How many years do you think it will be before all Chimpanzees will be managed within an EEP on a positive basis, by breeding from animals of definite genetic origin? Is that actually attainable?
How many years do you think it will be before all Chimpanzees will be managed within an EEP on a positive basis, by breeding from animals of definite genetic origin? Is that actually attainable?
I believe there's already an EEP directive of some form to only breed from pure West African chimps, either of known origin or DNA tested as such (or maybe both). I think that's been the case for some years now. Some zoos e.g. Edinburgh are definately working toward this- Dublin news also recently stated they are bringing in 2 pure western females so evidently have the same aim.
But so many other places which don't have West Africans, or have lots of mixed race Chimps as at Twycross, are presumably not involved except in a passive way of non-breeding.
There is a genetic test which enables West African chimps to be identified, so this subspecies has been chosen for pure breeding groups. However the chimps have to be anaesthetised to collect samples, which is not a routine procedure. Chester only collect samples when a chimp has to be anaesthetised for medical reasons. I wonder if the Twycross chimps which have been moved around have been tested in this way.
