Taronga Zoo Chimpanzee Troop

Samaki is not Sudi's father... yay!

He's not Fumo's daddy either... *grin*

Interesting times yesterday in the Chimp exhibit... the warm spell had brought out the energy in all of the youngsters. Sule and Fumo playing up a storm all over the enclosure, Sembe grabbing Sudi and taking off with him a fair distance before Shiba realised and followed at a reasonable distance - Sembe then realised Mum was not far behind and put Sudi down... lol!

Kamili had a lovely play session with Fumo - until Sule came over and tried to stop her. Kamili proceeded to chase Sule all over the place screeching like a nutter, before going over to Shabani for some "comfort"... then she started off after Sule again and told him off some more... haha!

Lisa still isn't giving Liwali much free run... *sigh*... he's SO behind the other two in his skills... but I'm sure he'll catch up just fine once he's allowed some away from Mum time...

T.
 
Continuing on from previous records I've uploaded on this post...

Lulu's records:


Lulu was born in March 1952 and arrived at Taronga Zoo on 31st March 1965. She gave birth eight times to nine offspring (DIED = died at birth or in infancy):

Jan 1969: Lobo (died 1986)
Feb 1973: Died
Nov 1975: Lucy
Aug 1979: Lisa
Sep 1982: Died
March 1985: Lewis (died 1995)
May 1989: Died
Jan 1992: Died

One of these births was twins, the records do not state which one, but it is implied to be one the 1985 birth. Lulu was sterilised through tubal ligation in June 1992.

Lucy was born in November 1975 and gave birth to her first offspring in September 1985. It did not survive and Lucy was exported to Auckland Zoo in November 1985, along with Mike (also born at Taronga Zoo). She went on to have two surviving offspring, Lucifer (June 1988) and Luka (March 1993).

Lisa was born in August 1979 and gave birth to her first offspring in May 1989, which died in 1993. Her second offspring was Lubutu, born in June 1993. Lisa did not have anymore offspring in the 1990s, but as of 2000, we know of Lani (2002) and Liwali (2014).

Until the death of her 17 year old son, Lobo, in 1986, Lulu would have benefited from the presence of an adult son and would have had a high standing within the group. While the power then shifted, first to Suzie's line, then Spitter's, her ranking in the troop rose again in 2001, when Lubutu took on the alpha role.

It was interesting to note Lucy's export to Auckland Zoo came just weeks after the death of her first offspring. Assuming they didn't decide to send her to Auckland overnight, and the export was the result of months of planning, they would have known she was pregnant when the plans were made. I wonder if they had another female in mind for export, or whether they planned to export the two month old infant and Lucy???
 
Any progress on the two long awaited arrivals from Europe?

They were rumoured to be sisters, Ceres (1990) and Naomi (2001) when I last heard.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Any progress on the two long awaited arrivals from Europe?

They were rumoured to be sisters, Ceres (1990) and Naomi (2001) when I last heard.
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Somewhat - they left Denmark on 4th November and are currently in quarantine at Taronga.. Unfortunately Givskud didn't confirm by name which two Chimps made the journey. There are photos of the crating and transport on Givskud's Facebook page
 
Sorry - they did confirm names. My mistake, Ceres and Naomi as you said
 
Grapevine says there are more than 2 chimps waiting to be integrated... *grin*... no idea where the others have come from, but at least 3 more...

T.
 
According to a Master's student who has been monitoring the chimps for the past month as part of her report, there are currently two chimps from Poland (although I suspect she means Denmark?) and one from Sweden in quarantine. A further two are scheduled to arrive in January.
 
Going to interesting to see how they manage to integrate the 5 new chimps... bearing in mind what happened in NZ...

What scares me is the number of adult males we have at Taronga... and a few of our females are capable of some serious damage too (and have young)... definitely not an exercise for the faint of heart methinks...

T.
 
tdierikx said:
Going to interesting to see how they manage to integrate the 5 new chimps... bearing in mind what happened in NZ...

What scares me is the number of adult males we have at Taronga... and a few of our females are capable of some serious damage too (and have young)... definitely not an exercise for the faint of heart methinks...

T.
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Thanks everyone for the info, confirmation of names, and the exciting new info that there's going to be five new chimpanzee! I didn't see that coming.

Since Taronga are never forthcoming with info, we can only speculate what will happen. This is an idea I have...

Females with sons will be retained:

Lisa - Lubutu and Liwali
Shiba - Shabani, Samaki and Sudi
Sacha - Shikamoo and Sule
Kuma - Furahi and Fumo

Spitter will also be retained to support Sacha.

Females without sons will be exported:

Koko
Kamili
Shona
Lani
Sembe

This will make room for the 5 additional imports and allow breeding (what I assume is the intention of the new imports?)

Where will the five export females go? Wellington and Rockhampton are looking full, but Hamilton has no reliable breeding females so Lani and Sembe could be desirable imports. The breeding males at Hamilton are Lulu's grandsons so it wouldn't be ideal, but a more distant relation than Sandali at Monarto?

I would imagine Hamilton would have little interest in importing Koko (post reproductive), Shona (sterlised) and Kamili (unsuccessful history of breeding), so the cheapest option would be Monarto for these females. It is Taronga's policy to not handraise abandoned offspring, but Monarto proved they are not above considering intervention when Boon was born, so Kamili could potentially rear offspring there with assistance. Again you have to consider the issue of Sandali being her half brother, but worse matches have occured at Taronga, and Tsoti could well end up the father anyway.

In terms of introductions at Taronga, I'm guessing the less aggressive individuals will be introduced first in the hope of establishing a support network. From what I've heard, Shikamoo and Sule are the best natured of the males.

Edit: Just to clarify, the main reason for Monarto importing Koko, Kamili and Shona would be to balance out the male:female ratio at Monarto. Monarto has one proven breeding female, and a potential second breeding female in Galatea, so probably has less need to import females for the purpose of breeding than say, Hamilton Zoo. If Kamili bred that would just be a bonus.
 
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Shikamoo and Sule are definitely very even tempered males - and Shikamoo has proven his breeding ability to boot... *grin*... they would be my choice to start a new troop with the 5 new females.

Only Lani and Sembe are of any "value" to other zoos with regards to breeding.

Koko's history with babies is not exactly something anyone wants to inherit, and Kamili has about as much mothering instinct as a fridge - even though she seems to really like the process of trying to get pregnant... lol! Pity... as she has genetics that would be prized in this region...

Shona has her place in Taronga's troop, and it would be cruel to try to assimilate her into somewhere else with no support.

My plan would be to start a new troop with the 5 new girls, Shikamoo, and Sule - and leave the others as is - possibly with an option to export Samaki and Furahi to somewhere needing males, and export Sembe and Lani for breeding purposes too.

Lisa, Shiba, and Sasha are pretty much at the end of their reproductive years - and Kuma may possibly be able to integrate into the breeding group or not, depending on whether they want to breed her again - she's already proven mating with Shikamoo...

T.
 
They have closed off the Orang a Tang exhibit to the public from the Chimps end to the lemur end and have been preparing it for the arrival of new ? which will be there for the next three months. Should be interesting.
 
tdierikx said:
Shikamoo and Sule are definitely very even tempered males - and Shikamoo has proven his breeding ability to boot... *grin*... they would be my choice to start a new troop with the 5 new females.

Only Lani and Sembe are of any "value" to other zoos with regards to breeding.

Koko's history with babies is not exactly something anyone wants to inherit, and Kamili has about as much mothering instinct as a fridge - even though she seems to really like the process of trying to get pregnant... lol! Pity... as she has genetics that would be prized in this region...

Shona has her place in Taronga's troop, and it would be cruel to try to assimilate her into somewhere else with no support.

My plan would be to start a new troop with the 5 new girls, Shikamoo, and Sule - and leave the others as is - possibly with an option to export Samaki and Furahi to somewhere needing males, and export Sembe and Lani for breeding purposes too.

Lisa, Shiba, and Sasha are pretty much at the end of their reproductive years - and Kuma may possibly be able to integrate into the breeding group or not, depending on whether they want to breed her again - she's already proven mating with Shikamoo...

T.
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I think I read somewhere that Koko will not be allowed to breed anymore, due to her age if nothing else. She turned 41 this year. The four founding females (Lulu, Bessie, Suzie and Fifi) all had their last offspring in their mid 30s, and only Suzie's offspring (Shiba) survived. The mortality rate for infants is affected by maternal age with mothers under 20, and mothers in their 30s having less chance of producing/rearing surviving offspring than those in their 20s. Spitter was sterlised in 1992 (she had her last offspring at the age of 28 in 1988) and I'd assumed Lisa and Shiba were not going to be reproducing again when they surprised me with Liwali and Sudi! Part of me thinks Shiba was chosen to breed as it was important to provide Fumo with a playmate for social development, and Koko, Kamili weren't looking hopeful in this area. I'm guessing Sacha won't be having anymore?

Since Taronga won't handrear, I think the only hope for getting Kamili's genetics passed on is for her to transfer to a zoo that will handrear (Monarto?) although many would argue, her offspring in turn may inherit (through nature or nurture) her tendancy to reject offspring. Maybe hope for male offspring??

I like your plan, but would keep Sule in the main troop as support for Sacha (or merge Sacha with the offshoot troop as a non breeding female) as I believe she'd suffer after the death of Spitter if both her sons were removed. She's not confident at the best of times. Similarly with Kuma, she struggled to rear Furahi without family support, so if she was transferred to the offshoot troop, I think it'd be best if Furahi was too as the 2 and half year old Fumo is too young to provide support at this stage. If Shabani and Sudi are retained, I see no harm in exporting Samaki and Sembe. Samaki is a large impressive male and it would be good if he could be sent to a zoo with the oppotunity to breed. Not sure if I know any that are looking for males to join their groups though.
 
Good point about Sasha Zoofan15... she'd probably love being mother to the alpha male in a new group... lol!

As for Kuma - a lot has changed with her since she had Furahi - she is a much more confident chimp than she was back then... she is more than capable of setting her own place in a new smaller troop regardless of Furahi's support... and she's also a bit of a fave of Shikamoo and Sule. I really think it could work moving only her and Fumo.

The new group I've envisioned will have most of the chimps with limited support - they will all be forced to settle their own heirarchy due to same... and having the 2 males as the most even tempered will make this somewhat less scary from a physically dangerous perspective. As for introducing Kuma - I reckon that should be done after the others have had a chance to settle, so that Kuma doesn't go in as top female from the start - she is a very large and powerful chimp, and is capable of doing some damage if pushed too hard. I'd probably wait a couple of months and do her introduction then.

T.
 
tdierikx said:
Good point about Sasha Zoofan15... she'd probably love being mother to the alpha male in a new group... lol!

As for Kuma - a lot has changed with her since she had Furahi - she is a much more confident chimp than she was back then... she is more than capable of setting her own place in a new smaller troop regardless of Furahi's support... and she's also a bit of a fave of Shikamoo and Sule. I really think it could work moving only her and Fumo.

The new group I've envisioned will have most of the chimps with limited support - they will all be forced to settle their own heirarchy due to same... and having the 2 males as the most even tempered will make this somewhat less scary from a physically dangerous perspective. As for introducing Kuma - I reckon that should be done after the others have had a chance to settle, so that Kuma doesn't go in as top female from the start - she is a very large and powerful chimp, and is capable of doing some damage if pushed too hard. I'd probably wait a couple of months and do her introduction then.

T.
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Sacha would love that. Her family has been behind Lisa's and Shiba's for years, and I get the impression Kuma's family is third in the hierachy now, ahead of Sacha's? Oh well, she's still ahead of Koko's family and Shona.

I guess another thing to consider is genetics. Sule won't be likely to father offspring until next year so if Shikamoo was the only male in a new troop, any offspring this year would likely be his. Since he is already a father of two; the species coordinator may want Furahi's genetics to balance things out. If they could find a place for Furahi in another troop, which I think would be unlikely, I could understand the desire to trasfer him, but if Kuma and Fumo are moved to the offshoot troop, he could suffer as the only remaining member of his family, in much the same way Chimbuka did.

If Furahi is moved with Kuma and Fumo, I see no harm in introducing her last, but while I'm not sure on the relationships between the other three new chimps, Ceres and Naomi are sisters and likely to be very supportive of each other.

At Wellington Zoo, Cara (Chimbuka's sister) is older but from the start has been lower ranking than Samantha (Sutu's daughter) and Sally (Spitter's daughter) who are very close and provide each other with support.

What is Furahi like in terms of personality? I often hear of Shabani (the jerk), Shikamoo (the nice guy) etc. but Furahi is one that is seldom mentioned... :D
 
Furahi is the one who is most likely to kick off and start displaying. He's pretty much fashioned himself as the second in charge male... if there was to be any challenge to Lubutu's alpha status, it would most likely be from Furahi at this point IMHO.

Shabani is not really a jerk - he's really settled down a lot since he's realised he'll never have enough support from the females to become alpha. That said, he's the one with the strongest sex drive... lol! Tends to actually freak out a bit when the other males are displaying - like he feels he has to join in, but really would rather not...

Shikamoo is definitely the most politically viable of the adult males - the girls like him, and he rarely starts any trouble. If there was ever to be a challenge from him it would most likely be a political rather than physical usurping...

Samaki is personality-wise somewhere between Furahi and Shikamoo - not as likely to openly start off a display like Furahi, but happy to join in once it has all started - definitely one to seek support from his family as backup though...

I really don't think Furahi would suffer as much as one would think if Kuma and Fumo moved away from the troop - and I really wouldn't want to chance him mating with Kuma and producing offspring. The point of the exercise is to broaden the gene pool, not narrow it... lol!

Sule is the one to watch... he's my pick as the most likely to succeed Lubutu as alpha in the future if left with the current troop.

T.
 
Three new female chimps are moving in the orang enclosure and will be there for three months. barricade up. No access. They have done a lot of work on that enclosure since orangs left.
 
tdierikx said:
Furahi is the one who is most likely to kick off and start displaying. He's pretty much fashioned himself as the second in charge male... if there was to be any challenge to Lubutu's alpha status, it would most likely be from Furahi at this point IMHO.

Shabani is not really a jerk - he's really settled down a lot since he's realised he'll never have enough support from the females to become alpha. That said, he's the one with the strongest sex drive... lol! Tends to actually freak out a bit when the other males are displaying - like he feels he has to join in, but really would rather not...

Shikamoo is definitely the most politically viable of the adult males - the girls like him, and he rarely starts any trouble. If there was ever to be a challenge from him it would most likely be a political rather than physical usurping...

Samaki is personality-wise somewhere between Furahi and Shikamoo - not as likely to openly start off a display like Furahi, but happy to join in once it has all started - definitely one to seek support from his family as backup though...

I really don't think Furahi would suffer as much as one would think if Kuma and Fumo moved away from the troop - and I really wouldn't want to chance him mating with Kuma and producing offspring. The point of the exercise is to broaden the gene pool, not narrow it... lol!

Sule is the one to watch... he's my pick as the most likely to succeed Lubutu as alpha in the future if left with the current troop.

T.
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I'm very out of touch! Last I heard, Samaki was Lubutu's right hand man (second in charge). Taronga updates aren't what they used to be, for one thing they're far less frequent :(

So is the family hierarchy still:

1) Lisa
2) Shiba
3) Kuma
4) Sacha
5) Koko
6) Shona?

You, and people that actually visit Taronga would have more of an idea than me, but I get the impression Taronga will still maintain one troop, and upgrade the orang-utan enclosure to hold purebred Sumatrans. Is it near the Sumatran tiger redevelopment?
 
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