Taronga Zoo Chimpanzee Troop

Susie

Susie estimated to be born 01/01/1948 in the wild. She arrived at Taronga Zoo 26/03/1953.

Susie gave birth eight times to nine offspring:

1) Mary (10/01/1960) F (Sent to Moscow Zoo 31/05/1968)

2) Swappie (17/02/1962) F (Sent to Moscow Zoo 31/05/1968)

3) Lola (25/11/1964) F (Sent to Ridgeways Circus 24/03/1971)

4) Val (25/08/1967) F (Sent to Silver's Circus and Zoo 26/03/1969)

5) Gemini (16/10/1970) F (Sent to Singapore Zoo 08/09/82)
5) Unnamed (16/10/1970) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 16/10/1970)

6) Sutu (28/12/1974) F (Sent to Hyderabad Zoo 16/10/1992)

7) Sonny (24/02/1978) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 20/04/1989)

8) Shiba (22/05/1981) F (Still at Taronga Zoo

Susie died 29/05/1995 at Taronga Zoo.

Gemini gave birth once:

1) Georgie (03/11/1981) F (Sent to Singapore Zoo 08/09/1982)

Sutu gave birth three times:

1) Samantha (25/12/1983) F (Sent to Wellington Zoo 24/04/1992)

2) Shona (09/10/1987) F (Still at Taronga Zoo)

3) Sumu (18/05/1991) F (Sent to Hyderabad Zoo 16/10/1992)

Shiba has given birth five times:

1) Kibale (03/04/1990) M (Died 05/12/1992 at Taronga Zoo)

2) Shabani (14/09/1994) M (Still at Taronga Zoo)

3) Samaki (27/11/2001) M (Still at Taronga Zoo)

4) Sembe (27/02/2008) F (Still at Taronga Zoo)

5) Sudi (09/08/2014) M (Still at Taronga Zoo)


Additional notes/info:

Mary is the mother of Cassius at Rockhampton Zoo).

Sonny was named after Sonny King, the son of the founder of Silver's Circus and Zoo.
 
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Wow... twins... pretty rare... pity one didn't make it...

Loving your updates Zoofan15 - they make so much sense, and give greater insight into the relationships between all the chimps... thank you so much for all your hard work mate!

T.
 
And if it hasn't been mentioned already, Susie was diabetic and received a daily insulin injection each morning.

:p

Hix
 
tdierikx said:
Wow... twins... pretty rare... pity one didn't make it...

Loving your updates Zoofan15 - they make so much sense, and give greater insight into the relationships between all the chimps... thank you so much for all your hard work mate!

T.
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Thanks tdierikx! More records coming soon :D

It's a shame one of the twins didn't make it; but phenomenal that one did considering the usual track record for twins. Gemini is the only individual on record born a twin to survive to adulthood at Taronga.
 
Hix said:
And if it hasn't been mentioned already, Susie was diabetic and received a daily insulin injection each morning.

:p

Hix
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Thanks for that info Hix. I've just signed it to edit my post to include your info but have found I am unable too :mad:
 
They have a reasonably good track record of infant survival overall at Taronga... all things considered, yes?

T.
 
tdierikx said:
They have a reasonably good track record of infant survival overall at Taronga... all things considered, yes?

T.
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There have been a few studies published concerning the demographics of Taronga's chimpanzees. There was one published in 2005, which I believe recorded the mortality rate at 45% for chimpanzee under the age of 2 years. 80% of those that died, died in the first two weeks of life, the majority the day they were born. Leading causes of death being pneumonia and trauma. Mortality rate for male infants was significantly higher than that for females. There was suggestion in many of the studies that as the data was collected when there was a higher percentage of female births (pre 2000s), the data may have been skewed. Since the move to the open air enclosure, mortality rate of infants has greatly improved.

Maternal age was a significant factor also, females in their 20s experienced the highest success rate of rearing offspring successfully, compared to those in younger or older age brackets.

In my opinion, females like Kuma should be bred now while they are in their prime, rather than contracepting her for another 10 years, and then deciding to breed her again when she is in her mid-30s, like they have done with Lisa recently. Let Kuma breed twice more, then contracept her at 30??
 
Bessie

Bessie was estimated to have been born 01/01/1950. She arrived at Taronga Zoo 21/12/1954.

Bessie gave birth nine times to ten offspring:

1) Unnamed (08/01/1962) M (Died 08/01/1962)

2) Unnamed (09/05/1963) M (Died 09/05/1963)

3) Unnamed (30/07/1964) M (Died 30/07/1964)

4) Unnamed (24/07/1965) F (Died 24/07/1965)

5) Betty (25/07/1967) F (Died 28/05/1969)

6) Chiki (06/07/1970) F (Died 18/04/2001)

7) Belle (18/09/1975) F (Sent to Jackson Zoo 16/10/1986)

8) Unnamed (01/11/1979) M (Died 01/11/1979)

9) Unnamed (03/11/1981) F (Died 03/11/1981)
9) Unnamed (03/11/1981) F (Died 03/11/1981)

Bessie died 11/01/2011 at Taronga Zoo.

Chiki gave birth five times:

1) Cara (10/09/1981) F (Sent to Wellington Zoo 24/04/1992)

2) Cheena (15/08/1985) F (Sent to Hyderabad Zoo 16/10/1992)

3) Chad (19/07/1989) M (Died 04/12/1989)

4) Chunga (13/03/1991) F (Sent to Taiping Zoo 30/07/1998)

5) Chimbuka (09/12/1995) M (Died 13/09/2011)

Belle gave birth two times:

1) Unnamed (08/08/1984) M (Died 08/08/1984)

2) Bartholomew (09/05/1986) M (Sent to Jackson Zoo 16/10/1986)


Additional notes/info:

Bessie has just one female descendant left in Australasia, her 35 year old grandaughter Cara, who lives at Wellington Zoo. Her family lined at Taronga Zoo ended with Chimbuka's death in 2011.
 
Update on Taronga Zoo's new chimpanzee (from their website):

In addition to the three new females that arrived last year:

Ceres (1990) - Givskud Zoo
Naomi (2001) - Givskud Zoo
Unknown Name (Unkown DOB) - Warsaw Zoo,

Two more will be coming from Kolmarden Wildlife Park, Sweden this year.

If someone is familiar with the chimpanzees at KWP, perhaps they could suggest likely candidates. Males, infants and elderly females can obviously be discounted to narrow down possibilities.

Does anyone know the details of the female from Warsaw Zoo, Poland? They apparently have 9 animals including males, so again it wouldn't be hard to work out if someone knows the names/ages of their troop in 2015.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Does anyone know the details of the female from Warsaw Zoo, Poland? They apparently have 9 animals including males, so again it wouldn't be hard to work out if someone knows the names/ages of their troop in 2015.
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her name is Hannah (or at least it was) born 28-11-1993 in Belfast
s=Andy (born in Dublin) d=Annie (born in Belfast)
She was transferred to Dublin then Warsaw then Sydney
 
jones said:
her name is Hannah (or at least it was) born 28-11-1993 in Belfast
s=Andy (born in Dublin) d=Annie (born in Belfast)
She was transferred to Dublin then Warsaw then Sydney
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Thanks for that info jones.

Do you know if Hannah has bred before?

As far as I can tell Ceres and Naomi haven't?

It will be interesting to see if any of these females are renamed. All Taronga Zoo chimpanzee born >90s have African names so I'd be surprised if they kept their original names.
 
Hopefully the long periods of contraception won't be a detriment to the new females conceiving. Ceres is born in 1990 and Hannah in 1993 so they've been on contraception for a relatively long time. Females like Soona at Monarto Zoo and Sanda at Hamilton Zoo took a long time to conceive after they were taken off contraception. This seems to be less of a problem with younger females in their early/mid teens (who have been on contraception for a shorter time), so I doubt they'll be any issues with Naomi who was born in 2001.
 
I'd be very surprised if they changed their names- they're the names the chimpanzees know, and the zoo hasn't changed the names of any of the other chimps they have without African names.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everything to go smoothly- the past couple of years have not been kind to chimpanzees in the region.
 
soona said:
I'd be very surprised if they changed their names- they're the names the chimpanzees know, and the zoo hasn't changed the names of any of the other chimps they have without African names.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everything to go smoothly- the past couple of years have not been kind to chimpanzees in the region.
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I hope things go well too. 2015 was an especially bad year for chimpanzee in Australasia.

Some chimpanzees have had their names changed. Kuma was originally given a non African F name but was later renamed. Shabani has also been renamed. If you look at the DOBs of the current troop, you'll notice that all chimps born in the 60s, 70s and 80s have human names, the youngest is Shona (1987). All chimpanzees born from the 90s onwards have names of African origin. The eldest is Kuma (1991).

The new chimpanzees are born in the 90s and 00s so I'm guessing they may change their names to fit in with their current naming scheme. There are several Swahili names ending in the letter i (pronounced ee) eg. Kipenzi that rhyme with Naomi so if they have any sense, they'll choose a name like that for her.

Alternatively, they may do a Melbourne Zoo and give them all media names. In the chimpanzee night dens, they may be summoned as Ceres, Naomi and Hannah, but on the Facebook page, keeper talks and Taronga Zoo website, be known as something quite different.

As sisters, Ceres and Naomi could also be given names starting with the same letter.

My guess would be M names as there is not currently an M family in the troop and there are multiple M names in the Swahili language so Ceres, Naomi, and their future offspring could easily be found names.
 
Biddy

Biddy was estimated to have been born 01/01/1950 in the wild. She arrived at Taronga Zoo 07/07/1954 and was sent to Singapore Zoo 08/09/1982.

Biddy gave birth eight times:

1) Jordie (30/03/1957) M (Sent to Sydney University 29/07/1969)

2) Spitter (01/07/1960) F (Still at Taronga Zoo)

3) Joanna (03/02/1966) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 15/08/1966)

4) Johno (04/07/1967) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 25/05/1969)

5) Unnamed (28/07/1971) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 30/07/1971)

6) Dennis (20/03/1973) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 12/07/1973)

7) Danny (22/07/1974) M (Sent to Hyderabad Zoo 16/10/1992)

8) Bianca (09/11/1979) F (Sent to Singapore Zoo 08/09/1982)

Spitter has given birth seven times:

1) Unnamed (28/01/1972) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 28/01/1972)

2) Unnamed (06/07/1973) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 06/07/1973)

3) Speedy (03/05/1975) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 21/07/1975)

4) Sheba (11/06/1978) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 25/09/1978)

5) Sacha (11/06/1980) F (Still at Taronga Zoo)

6) Sally (13/01/1985) F (Sent to Wellington Zoo 24/04/1992)

7) Gombe (25/12/1988) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 04/05/2001)

Sacha has given birth six times:

1) Sokwe (14/08/1989) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 14/10/1989)

2) Kike (11/04/1991) F (Sent to Perth Zoo 19/06/1998)

3) Sandali (26/02/1996) M (Sent to Adelaide Zoo 27/12/2008)

4) Unnamed (03/09/2002) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 03/09/2002)

5) Shikamoo (25/07/2003) M (Still at Taronga Zoo)

6) Sule (04/04/2008) M (Still at Taronga Zoo)



Additional notes/info:

Biddy's granddaughter, Sacha, was the first chimpanzee baby born in the current open air enclosure when it opened in 1980.
 
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Fifi

Fifi was estimated to have been born 01/01/1947 in the wild. She arrived at Taronga Zoo 19/11/1954.

Fifi gave birth eleven times:

1) Chiko (23/05/1961) M (Unknown fate on records)

2) Jojo (18/09/1964) M (Sent to Jackson Zoo 16/10/1986)

3) Unnamed (14/06/1967) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 14/06/1967)

4) James (15/03/1968) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 27/07/1968)

5) Unnamed (05/12/1969) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 05/12/1969)

6) Mali (02/12/1970) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 26/02/1970)

7) Flint (01/12/1971) M (Sent to Singapore Zoo 08/09/1982)

8) Faye (06/04/1978) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 06/07/1978)

9) Unnamed (25/09/1979) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 25/09/1979)

10) Ficha (29/04/1981) F (Sent to Taiping Zoo 28/07/1998)

11) Unnamed (23/12/1987) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 23/12/1987)

Fifi died 19/07/2007 at Taronga Zoo.

Ficha gave birth three times:

1) Unnamed (11/01/1991) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 11/01/1991)

2) Kuma (06/12/1991) F (Still at Taronga Zoo)

3) Unnamed (19/08/1995) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 19/08/1995)

Kuma has given birth three times:

1) Furahi (28/02/2003) M (Still at Taronga Zoo)

2) Unnamed (27/10/2012) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 27/10/2012)

3) Fumo (16/10/2013) M (Still at Taronga Zoo)


Additional notes/info:

Fifi always held a high ranking positition in the troop. In 1975, the alpha male died and Fifi's then 11 year old son assumed the alpha position as he was the only adolescent/adult male in the troop. He maintained this position until his export in 1986. Fifi retained her high ranking position until her death at the age of 60. Her grandaughter, Kuma, also has a high ranking position.
 
That may explain Kuma's confidence and ability to hold a decent position in the current troop... grandma was high ranking... and now Kuma also has 2 sons to support - Furahi being a possible contender for alpha if he gets his teenage testosterone under control... lol!

T.
 
tdierikx said:
That may explain Kuma's confidence and ability to hold a decent position in the current troop... grandma was high ranking... and now Kuma also has 2 sons to support - Furahi being a possible contender for alpha if he gets his teenage testosterone under control... lol!

T.
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Definately! I'm not sure if it was Fifi's social influence that contributed to Kuma's high ranking position, or genetics, she's a large female and has a strong personality. This combined with her two sons, like you say, give her a strong position in the community.

I'm guessing there isn't quite enough support in the community to support Furahi as the alpha atm, but the arrival of five new females could tilt the power in favour of any of the adolescent/adult males. I don't think that would necessarily be a bad thing. Lubutu has held the alpha position for 15 years, and as a peaceful/popular leader, he would naturally remain in the community as a beta/subordinate, as oppose to a tyrant leader, who would be deposed by force (killed), or ejected from the community if a new alpha was to arise.
 
Mary

Mary was estimated to have been born 01/01/1956 in the wild. She arrived at Taronga Zoo 03/01/1964.

Mary gave birth four times:

1) Mike (10/10/1973) M (Sent to Auckland Zoo 25/06/1982)

2) Melissa (30/01/1978) F (Sent to Taiping Zoo 30/07/1998)

3) Mervin (01/02/1982) M (Sent to Hyderabad Zoo 16/10/1992)

4) Monte (31/10/1985) M (Sent to Perth Zoo 19/06/1998)

Mary died 17/04/1989 at Taronga Zoo.

Melissa gave birth four times:

1) Unnamed (03/11/1988) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 03/11/1988)

2) Unnamed (17/12/1989) F (Died at Taronga Zoo 17/12/1989)

3) Mali (06/02/1991) M (Sent to Taiping Zoo 30/07/1998)

4) Mitumba (09/09/1996) M (Died at Taronga Zoo 27/10/1996)


Additional notes/info:

Mary, or Mary 2 as she is known on Taronga Zoo records, is not to be confused with the original Mary (born 10/01/1960 at Taronga Zoo to Susie).

Her son Mervin is named after Mervyn King, who imported Mary from Africa in 1960, before she was sent to Taronga Zoo.

Mary died when her youngest offspring was 3.5 years of age.
 
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