Chimpanzees in Europe
- Thread starter ShonenJake13
- Start date
23-year-old chimpanzee male Wouter (the grey one) at Beekse Bergen was seriously injured today during a fight with some other chimpanzees. The injuries were so severe that the vet had to be called in. His wounds were checked and treated under anaesthesia. Unfortunately, Wouter died during that anaesthetic.
Source: Facebook Beekse Bergen
Source: Facebook Beekse Bergen
At DierenPark Amersfoort, 20-year-old chimpanzee Mahale gave birth to her first young today. The sex is not yet known.
Source: Facebook DierenPark Amersfoort
Source: Facebook DierenPark Amersfoort
Does anyone know the subspecies of the current chimpanzees in DierenPark Amersfoort? According to the 2014 studbook, almost all of them should be P. t. verus. But we also know that that is outdated in some individuals. For example, according to the zoo, the current two adult males are both hybrids. They were also sterilised, but that apparently didn't work out well. 
Does anyone know the subspecies of the current chimpanzees in DierenPark Amersfoort? According to the 2014 studbook, almost all of them should be P. t. verus. But we also know that that is outdated in some individuals. For example, according to the zoo, the current two adult males are both hybrids. They were also sterilised, but that apparently didn't work out well.
I am not sure which chimpanzees still live in Amersfoort but as far as I know Mike, Sjors, Willy and Mahale are verus, all others hybrids.
Current chinpanzees at Amersfoort are:
1,0 Kumi (26-05-2001, Amersfoort) (Drum × Sonja)
1,0 Wingu (30-08-2009, Amersfoort) (Karibuna × Willy)
1,0 Obi (04-10-2023, Amersfoort) (? × Chura)
0,1 Willy (15-12-1991, Amersfoort) (Mike × Sonja)
0,1 Bibi (10-04-1996 , Amersfoort) (Drum × Silvia)
0,1 Chura (05-07-1997, Amersfoort) (Mike × Sandra)
0,1 Mahale (10-03-2004, Bremerhaven (Chico × Jenny)
0,1 Malaika (23-02-2019, Amersfoort) (Karibuna × Chura)
0,0,1 ? (19-05-2024, Amersfoort) (? × Mahale)
JurassicMax
Well-Known Member
On the 4th of June female Western common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Changa gave birth to a male.
Source:
Instagram of Zoo Leipzig (13/06/2024)
Source:
Instagram of Zoo Leipzig (13/06/2024)
At Edinburgh Zoo, 31 year old male, Rene, has passed away following a fight within the troop:
News from Budongo Trail
News from Budongo Trail
GamerGorilla
Active Member
Denmark chimp population has changed quite a lot in the recent years, as of today only Odense Zoo and Copenhagen Zoo has chimpanzees. It seems Odense won't be keeping theirs forever based on what I have been told visiting the zoo, while Aalborg Zoo said they plan to have chimpanzees again when they have the means to built a new and better facility. This was in the end of 2022 and I'm unsure what the plan currently is for them.
Copenhagen Zoo had a new chimpanzee baby in May born to Marti, her name was recently revealed to be Maka. It is unknown who her father is of yet.
Denmark population as of 2024 is 15 chimpanzees in
Copenhagen Zoo - Yoran, Nje, Moku, Senko, Mutai and Seli. Cindy, Marti, Sangbe and Maka (6.4)
Odense Zoo - Svabba, Knaus. Amanda, Franka and Nikoline (2.3)
The Copenhagen chimps are all P.t.v, not sure about the ones in Odense, as the signs at the zoo in my memory labels them all P.t.v, someone else might know.
Let me know if there's anything wrong with either formating or if the post seems unnecesarry, I'm new to posting but hadn't seen any recent lists for Denmark and thought I'd share!
Copenhagen Zoo had a new chimpanzee baby in May born to Marti, her name was recently revealed to be Maka. It is unknown who her father is of yet.
Denmark population as of 2024 is 15 chimpanzees in
Copenhagen Zoo - Yoran, Nje, Moku, Senko, Mutai and Seli. Cindy, Marti, Sangbe and Maka (6.4)
Odense Zoo - Svabba, Knaus. Amanda, Franka and Nikoline (2.3)
The Copenhagen chimps are all P.t.v, not sure about the ones in Odense, as the signs at the zoo in my memory labels them all P.t.v, someone else might know.
Let me know if there's anything wrong with either formating or if the post seems unnecesarry, I'm new to posting but hadn't seen any recent lists for Denmark and thought I'd share!
Do you know when Djema died at Copenhagen zoo and what were the causes?
GamerGorilla
Active Member
Both Djema and Jenny sadly passed away some time during 2023, I don't know the cause unfortunately, but both were in their early 40's.
At Zoo Antwerpen, chimpanzee female Marit is pregnant. The birth is expected in December/January. There are several possible fathers, but the biggest contenders are Tambuzi and Tuma.
Earlier, she and another female who is also allowed to become pregnant were set apart to breed with male Chita, the only Central chimpanzee (P. t. troglodytes) chimpanzee in the group. But that plan failed. Therefore, the group was put back together and all males were given the chance to mate with the females.
Bron: Facebook Zoo Antwerpen
Earlier, she and another female who is also allowed to become pregnant were set apart to breed with male Chita, the only Central chimpanzee (P. t. troglodytes) chimpanzee in the group. But that plan failed. Therefore, the group was put back together and all males were given the chance to mate with the females.
Bron: Facebook Zoo Antwerpen
Also Boris from Chester zoo has passed away after siring 22 offspring (fantastic amount of legacy left behind) does anyone know if and where the offspring (no longer at Chester) are now and there names, mothers ect and if they had any young themselves?
JurassicMax
Well-Known Member
GamerGorilla
Active Member
I only know for the Copenhagen chimpanzees sadly, but have been planning to ask Odense Zoo about theirs. I think Knaus was born around 26.10.2010 though, I'll update if they give me an answer! Since my last post did find out that in Odense that Svabba and Nikoline are hybrids and the other 3 are western chimpanzees.
For Copenhagen Zoo these are their date of births + their parentage. It is a pretty young and interesting group with only 4 adults and Nje who's the leader is also still quite young compared to the 3 others. It makes them a very interesting group to watch. I've asked a couple of different people at the zoo what the future is for the group, since there's not as many breeding options currently as most of the chimps are related, but it seems right now the only plan is to finish their outdoor area that they recently started building. Someone else might know, it can be a bit difficult to find keepers to talk to especially here in the summer holiday.
Copenhagen zoo (Zoologisk Have) Chimpanzees date of births
Cindy (0.1), born 27.10.1987
Yoran (1.0), born 31.10.1987
Marti (0.1), born 16.11.1987
Nje (1.0), born 02.06.2007 (dad: Carl, mom Marti)
Moku (1.0), born 14.09.2013 (dad: Carl, mom Marti)
Senko (1.0), born 10.01.2015 (dad: Carl, mom Cindy)
Mutai (1.0), born 02.08.2017 (dad: Carl, mom Marti)
Seli (1.0), born 26.07.2018 (dad: Carl, mom Cindy)
Sangbe (0.1), born 27.12.2022 (dad: Nje, mom Cindy)
Maka (0.1), born 13.05.2024 (dad: unknown, mom Marti)
If anyone is intersted in where some of the other chimpanzees from the original post has gone I can also provide that for most of them, some of them has sadly just passed away but a lot were moved to other zoos as well.
JurassicMax
Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing!
Quite an interesting group giving their relatedness with eachother.
I persume that Carl was the previous alpha, what happend to him?
Did he pass away or was he transferred to different zoo?
I would love to hear more about the chimps of the original post!
GamerGorilla
Active Member
With the European groups I'm somewhat familiar with it does seem like they have quite a unique structure in the Copenhagen Zoo! And yes, Carl was the alpha, he passed away some years ago, though I'm not sure from what. Him, Yoran, Cindy and Marti arrived together from a lab in the Netherlands. On the original list Changa and Maadili are also mentioned, Carl was also their father. After fathering so many children, the zoo had actually wanted him to step down from the alpha spot as they wanted Yoran to have some kids as well for more gene-diversity. They tried to see if they could lower Carl's testosterone levels, but it was unsuccesful and they concluded that Yoran probably wasn't interested/made for the spot. Him and Carl had a nice deal, as one part from the article written about it says translated: Carl gets ladies, Yoran gets food (Yoran is quite chubby and a very well mannered and sweet chimp, I definitely have a soft spot for him). Yoran did try and breed with the females back when Carl was around and he is missing one finger on each of his hands because of it, as they were bitten of by Carl as he had been seeking forgiveness from him. When Carl died it seems it didn't take long for his son Nje to step up. I have my fingers crossed that Marti's new baby might be Yoran's, but seems like the chances for that while possible might be slim and I have heard more people pointing towards Senko.
Other chimps who are no longer in Copenhagen are Maadili, Djema, Jenny and Changa. As mentioned in an earlier reply on this thread both Jenny and Djema passed away in 2023, they were both in their early 40s. Maadili was moved to Edinburgh Zoo as he had started getting aggressive with the youngsters and females in the group, sadly the integration seemed to not go well and they ended up euthanizing him, this was in late 2021 and he had been living around a year all by himself. Changa was moved to Leipzig where she still lives and she actually had a baby quite recently who has been confirmed to be a boy! Even more Carl genes to the world. I'm actually going to Leipzig later this month and I'm hoping to catch a glimpse of her and her young.
Most of the Aalborg Zoo chimpanzees were moved to other zoos. Maja, Lone and My to Ostrava Zoo in Turkey, Sebastian to Walter Zoo in Switzerland and Laura to Burgers Zoo in the Netherlands. Dorthe and Jutta has passed away, not sure how old Dorthe was but Jutta was euthanized due to complication with old age. As far as I know the chimps moved are still alive, I know when they moved they had hoped some of the females would end up having some babies. Someone else who keeps up with those zoos might have a more detailed update on how they're doing today!
From Givskud Naomi and Ceres were moved to Taronga Zoo in Australia. Ceres has also had a baby, but seems Naomi has had some issues with pregnancies and the babies after giving birth. I'm unsure about where Judy ended up. She was supposed to be moved to Kristiansand Dyreparken in Norway but it seemed there were issues with her transport. Haven't been able to find any other information.
In Odense Zoo Agnete (who was the mother to Svabba and Knaus) has passed away, I think it was age related. Ricardo tragically died in a drowning accident in 2017, he was 20 years old and had only been at the zoo for a couple of years. The females chimpanzees had been aggressive towards him and to escape he jumped into the moat. A very sad story, I'm glad EAZA no longer recommends having moats for newer enclosures.
Overview
Aalborg Zoo
Sabastian (moved to Walter Zoo, 2021)
Dorthe (passed away)
Jutta (passed away late 2021)
Laura (moved to Burgers Zoo, 2022)
My (moved to Ostrava Zoo, 2022)
Lone (moved to Ostrava Zoo, 2019)
Maja (moved to Ostrava Zoo, 2019)
Martin (unsure)
Copenhagen Zoo:
Carl (passed away)
Maadili (moved to Edinburgh Zoo, 2020, passed away late 2021)
Jenny (passed away, 2023)
Djema (passed away, 2023)
Changa (moved to Leipzig Zoo, 2020)
Givskud Zoo
Ceres (moved to Taronga Zoo, 2015)
Naomi (moved to Taronga Zoo, 2015)
Judy (unsure, might have been moved to Kristiansand Dyreparken)
Odense Zoo
Ricardo (passed away, 2017)
Agnete (passed away, unsure when)
Sorry this ended up a bit lengthy, I'm very happy to hear there's some interrest for the Danish and ex-Danish chimpanzees!
JurassicMax
Well-Known Member
Thank you very much for this interesting information!
What were the reasons why Givskud and Aalborg stopped keeping chimps?
GamerGorilla
Active Member
It seemed that both were due to the higher demands and recomendations for housing chimpanzees. I know a lot of zoos in Europe are trying to out-phase their chimpanzees also due to the regulations being quite hard to follow for good animal welfare. For Givskud it was all the way back in 2004 they decided they didn't want chimpanzees anymore, they had invested a lot in their new gorilla enclosure the year before but after new regulations came for breeding regarding chimpanzee sub species and the housing of the chimpanzees they felt they had to split the group and invest even more into new enclosures, so they decided to focus on their gorillas instead. It took them the 10 years to find new homes to their chimpanzees. Now they have the black crested macaques where the chimpanzees used to be and will not be getting chimpanzees again.
Aalborg's chimpanzee enclosure was quite sad to be honest, it was 40 years old and not at all up to the modern day standards (moat + old and small facilities), which is why they decided to stop keeping chimpanzees. They did say at the time they want to keep chimpanzees again in the future, I asked about this on my last visit and it seemed it was still the case, but probably won't happen for many years as they'd have to built a new place for them from scratch. The old chimpanzee area is now for lemurs!
It also seems Odense Zoo might stop keeping chimpanzees in the future. I'm a little uncertain as to why but I also think it is because of recommendations for housing chimpanzees and that they feel their facility might not be best equipped for it anymore. But this wouldn't be something happening soon. Personally I think the only really problematic aspect of their facility is the moat, which does now have a small fence at the edge of it. It's great for a viewing experience for guests, but there's way too many stories of chimps drowning in them. A little bitter sweet, as there are some really nice parts of the island and enclosure.
Even in Copenhagen Zoo they had planned to get rid of their chimpanzees as well if it they hadn't gotten the funds to built their new outdoor enclosure. It's being built right now and so far looks really great! I'm glad the zoo has finally been able to invest in better condition for their chimps, I know they have wanted to give them an outdoor area for many years
