I was told no females are currently pregnant and that all are currently on contraceptives. However, the keeper believed Galatea would definitely receive another recommendation for breeding soon (*) as she is highly maternal and that Lani will receive her first recommendation in 3-4 years (*)
She also informed me that Zuri, Zola, and Hope are all potential for transfer. Zola and Hope are guaranteed to transfer out together. The last time I visited a New Zealand Zoo was mentioned (by a different older keeper), however, no specific zoo/destination was mentioned this time. (odd?)
Space-wise I was informed that the troop has room for a "decade of continued breeding" (odd she gave me a timeframe rather than a number). However the chimp team dreams of expanding the habitat out into the surrounding scrub and apparently this is on the official park plans in the far far future (*). She joked she wanted a huge naturalistic troop larger than Tarongas. Monarto seem to really pride themselves on the fact of having the 'biggest' and 'most' when it comes to animals/enclosures.
Monarto Safari Park currently have the largest chimpanzee exhibit in the region at 3000m2.
Considering Taronga Zoo hold a community of 21 chimpanzees in an exhibit around 2/3 the size of Monarto’s, I would absolutely say there’s room to expand their troop.
Sizes of chimpanzee exhibits in Australasian zoos:
Rockhampton: 1000
Wellington: 1500 estimate
Taronga: 1910
Hamilton: 2500 approx
Monarto: 3000
I imagine there’s a few reasons why Monarto have been hesitant to expand too quickly including:
First of all, in contrast to Taronga’s troop which consist solely of males born and raised within their natal community (as is the natural social order), Monarto began their troop with four males from three troops. Though they’ve managed their integration and subsequent management extremely well over the past decade and a half, the culture remains potentially volatile, with separations of Sandali etc having been required over time. From your update, it appears breeding is still on hold until the new alpha is locked in, Sandali has been reintegrated and the troop are more settled.
Second of all, Monarto are surely aspiring to establish a community that has a relatively even distribution of ages. Taronga’s community has formed over decades and the ages of its members are relatively evenly distributed (with chimpanzees in their 40’s right down to infants). Monarto are clearly following the female dispersal pattern with 3/5 of their youngest cohort (2012-2022) currently planned to transfer out; but bear in mind their replacements will likely be females at the lower end of that age group (born 2020’s), who in turn will begin their families at Monarto. Not only do they want to avoid a baby boom of young chimpanzees - that decades later will translate to an ageing population; they will likely want to avoid incoming females having to contend with hostile incumbent females, who not only have the advantage of home turf and status; but four plus grown offspring to back them in any conflicts.
Thirdly, the studbook coordinator will surely be considering where to place female offspring; though looking at the regional population, I struggle to see this being an issue - with Wellington and Hamilton’s troops currently containing one breeding female each at the moment; and Taronga needing to consider succession as Ceres, Kuma and Naomi age.
The reasons for breeding from Galatea and Lani are obvious given they have no offspring in the troop; and Galatea’s genetic value. Zombi and Hannah each have a son and assuming their daughters do indeed transfer out, I hope each would be allowed to have at least one more offspring so as to ensure their family support isn’t solely reliant on a single male offspring.
Monarto’s chimpanzee troop (2025):
1.0
Boyd (29/10/1978) Tom x Bebe
1.0
Gombe (04/02/1993) Boyd x Jodie
1.0
Sandali (26/02/1996) Snowy x Sacha
1.0
Enzi (19/10/2015) Sandali x Zombi
1.0
Happy (21/12/2022) Unknown x Hannah
0.1
Zombi (15/03/1993) Ayo x Zola; Imported 2010
0.1
Hannah (28/11/1993) Andy x Annie; Imported 2015
0.1
Galatea (24/02/1999) Fons x Gaby; Imported 2010
0.1
Lani (26/05/2002) Lubutu x Lisa (Pregnant)
0.1
Zuri (21/08/2012) Sandali x Zombi
0.1
Hope (19/02/2019) Tsotsi x Hannah
0.1
Zola (08/09/2019) Unknown x Zombi
(potential Zoochater?!)
