Taronga zoo chimp & jackal

glyn said:

yes was originally a mixed species exhibit when the park opened back in the 80s.

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This seems like a pretty wacky mix of species. Do chimps and jackals ever meet in nature? I can't think of where they would seeing as jackals live on savannas and chimps live in forests.

Remembering that day at the zoo.

I remember when I took that picture there were two jackals running up and down the edge of the moat, trying to keep a distance from the chimps

glyn said:

yes was originally a mixed species exhibit when the park opened back in the 80s.

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I guess Taronga is much older then 1980. Do you mean "when the exhibit opened", don't you?

Taronga zoo opened in October 1916.The apes were displayed in ugly heavily barred cages up to around 1980.When the chimpanzee park was created & the late 80,s the orang utan,s rainforest home opened.

I think the old orang-utan enclosures are still standing at the zoo just too the right of the entrance huge concrete and steel bars,

zoomaniac said:

I guess Taronga is much older then 1980. Do you mean "when the exhibit opened", don't you?

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Actually, the exhibit is known as the "Chimp Park", which is what Glynn meant by the park opening in the early 1980's.

Zooman said:

I think the old orang-utan enclosures are still standing at the zoo just too the right of the entrance huge concrete and steel bars,

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The Orangs were in cages (with the chimps) where the Free Flight Bird Show currently is. The cages you are refering to held the gorillas (and have also been gone since the 1980's.)


Regarding the jackals: there were boltholes in the exhibit for the jackals and initially they were using them regularly and keeping their distance from the chimps. If they got flustered the chimps would be able to get closer to them during the chase. After a few weeks the jackals became so bold they were actually nipping at the chiomp's ankles.

@doctorkay and Hix: Thank you guys for clarifiying. The meaning of the word "park" can obviously contain a lot of things...

Hix said:

Regarding the jackals: there were boltholes in the exhibit for the jackals and initially they were using them regularly and keeping their distance from the chimps. If they got flustered the chimps would be able to get closer to them during the chase. After a few weeks the jackals became so bold they were actually nipping at the chiomp's ankles.

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From what I recall talking to a chimp keeper some time back, the bolt holes were fenced in a way that the chimps did not have access to them. The jackals were so scared of the chimps that they rarely left the holes until the chimps were bedded down for the night. When the fencing failed one day and a jackal was torn to pieces the remaining individual/s were removed. The patas monkey introduction wasn't any more successful...

Even after all these years, the thought of putting together any monkeys with chimps makes me shudder. What were Taronga's management thinking about?

Were these the only jackals in Australia at the time?