The last baby was 2007 (Bart, planned) and the last unplanned baby was Ash in 2005. I'd hardly call 8 years between accidental births as 'often', especially with the huge amount of chimps at MW.
Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre 2013
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The last baby was 2007 (Bart, planned) and the last unplanned baby was Ash in 2005. I'd hardly call 8 years between accidental births as 'often', especially with the huge amount of chimps at MW.
Fair enough, but I was just suggesting that a change in type of contraception could result in no accidents and may be more useful for when they are trying not to breed? Nice to see mum and babies doing well however..
The contraception failed on this occasion because "Cherrie" had a chest infection last winter which obviously makes the contraceptive much less effective in some cases, but I think they have experimented with several different types of contraception, and there are pros and cons for them all.
There would definitely be pros and cons for all but I know that several females of breeding age at Edinburgh zoo have a contraceptive implant, and will have been on various medicines over the time they have been implanted and they have had no pregnancies other than planned ones. I suppose whatever they find works best for them. It's just that for a collection that needs their valuable space for rescued animals it would be better not to breed if possible, and in particular if they are hybrids (though I don't know if the females that have bred are or not). If they are using contraception that fails when an animal is on a fairly common medication or is given orally and can therefore be refused by the animal then I would question whether this is the best choice if you are hoping not to breed the animal. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with careful breeding of some of the chimps if they felt it had a positive affect on the group of chimps, which I can see that it would.
Edinburgh have been lucky, I was reading recently about a primate rescue centre where they used implants and it had failed. Nina at JGI in South Africa had a baby this year in spite of an implant. Nothing is perfect, a lot of humans would not be here today if it was. Monkey World have used implants in the past so there must be a reason why they are not currently. They tried coils as well in the distant past.
Yes absolutely, they have tried various types over the years on different animals, but I don`t know the reasons for using the current choice in this particular instance of course. It would also depend on the individual animal as to which would be most suitable.
I would have thought Monkey World would be aware of the contraceptive used successfully at Edinburgh, but there may be other factors that we are unaware of.?
Just thought that maybe in the long run it would be better to vasectomise the males. Obviously it means anaesthesia but wouldn't have thought it would be a complicated procedure but I suppose there's also the risk that it's not 100% effective in some? Does anyone know if the majority of the males are vasectomised and it's just a few individuals that are able to breed?
Amethyst86
New Member
I think they have actually had more success with preventing pregnancies on the pill than with the other methods they tried such as the coil, hence the 8 year gap. I believe some had removed the coils themselves in the past.
What is just great to see is (as far as I can tell from the pictures/news articles) Cherri looks to be rearing the two babies herself. I don't recall any chimp doing this in Hananya's group before. What a great thing it would be if she continues to, for her, the babies and the group
What is just great to see is (as far as I can tell from the pictures/news articles) Cherri looks to be rearing the two babies herself. I don't recall any chimp doing this in Hananya's group before. What a great thing it would be if she continues to, for her, the babies and the group
Most of the males are castrated.
Vasectomies also fail, Conan at Chimp Haven in the USA has now had 3 vasectomies having managed to produce 3 babies since the first one. I think they found that some of the other males had 'reattached' when they checked.
I cannot see how a few baby chimps born at Monkey World can possibly be a bad thing, the fact that these animals were originally rescued does not necessarily mean that they should be denied the right to reproduce as they would in the wild, in fact is it not a good thing considering how bad a lifemost of these chimps had before they came to Monkey World that they are now living the lives of normal chimps and having babies, which I am sure will be advantageous to the chimp group .I am sure the experienced Dr. Allison Cronin does not need to consult a fan of Edinburgh Zoo on how to manage any of her primates, a zoo which does not appear to be having much luck in breeding its chimps despite whatever contraception or not they have placed their animals on, a zoo incidentylwhich practiced a policy of breed and cull until they were caught with their pants down well and truly regarding another species.
Thanks for that, I have heard of that in humans as well, just seemed that in the long run it may be a better option. Conan must be a determined chimp!
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
Amethyst86
New Member
Such sad news. They've posted another comment this morning to say that Cherri and Thelma seem to be doing OK today. She did have a difficult job with two of them.It would be interesting to know the incidence of twin Chimpanzee births in zoos.
I know of just one other example in the UK though there may be others I'm unaware of- in the 1950's(or early 60's), a pair at Bristol Zoo 'Buttons' and 'Susan' unexpectedly produced twins which were the first birth to the mother. When discovered she had rejected them and one was already dead. The other 'Timothy' was handraised and lived there for many years.
I know of just one other example in the UK though there may be others I'm unaware of- in the 1950's(or early 60's), a pair at Bristol Zoo 'Buttons' and 'Susan' unexpectedly produced twins which were the first birth to the mother. When discovered she had rejected them and one was already dead. The other 'Timothy' was handraised and lived there for many years.
At the beginning of 1996 twin chimpanzees were born at Arbuckle Wilderness USA. Because the mother cared for 1 young at a time and put the other on the ground, the young - Jacob and Jonah - were hand-raised.
Also from the wild several twin-births are known, see the following clip :
Introducing Twins Golden and Glitter the Jane Goodall Institute - YouTube
Also from the wild several twin-births are known, see the following clip :
Introducing Twins Golden and Glitter the Jane Goodall Institute - YouTube
I have an old Bristol Zoo postcard of a very young chimpanzee being held by a woman; the caption reads:-
• Chimpanzee “Timothy” born 9.11.1957 at Bristol Zoo
I assume that this is the chimp to which you refer; it seems unlikely that Bristol Zoo had two hand-reared chimps with the same name about the same time.
I have the card too. That is indeed the same 'Timothy'. I seem to remember the lady is the wife of their then Senior keeper 'Bert' Jones. Timothy was later paired with a wildcaught female 'Elizabeth' but his handraised background meant that he never bred. Elizabeth did have at least one baby though- from Timothy's father 'Buttons'- this was 'Eve' who became Bristol's last chimpanzee and was finally sent to Twycross, where she died just a few years ago.