Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre New alpha for Paddy's former group!!!

[Fresco3]

I do agree that castration isn't the only method but of the three main options:
Castration, vasectomy and birth control, birth control is unreliable and the majority of the chimps born at the park were down to this. That leaves vasectomies or castration which both require anaesthesia. So if both have the same level of risk in terms of death by anaesthesia, choosing the option which reduces aggression seems like the intelligent choice when you consider the fact that it helps group dynamics and reduces the chance of injuries through fighting and therefore reduces the chance of requiring anaesthesia to treat those injuries.

In the long run it seems like the safer precaution.

I'm aware that there are negatives to the practise but I think for Monkey World itself, it is the safest option.

 

[marmolady]

I'm going to disagree, as many, many facilities housing large groups of chimps do as well, and leave it at that. There's definitely pros and cons to all the options, but the point I was trying to make was that Paddy's group is now lacking in males that look and act like normal males, which no doubt influenced the current unusual hierarchy system. In this instance, it sounds as though the group is stable and content, which is what matters most. I do wonder if the lack of normal male behaviour might reduce group activity in the long run, in the same way as preventing births does, as the group dynamics wouldn't shift so much as they would naturally.

 

[DenApe]

It's not a 'theory'. Castration is used as a management tool at Monkey World to reduce male aggression; I have been told this by MW both via email enquiry and by a keeper in person. If it were about reproduction, all individuals would have been altered rather than the vast majority.

Agreed, but don't you think them castrating some and not all means they essentially decide which males rule and which don't, which is an unfair disadvantage for those castrated males who lack the hormone needed for them to be big enough to take charge? I think all the males should have equal opportunity with their 'equipment'.

 

[marmolady]

Yes, that's why I disagree with the practice- see my post above.

 

[BeakerUK]

Don't forget these are not run of the mill chimpanzees, but ones which for the most part have deeply traumatic backgrounds and bear the enduring psychological scars.

 

[OrangePerson]

The apes are also not known to be pure and, for nearly all of them, it is not known what subspecies they are.

Places such as Twycross and Chester have established this information and most of Monkey World's chimps probably are 'pure', the ex lab chimps Valerie, Marjoline and Eveline are known to be verus. Monkey World's attitude is that they are at home now, not subject to the vagaries of the studbook.

 

[Pertinax]

Places such as Twycross and Chester have established this information and most of Monkey World's chimps probably are 'pure', the ex lab chimps Valerie, Marjoline and Eveline are known to be verus. Monkey World's attitude is that they are at home now, not subject to the vagaries of the studbook.

Yes, given many of them have a background as Spanish 'beach chimps', most of these at least were probably smuggled into Spain as babies directly from the wild, making them pure, as all wildcaught Chimps must be.