Large Primate Groups in UK
- Thread starter garyjp
- Start date
Mac
Active Member
I'm not entirely sure, but I'd say take a look at Twycross Zoo as they claim to be the only UK zoo that houses all four great ape species. It is also apparently one of only a few to do this globally.. Source: Their website About Twycross Zoo
Monkey World has four groups of chimpanzees, three of which are double figures in size. However they are a rescue centre and one group is all bachelor males. Hananya's group is the most impressive, numbering between 15 and 20. Hananya is a father of the group's youngest member Thelma. That group for me is the most natural large troop of any ape I've seen in the UK.
You can also see large chimpanzee troops at Chester Zoo (where there have been multiple babies over the last few years) and Twycross Zoo in Chimpanzee eden.
As for the other great apes, you tend to see smaller groups of gorillas, orang utans and gibbons because these animals tend to live in smaller groups, pair bond or live a solitary life in the wild. However, there are large groups of baboons in a number of zoos including Edinburgh (Geladas), Paignton (Hamadryas) and Yorkshire (Gelada and Guinea Baboons) and a reasonably sized group of Sulawesi Crested Macaques at Chester.
You can also see large chimpanzee troops at Chester Zoo (where there have been multiple babies over the last few years) and Twycross Zoo in Chimpanzee eden.
As for the other great apes, you tend to see smaller groups of gorillas, orang utans and gibbons because these animals tend to live in smaller groups, pair bond or live a solitary life in the wild. However, there are large groups of baboons in a number of zoos including Edinburgh (Geladas), Paignton (Hamadryas) and Yorkshire (Gelada and Guinea Baboons) and a reasonably sized group of Sulawesi Crested Macaques at Chester.
hari Jones
Well-Known Member
What about the troop of rhesus macaques at longleat
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Colchester Zoo has the nation's largest group of Mandrills. When I visited in May last year, there were 13 Mandrills. I am unaware of what the numbers are now, but perhaps a member more familiar with Colchester can answer that? They're very impressive to see, with several lively youngsters along with many adults bearing their famously vibrant colours.
This number is much reduced from formerly. At one stage a few years ago they had around 23-5. But all the adult males bar one are/were castrated to prevent fighting.
Howletts and Port Lympne keep some larger groups of the mid-sized primates. They have by far the largest group of Drills in the UK- over a dozen, where the only other holders Edinburgh and Africa Alive currently have 2 & 3(?)respectively. Liontailed Macaque, White-naped Managabey, De Brazza's guenon and Javan (and Dusky) Langur, Gelada & Colobus and the very large group of Guinea Baboon are other examples.
As well as mandrills (there was/is a sign by their enclosure with twenty different individuals pictured on it: New mandrill signage - ZooChat), could Colchester also have the biggest troop of L'Hoest's monkeys in the UK? I think they have a troop of around ten individuals - I think Blackpool and Twycross only have pairs, but I'm not sure how big Edinburgh's group is.
Twycross have around 7-8 L'Hoests though I read on here they recently split the group into two. So Colchester's may be the largest if Edinburgh's isn't.. L'Hoests seems to breed very freely in zoos so larger groups can be formed quite rapidly. Twycross have the largest group of Dianas at 5.2 though again the group was recently split and its unlikely to grow much given only one of the two females has bred and both are getting old now, while all the young are males.
Chester's primate team are experts in managing large groups of primates. The latest published stocklists are from 31st December 2021. In the Monkey House, the black-headed spider monkeys were 3/6/2, the lion-tailed macaques 3/9, the mandrills 2/11 and the capuchins 1/1 (which seems wrong to me). In Islands, the crested macaques were 7/10 and the Sumatran orangs 2/6. There were 6/14 chimps. The most numerous primates were the ring-tailed lemurs, but they are kept in 2 groups, on the island and in the walk-through. Obviously most of these figures will have changed since then, but I think the groups are more or less the same sizes.
Yes...
Mac
Active Member
I just had a quick search online to find out the figures for Trentham Monkey Forest, and they claim: 'Monkey Forest is home to 140 free-ranging Barbary macaques'. I just wanted to add some statistics to this to make it easier to visualize/see the results if the op does return to the thread to look.. Thanks for the suggestion!
Mac
Active Member
Thanks for the information. I'm not familiar with the exact number of Hominidae species so I was purely going off of the information that they provide on their website. Always nice to learn more and become more educated on the matter. Again, thank you!