Taronga Zoo Chimpanzee Troop

Yes - the family hierarchy is as you list Zoofan15... but only since Shuba had Sudi... when Kuma first had Fumo, it appeared that Kuma's status soared somewhat... of her own making too! She's no shrinking violet that one...

Personally, due to the number of adult males in our current Taronga troop, I'd split some off to make a new breeding troop... but you may be right about them wanting to keep only one large troop. I just worry that something will go wrong with that number of new fertile females and 5 adult males all wanting a part of the action.

Not so sure of the info about the Orangutan exhibit shared here... the keeper I was talking to on Monday seemed to think the Orangs were still at Taronga, and that the current 3 new Chimp females were still in quarantine. Then again the keeper I was talking to was working with the Lemurs and didn't have too much knowledge of the great apes' movements... *grin*

I'll have to hang around for the Chimp talk next time I'm at Taronga and see what info I can get then...

T.
 
tdierikx said:
Yes - the family hierarchy is as you list Zoofan15... but only since Shuba had Sudi... when Kuma first had Fumo, it appeared that Kuma's status soared somewhat... of her own making too! She's no shrinking violet that one...

Personally, due to the number of adult males in our current Taronga troop, I'd split some off to make a new breeding troop... but you may be right about them wanting to keep only one large troop. I just worry that something will go wrong with that number of new fertile females and 5 adult males all wanting a part of the action.

Not so sure of the info about the Orangutan exhibit shared here... the keeper I was talking to on Monday seemed to think the Orangs were still at Taronga, and that the current 3 new Chimp females were still in quarantine. Then again the keeper I was talking to was working with the Lemurs and didn't have too much knowledge of the great apes' movements... *grin*

I'll have to hang around for the Chimp talk next time I'm at Taronga and see what info I can get then...

T.
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Haha I had no idea Kuma's status rose to 2nd place following Fumo's birth. Prior to the birth, people were expressing concerns regarding infanticide etc., while others reasoned Kuma's large size, personality, and the presence of an adolescent son would ensure protection of the newborn, as indeed they did.

I remember seeing a picture of Shiba grooming Kuma (holding Fumo). It was suggested Shiba was sucking up to allow Sembe access (if only visual) to Fumo, perhaps to increase Sembe's maternal skills for the future.

I'd be more than happy to see a 2nd chimpanzee enclosure but the zoo might even have policies against having the same species (and a high profile one at that) taking up two exhibits, when one could be occupied by another high profile species (Ie. orangutans). Eg. 10 enclosures of sumatran tigers would be good for the breeding programme, but not for the visitor experience :(

Where are the orangutans heading? I heard they were going to Orana Wildlife Park but I don't believe their enclosure is complete so would be surprised if they have left already.

I'd love to go to a keeper talk, but they other visitors wouldn't love it, I'd ask too many questions. If you get a chance, could you ask for me, who Spitter's mother is. My records say she was born at Taronga in 1960, but don't list a mother, although it is implied to be Sadie?
 
The Orangutan enclosure will be for acclimatising the new chimp girls before they are introduced to the current entire troop. No-one is saying what's happening with the Orangutans... grrr!

That is all I could get out of a keeper today... they are staying rather tight-lipped about it all unfortunately... I can understand that though - it's going to be a huge task assimilating them successfully, and plans may need to change once they have a better idea about the new girls' temperaments, etc...

I'll see if I can get info on who Spitter's mother was for you...

T.
 
tdierikx said:
Hey Zoofan15 - Spitter's mother was indeed Sadie...

T.
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Haha, as I thought. Thanks for that tdierikx, I'll look through my records tonight and add what I can about Sadie. I have a list of her births, which make more sense now I know the DOB of one of her offspring (Spitter 1960). Cheers.
 
I'd love a copy of your chimp records Zoofan15... I reckon it would make for some very interesting reading... *grin*

T.
 
Speaking of records, I had a look over Sadie's and I believe Taronga Zoo may have been mistaken in saying Sadie was Spitter's mother...

This is the information I have about Sadie:

Her birth place was unknown. She was sent to the San Diego Zoo in January 1956, and then on to Taronga Zoo in October 1956. Taronga Zoo estimated her to be five years old. This means her DOB was estimated as being October 1951.

Sadie gave birth four times at Taronga Zoo:

May 1961 Died
March 1962 Died
February 1963 Died
August 1965 Died

Died= stillborn/died in infancy

Sadie died in March 1978.

This means she can't be Spitter's mother, as I had initially assumed.

The Taronga Zoo family tree imply that Spitter/Sacha's line is separate from the other families, so the only possibilities on the record were: Biddy, Gemini, Mary2 (implies there was a Mary 1?) and Sadie. I assumed Sadie was the most likely option as her name begins with S. My money is now on Biddy or Gemini being Spitter's mother as there have been many 'M' offspring born at Taronga Zoo (Mike, Melissa, Monty etc.) so I assume they were born to Mary2.
 
I got the answer of Sadie from someone who has access to the actual studbook... *grin*... I don't think they would be wrong.

T.
 
tdierikx said:
I got the answer of Sadie from someone who has access to the actual studbook... *grin*... I don't think they would be wrong.

T.
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Was that the Australasian studbook? My info came from the records I sent to you (from Taronga's records, combined with info from the American Studbook.

I didn't entirely trust the info in the USA studbook. They listed Sadie's DOB to be 1955 +/- 2yrs, ie 1953-1957. If she arrived at San Diego Zoo in January 1956, she obviously couldn't have been born in 1957! :( I'd have greater faith in my old Taronga records (dated 1999) which estimated her DOB to be October 1951. If these records were mistaken in saying all her offspring died (and that Spitter was actually her daughter), this would make more sense as she'd have been 8.5 years in June 1960 (Spitter's DOB) and hence just old enough to be a mother.

If you get a chance, I'd love to know what happened to Cheena (Chiki's daughter). The best, I can tell, she died in the 90s at Taronga, but I would love to be proved wrong and hear she went on to breed at another zoo :) Chiki's family has had worse luck than the Kennedy's! :(
 
Zoofan15 said:
If you get a chance, I'd love to know what happened to Cheena (Chiki's daughter). The best, I can tell, she died in the 90s at Taronga, but I would love to be proved wrong and hear she went on to breed at another zoo :) Chiki's family has had worse luck than the Kennedy's! :(
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Cheena was sent to Nehru Zoological Park in 1992
Im not sure of her current status
 
Thank you for that info jones. So Cheena was exported to Nehru Zoological Park with Sutu, Sumu and possibly one or more others in the 1992 export. Good to hear she didn't pass. I've done some basic research to find out if Cheena bred at Nehru, or if she is still there, but have found nothing. I know Sumu was renamed, so it is possible Cheena was too. With her elder sister, Cara's export to Wellington the same month, I doubt 1992 was a good year for their mother Chiki. You'd think Shona would have been sent with Sutu and Sumu instead, but I guess they wanted a second female to guarantee Susie's line (Shiba was yet to produce surviving offspring at that time), whereas Bessie's line was still represented by Chiki (1970) and daughter Chunga (1991).

*pass away
 
Are the five new females on exhibit yet? Any confirmation on names/ages of the other three that have joined sisters Ceres (1990) and Naomi (2001)?

Also, I'm hoping Tdierix might know...has Kuma been put back on contraceptives yet? I'm hoping not, but guessing it's almost certain she will be if not already.
 
No news as yet... but I've been totally slack and not been to visit for a while. Tigersam has visited, but not got any useful info on the new girls... grrr!

I'll have to get my butt into gear and get over there soon and pump people for some pertinent info... lol!

T.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Are the five new females on exhibit yet? Any confirmation on names/ages of the other three that have joined sisters Ceres (1990) and Naomi (2001)?

Also, I'm hoping Tdierix might know...has Kuma been put back on contraceptives yet? I'm hoping not, but guessing it's almost certain she will be if not already.
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Any updates anyone? The new chimps have been here almost five months!!!
 
The only info I have at the moment is that there are 3 new female chimps currently at Taronga - Naomi and Ceres, and another... tried pushing for more info, but was lucky to get that...

Planning for introductions is most likely going to be extensive... and the introductions themselves will not be done in haste...

T.
 
I have come across some additional information to add to the info I researched on the history of Taronga's chimpanzee troop last year. I will post what I have found over the coming days/weeks.
 
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