Australian (and NZ) Great Ape News and Discussion

He seems a very likeable fella! Does Alexis have a lot of support from females? Unfortunately, he's going to be lacking in male allies, but then, I suppose Marty will be now as well. What are the options for Alexis to sire offspring within the group? Is he closely related to all/most of the females?

I just love that trampoline video. :)
 
Another point of interest; I believe Alexis is the only surviving offspring of Boyd capable of reproduction. So he is the sole reproductive offspring of both his mother and father (though his Boyd's side of the family is better represented).
 
soona said:
He seems a very likeable fella! Does Alexis have a lot of support from females? Unfortunately, he's going to be lacking in male allies, but then, I suppose Marty will be now as well. What are the options for Alexis to sire offspring within the group? Is he closely related to all/most of the females?

I just love that trampoline video. :)
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There's also a very cute video of Alexis and Bakari wrestling in the playroom. Alexis is tickling Bakari and Bakari is laughing!

Alexis has the support of Cara, Keza and Sally but I believe Samantha and Jessie favour Marty. Samantha's son, Temba, was Marty's second in command so Samantha always supported their coalition. The current hierachy of the females is:

1. Jessie
2. Samantha
3. Sally
4. Keza
5. Cara

While the two most dominant females currently support Marty, Samantha now gains no benefit from Marty being the alpha and could easily switch sides. We've both recently predicted the export of Samantha and her daughter Malika (who is appoaching adolscence and will soon add to the support of one of the adult males). I think the removal of Samantha will prove the catalyst for Alexis to assume the alpha position. With his gentle nature and impressive leadership skills, I don't believe Wellington Zoo have any objection to Alexis taking over.

With the death of the adolescent male, Beni, Alexis is now the only male in the group capable of siring offspring as Marty was vasectomised in 2009. He will remain the only breeding male until Bakari (born 2012) becomes sexually mature in 2-3 years.

Alexis and his mother, Cara, are the last remaining member's of Bessie's line in the region:

Bessie - Chiki - Cara - Alexis

And so Alexis is valuable as a breeding male. I believe Cara, Samantha and Sally are all half siblings (though they have different mothers) although I can double check on that. Keza is the daughter of Marty; Alexis is the son of Boyd (Boyd and Marty are full brothers) so he is related to Keza as a first cousin.
 
Just re-watched this video with the sound on:

Adorable chimpanzees play on trampoline at Wellington Zoo

The head keeper refers to Alexis as the alpha male so he has obviously taken over from Marty recently as predicted. I'm guessing since Temba's death, Samantha no longer benefited from Marty being the alpha and instead backed Alexis, adding to the support he already had from Cara, Sally and Keza.
 
Any update on the Monarto chimpanzees @soona re the reintroduction of the males and whether Zombi and Galatea are off contraceptives atm? Zombi will be fast approaching the time when she can conceive again after Enzi's birth in late 2015.
 
Zombi has never been placed on back on contraceptives, and Galatea's appears to have worn off. Galatea has been cycling, but Zombi hasn't yet. If there is another three year gap between her infants, it could be late next year, unless she is placed on contraception to give her a break from mothering (having three under the age of eight would be quite a handful, though I'm sure she is capable). The plan is still to breed from Gali, and to import two females when an appropriate opportunity arises.

The present arrangement is that Boyd and Gombe spend most days with the main group, but are separated off in the late afternoon.This hasn't happened in the past week to my knowledge as Zombi had been unwell. It sounds as though she has improved a lot, and that intros have started up again.
 
soona said:
Zombi has never been placed on back on contraceptives, and Galatea's appears to have worn off. Galatea has been cycling, but Zombi hasn't yet. If there is another three year gap between her infants, it could be late next year, unless she is placed on contraception to give her a break from mothering (having three under the age of eight would be quite a handful, though I'm sure she is capable). The plan is still to breed from Gali, and to import two females when an appropriate opportunity arises.

The present arrangement is that Boyd and Gombe spend most days with the main group, but are separated off in the late afternoon.This hasn't happened in the past week to my knowledge as Zombi had been unwell. It sounds as though she has improved a lot, and that intros have started up again.
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In my opinion, Zombi should be bred again soon while she is in her prime and her infants stand an excellent chance of survival. Since she is 24 this year (and still has four to six years left of being in her reproducitve prime) I see no harm of delaying her breeding until 2019 when she is 26 and has a 7 year old and a 4 year old and then breeding her for the fourth and final time in 2022 when she is 29 and has a 10 year old, a 7 year old and 3 year old. By the time Zuri is 7-8 years old, she will be an adolscent and able to offer assistance to Zombi with younger siblings. Assuming Sandali fathers her next two infants, by the time the last one is born in 2022, Zuri will be 10 years old and of reproductive age. This could be a good time to vasectomise Sandali and let Tsotsi breed with Zuri. It's likely any babies born to Galatea will be fathered by Sandali too given their relationship.
 
I definitely agree that it is best for Zombi to keep having infants while she is young, but the three year gap between infants is abnormally short, and even with assistance (Zuri already takes on this role with Enzi), it feels like a lot to me. It would depend a lot on what Zombi's keepers feel she is up to.
 
Short inter-birth intervals were common at Taronga Zoo prior to the use of contraception in the 1990s. Susie (1948) had several offspring with close age gaps (26 months was the shortest I believe) and Spitter (1960) had Sally in 1985 and Gombe in 1988, following her daughter Sacha's birth in 1980. Cara at Wellington Zoo gave birth to her second offspring, Asha, in 1997 which was three years after Chima was born in 1994.
 
I find it very interesting how such things are so different to reproduction in wild chimps. I think the only concern would be if the individual mother is coping with the short intervals.
 
soona said:
I find it very interesting how such things are so different to reproduction in wild chimps. I think the only concern would be if the individual mother is coping with the short intervals.
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I guess being in captivity assures the individual of adequate nutrition to reproduce. In the wild, chimpanzees may suffer stress from a lack of food which could lead to a cessation of ovulation or a higher risk of miscarriage etc which overall decreases the reproductive output. I believe the inter-birth intervals for wild populations are an average of about five years. Infant mortality has been high in captivity as well as in the wild. I think the average is about 40% at Taronga over the last 50 years.

In the wild, females typically emigrate to other communities but I was surprised to recently learn this happens over a period of about two years, with them returning to and leaving their natal community multiple times during the transission period. Something that would be near impossible/impratical to replicate in a captive setting.

Also in the wild, females typically give birth to their first offspring in their teens and experience a period of adolescent sterility during the transission to the new community. I'd be interested to know if this happens in captivity. If so, whether it only occurs if the chimpanzee is removed from it's natal group.

At Taronga, Shiba gave birth to her first offspring at the age of eight, but did not have her next offspring until thirteen, Lisa followed a similar pattern. Did they experience adolscent infertility for about a year around the age of ten/eleven and therefore not reproduce during this time.

Kuma gave birth to her first offspring at the age of eleven. I wonder if this was due to contraception when she reached reproductive age or adolescent infertility which prevented her from breeding at nine/ten?
 
Auckland Zoo Chimpanzee Video (1989)

Thought some people might enjoy this video of Auckland Zoo's chimpanzee from 1989:

Back in the Day: Tea Party chimps suffer psychological damage from performing

It focuses on the tea party chimps (male Bobby and females Janie and Josie) but also features the family group consisting of hand raised females Suzie and Sally, Mike and Lucy (both from Taronga) and Mike and Lucy's young son, Lucifer (born June 1988).

Lucy (and Lucifer) are at 0.19 minutes
Sally is at 1.09 minutes
Suzie (far right) is at 1.15 minutes

I think it's such a shame that Janie and Josie were never able to be introduced to the natural family group like Suzie and Sally were. Janie and Josie were in their mid 30s in 1989 and were still of reproductive age. Being wild born, their offspring would have been so valuable genetically. Same with the sisters, Suzie (now deceased) and Sally who have both never bred. Being the only offspring of wild born parents their genes would have been equally valuable.





 
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Thanks so much for sharing that. Sally was extremely pretty in her youth! Lovely to see familiar faces in their younger days. It is very sad about Janie and Josie, though I have my doubts that they'd have success in rearing their own infants considering their backgrounds.
 
soona said:
Thanks so much for sharing that. Sally was extremely pretty in her youth! Lovely to see familiar faces in their younger days. It is very sad about Janie and Josie, though I have my doubts that they'd have success in rearing their own infants considering their backgrounds.
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No worries @soona!

She was beautiful! Sally loves child visitors so although she has sadly never reproduced, I don't doubt she got enjoyment from watching Lucifer and Luka grow, and now with the recent birth of Chiku.

Yes that's a good point. Suzie and Sally's mother rejected both her daughters and they had to be hand raised.

Josie actually gave birth to an infant in 1964. It was removed after she started to neglect it, but is later died. She never bred again.
 
Taronga gorilla news:
Mbeli has given birth to an infant, sired by Kibali. No announcement has been made regarding the sex of the infant. This is the full sibling of male infant Mjukuu (2014).
 
soona said:
Taronga gorilla news:
Mbeli has given birth to an infant, sired by Kibali. No announcement has been made regarding the sex of the infant. This is the full sibling of male infant Mjukuu (2014).
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That's awesome news! Stoked Mbeli (2003) has been allowed to have another offspring so soon after Mjukuu (2014). I hear 'Baby M' has been sexed as a male, with a naming competition to follow.

I hope Frala (1981) will be allowed to breed again soon, following the birth of Fabumi (2015). Due to her age, you'd think this would be advisable sooner rather than later if this is on the cards.

The new gorilla exhibit in Taronga's renovation plans will surely allow for a larger troop to be kept at Taronga.
 
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The infant has been confirmed as male (the current Taronga boys could well end up as a bachelor group in years to come). The public has been asked to vote on a name for the infant, the choices being; Malawa ('flower'), Mwamba ('strong'), and Marzuku (blessed).

Help Name Taronga's Baby Gorilla
 
soona said:
The infant has been confirmed as male (the current Taronga boys could well end up as a bachelor group in years to come). The public has been asked to vote on a name for the infant, the choices being; Malawa ('flower'), Mwamba ('strong'), and Marzuku (blessed).

Help Name Taronga's Baby Gorilla
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Frala (1981) and Mbeli (2003) are technically the same generation on their maternal side (both born to wild born mothers) and both are well represented by their respective fathers, Bongo and Kibabu so it's possible Frala and Mbeli's sons at Taronga will not be required for breeding for some time.

Mbeli's line is well represented on her maternal side too so her sons especially would be unlikely candidates for breeding silverbacks in my opinion. Fabumi may breed down the line, considering Frala has relatively few descendants compared to the Mouila/Kriba line.

I can see Mwamba being the crowd favourite out of those three names. Malawa is nice, but sounds feminine (and has a feminine meaning) so would be better suited to a female gorilla infant in my opinion.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I can see Mwamba being the crowd favourite out of those three names. Malawa is nice, but sounds feminine (and has a feminine meaning) so would be better suited to a female gorilla infant in my opinion.
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good judgement there...I often like to guess the likely favourite in these naming competitions. I think Mwamba will be the favourite here also.
 
Mbeli's baby has been named Mwamba

We are excited to reveal the results of our naming competition for the latest addition to our Western Lowland Gorilla family!

Born on 1 September to mum Mbeli and father Kibali, the baby boy has been named ‘Mwamba’, meaning strong.

Mwamba is one of seven Western Lowland Gorillas at Taronga. This group is part of a world breeding program for gorillas, which aims to secure insurance populations for the species. Western Lowland Gorillas are critically endangered, with the long-term survival of this species under serious threat due to habitat destruction and deforestation, poaching and disease outbreaks such as Ebola.

However, there are things each of us can do to take action! Taronga Director and CEO Cameron Kerr tells us how:

“Recycle your mobile phone because some of the components can only be sourced from mining in Central Africa; buy sustainably sourced timbers when buying furniture; and, if you are offered illegal wildlife or illegal wildlife parts, report it on our Wildlife Witness App, which can be downloaded from iTunes.”

Keen-eyed guests at Taronga Zoo can see Mwamba throughout the day. The best viewing times are the Gorilla feeding sessions at 10.45am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm.

As always, we give thanks to Hungry Jack's for sponsoring our Gorilla Conservation Breeding Program.

-Taronga Zoo's Facebook Page
 
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