natural-looking substances. My real dislike is clothing and material which some of the Twycross apes are given and which they use to cover themselves- I really do feel this removes their dignity, though again, the animals themselves obviously enjoy it, but they would probably use more natural materials just as willingly too.
BBC NEWS | England | Leicestershire | Expert honoured for bonobo work
On the video at the bottom of that link, the climbing frame in the bonbo enclosure looks new to me (then again, my mind might be playing tricks on me and it might've been there on my visit earlier this year...)
On the video at the bottom of that link, the climbing frame in the bonbo enclosure looks new to me (then again, my mind might be playing tricks on me and it might've been there on my visit earlier this year...)
When I went earlier this year I noticed additional climbing frames not only in the Orangutan enclosure but also the newer Gorilla House outside, and perhaps there was one in the Bonobo area. They still looked pretty bare though I gather more improvements are being made to the Bonobo area.
I'm not sure what the article bases the claim that 'Twycross has the most important Bonobo group outside Africa' on though. Several groups in USA and Europe are as big or larger, and I don't see any other way Twycross group is 'more important' as genetically all their founders were from other groups...
I'm not sure what the article bases the claim that 'Twycross has the most important Bonobo group outside Africa' on though. Several groups in USA and Europe are as big or larger, and I don't see any other way Twycross group is 'more important' as genetically all their founders were from other groups...
The Twycross group is soonest comparable to the groups at Leipzig, Berlin, Memphis, Jacksonville, San Diego WAP or Wuppertal. Their genetic importance is low.
The most important breeding groups in Europe are Frankfurt and Stuttgart, San Diego Zoo, Columbus and Milwaukee in North America.
The groups at Cologne, Apeldoorn, Milwaukee and Columbus have got the highest genetic significance...
The most important breeding groups in Europe are Frankfurt and Stuttgart, San Diego Zoo, Columbus and Milwaukee in North America.
The groups at Cologne, Apeldoorn, Milwaukee and Columbus have got the highest genetic significance...
Claims like that shouldn't be allowed really if not true.