Thanks for the interpretation.
Heartwarming to hear Ceres is doing much better. The loss of Cebeli would’ve surely been devastating for her and hopefully this young infant will keep Ceres busy in the years to come.
The article also interestingly implies Sule is the alpha male which is what I’d expected going forward. Shikamoo dosen’t seem to have nearly as much drive for the position as his younger brother does so it was always inevitable that Sule would be the actual alpha male with Shikamoo providing the support to the role.
The article also interestingly implies Sule is the alpha male which is what I’d expected going forward. Shikamoo dosen’t seem to have nearly as much drive for the position as his younger brother does so it was always inevitable that Sule would be the actual alpha male with Shikamoo providing the support to the role.
It’s also wonderful to hear Sule has already approached the little one and interacted which quite unusual. Although if Sule is the father as predicted this wouldn’t be much of a surprise.
Amazing photo of Lisa and little Lemba taken by @DaLilFishie that was posted in the gallery.
Her darker face is very reminiscent of the 'F' line!
I strongly agree! Shiba's line have very very pink faces and so do Sacha's, so it's been a while since we've seen a chimp with a darker face like Lemba's.
I strongly agree! Shiba's line have very very pink faces and so do Sacha's, so it's been a while since we've seen a chimp with a darker face like Lemba's.
Additionally, Liwali had a very pigmented face (and was sired by Samaki) so I think we can rule out Shabani/Samaki/Sudi.
Furahi and Fumo are my predictions for sire; it certainly looks to be a Kuma descended baby.
Furahi has maintained a close relationship with Lisa over the years so he's probably the favourite at this point, especially as he's the third highest ranking male behind the brotherly alliance. Wouldn't rule out Fumo though! He's always in on everything.
Middle to lower ranking females would also not have the desire and attention of the higher ranking males; especially if another higher ranking females receptive, as she would be more appealing. Politics are certainly key - the higher ranking males want to have babies with the higher ranking females to maintain their position and support, and the same goes for the females.Females are certainly conscious of which male is in power or is likely to rise to power and Lemba would have been conceived as the Shikamoo/Sule leadership was still being cemented. Samaki had fallen in ranking, but it was still very much anyone’s game and Furahi would have been a contender for sure at that point - making him a likely bet.
As we know from past paternity results, being the alpha is no guarantee to paternity and there’s been countless cases of the beta or gamma males getting lucky.
We can of course rule out Liwali in this case. Mother-son matings are rare when reproductive aged alternatives are in the community (and Lisa had seven other males to choose from!)
Middle to lower ranking females would also not have the desire and attention of the higher ranking males; especially if another higher ranking females receptive, as she would be more appealing. Politics are certainly key - the higher ranking males want to have babies with the higher ranking females to maintain their position and support, and the same goes for the females.
Since Lubutu's death, Lisa's status has dropped so there's a real possibility one of the lower ranking males slid in. I had hoped Shabani would sire an infant (to continue the 'M' line at Taronga) but young Lemba does seem to be the offspring of Furahi/Fumo. The best turnout would be if Kamili successfully raised an offspring sired by Shabani! Probably unrealistic but there's certainly a small chance.
On the topic of relatedness, it would probably be better if Fumo sired young Lemba genetically. Lisa is Furahi's maternal grandmother, whereas Fumo is more distantly related with Lisa being his paternal great grandmother.
She latched onto Shabani for years, but apparently has favoured several different males of late - including Samaki.
Kamili seems to have a thing for the lower ranking males; Shabani, and now Samaki. She's also a female who loves the spotlight and attention from the males. I can only imagine what she would be like with a decent sized family group.Exactly. I’ve also heard females with the largest swellings (prime aged) are the most attractive to the males - so when there’s an overlap of prime age and ranking e.g. Naomi, you can imagine the chaos.
Kamili reportedly incited a fight amongst the males when she was cycling a few months back. Sacha diffused it, almost as if she was reminding them Kamili wasn’t worth it.
I agree Fumo would be a better genetic match than Furahi. Even though we’ve discounted them, it’s worth noting Lisa is believed to have been sired by Jojo, while we know Shiba was not. This means Shabani and Sudi would both be good matches (I use this term loosely considering how inbred the community has become).
On that note, Cebele’s death is particularly unfortunate as she was sired by Samaki, whose time has been and gone. If she were to remain in the community, more distant relatives would be far more likely candidates for siring her infants.
Kamili seems to have a thing for the lower ranking males; Shabani, and now Samaki. She's also a female who loves the spotlight and attention from the males. I can only imagine what she would be like with a decent sized family group.
Shiba's line is therefore perhaps the most valuable at Taronga which would probably explain why she's been allowed to build up the biggest family group. Her mother Susie's line is only represented through Samantha at Wellington elsewhere and Shiba's only grandchild is Liwali who'll probably be a middle ranking male at most; meaning he probably won't be siring many infants. If she was sired by Mike she would be very valuable; although Flint was mentioned as the most likely (being beta) and he's a full brother Jojo so the same genetically.
I wonder if Taronga may consider vasectomising Shikamoo/Sule soon. Taronga have done this in the past with Lubutu, ensuring the line dosen't become too represented within the troop. It would allow perhaps the younger males (Fumo, Sudi, Liwali ect.) to sire offspring being less related; but I guess with the older breeding females (Shiba, Kuma) now getting older this wouldn't really matter anyway.
Vasectomising Shikamoo and Sule would be best for the community's genetics (even though they already are well inbred). I would position them doing it obviously sooner rather than later as Sacha's line is going to be very well represented especially as Zuri and Enzi will likely be breeding going forward too.