Boyd is looking well considering he turned 42 a couple of weeks ago and is one of the oldest chimpanzees in the region. Boyd; his brother, Marty; and son, Gombe, all seem to share the trait of looking aged in their face from their 20’s onwards - as well as being relatively small for male chimps. Hopefully longevity also continues to be a trait of this family line.
I'm hoping so as well. Boyd is getting along very well; he's still just as active in all the male politics as he was when he arrived at Monarto more than ten years ago. I'd like to think he won't be slowing down anytime soon.
@marmolady I think it suits Boyd being in a smaller troop. He was overwhelmed at the end of his time at Wellington (part of the reason for his export), where he was the eldest of six adult males. While he was never going to be the alpha of this troop, he’s still managed to maintain a high ranking and respected position.
I wasn't surprised that he was initially the alpha when it was just the four males, as he had the support of Gombe, and Tsotsi was very inexperienced. He's clearly very socially intelligent, with both Tsotsi and Gombe looking to him as a key ally. I do feel that when he does eventually pass, it will cause a massive stir in the males (I'd like to think this will be far enough in the future that Enzi will be beginning to find his place among the males).
@marmolady Boyd is clearly very skilled at forging political alliances. He had the support of almost every female at Wellington Zoo during his reign as alpha male.
Enzi will surely be a future alpha male given he’s the son of the alpha female; the youngest male by two decades; and that there’s going to be no further male infants in the immediate future. This is a rare situation for a male chimpanzee to find himself in within the region these days.
