Today is a very special day everyone.
On this day, 57 years ago, the approximately eight-year old bonobo female Margrit arrived in Frankfurt Zoo as a donation from a sailor who had kept her as a pet for some years. She promptly joined the established group at Frankfurt which at the time consisted of a male, Camillo, and a female, Camilla, together with a younger female called Eicha. Camilla was transferred to Fort Wayne in the US in 1972, whereas Eicha met an early demise due to ileus of the large intestine some two years after she and Margrit arrived at the zoo.
Margrit and Camillo had four children together; two sons named Pan and Mato, and two daughters named Daniela and Salonga. After Salonga's birth Camillo was transferred to Antwerp, and sadly died there not long after. Pan unfortunately died not long after his birth, but Mato stayed in the group and proceeded to breed incestuously with his sisters and mother, producing many offspring. To prevent the inbreeding, something that would not normally be done had to be done; Mato was moved away from his mother to Wuppertal in 1988. Daniela left shortly after as well, in 1992, to Stuttgart together with her (non-incestuous) daughter Eja. And Salonga sadly passed away giving birth to her last child in 2004, a male named Kelele. Other than that the only other of Margrit's offspring left is her incestuous daughter Yala, who now lives in Berlin.
Margrit has seen many faces come and go at Frankfurt. Currently she shares her home in Borgori-Wald (the ape house) with 17 other bonobos, and she has many descendants living in Europe, the US and now even Japan. As she was born in the wild, her arrival date into captivity has been chosen (by some) as her birthday date. And therefore, on this day, I would like to wish Margrit, the oldest living bonobo, a...
HAPPY 65th BIRTHDAY!!!!
On this day, 57 years ago, the approximately eight-year old bonobo female Margrit arrived in Frankfurt Zoo as a donation from a sailor who had kept her as a pet for some years. She promptly joined the established group at Frankfurt which at the time consisted of a male, Camillo, and a female, Camilla, together with a younger female called Eicha. Camilla was transferred to Fort Wayne in the US in 1972, whereas Eicha met an early demise due to ileus of the large intestine some two years after she and Margrit arrived at the zoo.
Margrit and Camillo had four children together; two sons named Pan and Mato, and two daughters named Daniela and Salonga. After Salonga's birth Camillo was transferred to Antwerp, and sadly died there not long after. Pan unfortunately died not long after his birth, but Mato stayed in the group and proceeded to breed incestuously with his sisters and mother, producing many offspring. To prevent the inbreeding, something that would not normally be done had to be done; Mato was moved away from his mother to Wuppertal in 1988. Daniela left shortly after as well, in 1992, to Stuttgart together with her (non-incestuous) daughter Eja. And Salonga sadly passed away giving birth to her last child in 2004, a male named Kelele. Other than that the only other of Margrit's offspring left is her incestuous daughter Yala, who now lives in Berlin.
Margrit has seen many faces come and go at Frankfurt. Currently she shares her home in Borgori-Wald (the ape house) with 17 other bonobos, and she has many descendants living in Europe, the US and now even Japan. As she was born in the wild, her arrival date into captivity has been chosen (by some) as her birthday date. And therefore, on this day, I would like to wish Margrit, the oldest living bonobo, a...
HAPPY 65th BIRTHDAY!!!!
here is a (relatively) recent photo of her:
