Nelson was the old male, but it was not him who got shot. I think it was one of the newly arrived ones from Dudley. There are two females at the moment, one of which has been confirmed as pure West African.
Nelson was the old male, but it was not him who got shot. I think it was one of the newly arrived ones from Dudley. There are two females at the moment, one of which has been confirmed as pure West African.
I've just found the press reports I have on the incident. It happened on Friday 9th December 2005. The Chimp, one of the three females, escaped just after 10 o'clock on what was a very foggy day and eventually climbed up the Lost River Ride. I remember a keeper telling me he had seen it walking by in the fog and another keeper told me it was an ex-army maintenance worker who shot it (not before the Chimp had grabbed the gun). It had been shot with two tranquiliser darts per the newspaper article but became "extremely aggressive". The zoo was open for the full winter season in 2005/06 and I was lucky as I visited on both Friday 2nd and 16th, but not the 9th - a good job as the zoo closed when the animal escaped yet had I been going I'd have left home at 7.25 and so would have had a wasted journey.
Both of them as far as I know unless they are not the ones that arrived in 2005, but I think they are. Looking at my notes for December 2004 (the zoo closed from Christmas that winter) they were due to arrive in January so were not as "newly arrived" as I may have thought!
do you know the names? Dudley originally had four Chimpanzees in the old Ape House, currently the Orangutan house. These were male Pepe, and females Bella, Cherry and Cindy. Cindy died at Dudley, Pepe died at Dudley, Bella and Cherry much later ended up at London before they stopped keeping Chimps. Was it them perhaps? Or not ex Dudley?
It looks to me like a respiratory problem waiting to happen
You can see that the only light is coming through the shift doors on the right. And if the sun were not there, it would be even darker.
Of course, what is happening on the left we can't see
do you know the names? Dudley originally had four Chimpanzees in the old Ape House, currently the Orangutan house. These were male Pepe, and females Bella, Cherry and Cindy. Cindy died at Dudley, Pepe died at Dudley, Bella and Cherry much later ended up at London before they stopped keeping Chimps. Was it them perhaps? Or not ex Dudley?
I think they were from the extra ones brought in when Dudley opened the new exhibit (I was told Pepe had been killed by some of these animals, with a visitor recording the whole incident on his or her camcorder. Can anyone confirm this?). I'll just go to look for my old Dudley magazines as there was a feature on the animals being moved. Here we are - "Chimp sisters head north". They were half-sisters Maisha and Tupelo. Ah, F L had just received a female from Welsh Mountain too. The article says this left Dudley with one male and seven females - this was the Spring 2005 edition.
I think they were from the extra ones brought in when Dudley opened the new exhibit (I was told Pepe had been killed by some of these animals, with a visitor recording the whole incident on his or her camcorder. Can anyone confirm this?).
Here we are - "Chimp sisters head north". They were half-sisters Maisha and Tupelo. Ah, F L had just received a female from Welsh Mountain too. The article says this left Dudley with one male and seven females - this was the Spring 2005 edition.
Thanks. The other Chimps afaik came from London zoo- all females, so maybe these were two of those?
Pepe was the only original Dudley chimp in their new larger group, and the only male. I'm not altogether surprised to hear how he died, though cannot confirm that. I did see them once as a group when he was still alive- he sat in a corner looking miserable and all his 'spark ' had gone, he also seemed really frightened of the females who also seemed very dominant, and he screamed if one came near him.
The mistake was to put just a single male, with no 'allies', into an established larger group of females I think.
Thanks. The other Chimps afaik came from London zoo- all females, so maybe these were two of those?
Pepe was the only original Dudley chimp in their new larger group, and the only male. I'm not altogether surprised to hear how he died, though cannot confirm that. I did see them once as a group when he was still alive- he sat in a corner looking miserable and all his 'spark ' had gone, he also seemed really frightened of the females who also seemed very dominant, and he screamed if one came near him.
The mistake was to put just a single male, with no 'allies', into an established larger group of females I think.
