Paignton Zoo orangutan bulu

I think after nearly 47 years and nowadays much longer intervals of not seeing her, its fair enough that she no longer remembers me.... Its interesting she still has this same mermory trait with other folk such as yourself now.

Also interesting was that the relationship was only with Bulu- not with her cagemates 'Twiggy' and 'Gambar' who never showed anything but casual interest in me though I'd seen them just as often obviously...

Some gorillas have a similar sort of memory too. Sekondi at Twycross was one who really didn't like me- as soon as I walked into the house he would get up and start displaying and hitting the glass. I never found out why- originally I thought it was because of my camera but I think it was more likely he perceived some sort of 'threat' from the way I stood or watched him... Again, I could visit after a long interval of e.g. two years, but as soon as he saw me he would jump up and start displaying.
 
Last edited:
Theodora and Kibriah always remembered me at Twycross. Bulu's daughter, Gambira, must recognise me but can't or won't cross the invisible barrier and copy her mother. Chinta doesn't seem to be very interested in people. What is extraordinary is that two friends I've met through orangutan visiting, and I, have all been separately trained by orangutans to bring 'interesting things' to show them! For some reason we've all ended up doing the same thing and don't know how we started :)
 
Bulu's parents.

Gigit- the photos of Bulu's parents are now in the gallery- sorry they're not very good but better than nothing. The two colour ones are taken from postcards.
Keywords; Bulu's parents. Enjoy....
 
They are lovely. You can see a family resemblance and Toli appears a bit 'threadbare' like Bulu. Many thanks:)
 
Gigit said:
They are lovely. You can see a family resemblance and Toli appears a bit 'threadbare' like Bulu. Many thanks:)
Click to expand...

Glad you like them. I think Toli and Bulu being 'threadbare' was due to longterm life in those concrete-floored cages. Most of London's other orangs around that time were similar, though the adult males still grew some longer hair at maturity. When the large group of about 10 baby Bornean orangs were imported in the 1960's, most were either already very poorly coated or soon became so. One female 'Kate' had a very long coat however and she somehow managed to keep this despite the raher poor conditions.

The little Sumatran male 'Gambar' (Bulu's original partner and the only Sumatran at ZSL at that time) showed a different appearance from the concrete flooring- his coat was short and bristly,as if all the ends of the (more) brittle hairs had broken off- the texture of the coat in the two species being rather different. When Gambar went to Jersey his coat started to grow slowly and at maturity he had the long 'fleecy' coat typical of adult male Sumatrans.
 
awww how sad:(
at least she had a long happy life:)

poor aris from monkeyworld died at the tender age of 4:(last december
 
From Paignton's website:
End of an era at Paignton Zoo 09/05/2008

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park’s female Bornean orang utan Bulu has been euthanased due to ill health.

Senior keepers and veterinary staff took the decision after an exploratory operation to check her lungs, teeth and general physical condition.

Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment said: “She was the grand old dame of Paignton Zoo. She was very popular. As soon as we thought she was having too much difficulty in breathing we acted. She had been on a long-term course of antibiotics but these had had no effect.

“The most important thing was to make sure she was not suffering. As anyone who has ever owned or worked with animals knows, difficult decisions have to be made – and they have to be made in the best interests of the animal and its quality of life.â€Â

Bulu was 47 years old on 12th March 2008. She was the oldest zoo bred orang in Europe. Born at London Zoo, Bulu came to Paignton in 1992. She was named by Sir David Attenborough – Bulu means “hairy oneâ€Â. She had lived for many years with her daughter Gambira (11), who was born at Paignton Zoo and adult female Chinta (18). Two new orang utans – male Demo (aged 10) and female Mali (13) – arrived at Paignton Zoo from Munster Zoo, in Germany, in November.

The Bornean orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus) is threatened by hunting, the pet trade and the destruction of their rainforest habitat. There may be fewer than 20,000 left in the wild. Wild orang utans have global legal protection. Some orangs live within protected forests and there are successful rehabilitation programmes for rescued pets and orphans.

There are also conservation breeding programmes in zoos world-wide including an International Studbook and a European Endangered species Programme (EEP). Paignton Zoo Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment is the vice coordinator of the Orang utan EEP.


Paignton Zoo Environmental Park’s female Bornean orang utan Bulu has been euthanased due to ill health.

Senior keepers and veterinary staff took the decision after an exploratory operation to check her lungs, teeth and general physical condition.

Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment said: “She was the grand old dame of Paignton Zoo. She was very popular. As soon as we thought she was having too much difficulty in breathing we acted. She had been on a long-term course of antibiotics but these had had no effect.

“The most important thing was to make sure she was not suffering. As anyone who has ever owned or worked with animals knows, difficult decisions have to be made – and they have to be made in the best interests of the animal and its quality of life.â€Â

Bulu was 47 years old on 12th March 2008. She was the oldest zoo bred orang in Europe. Born at London Zoo, Bulu came to Paignton in 1992. She was named by Sir David Attenborough – Bulu means “hairy oneâ€Â. She had lived for many years with her daughter Gambira (11), who was born at Paignton Zoo and adult female Chinta (18). Two new orang utans – male Demo (aged 10) and female Mali (13) – arrived at Paignton Zoo from Munster Zoo, in Germany, in November.

The Bornean orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus) is threatened by hunting, the pet trade and the destruction of their rainforest habitat. There may be fewer than 20,000 left in the wild. Wild orang utans have global legal protection. Some orangs live within protected forests and there are successful rehabilitation programmes for rescued pets and orphans.

There are also conservation breeding programmes in zoos world-wide including an International Studbook and a European Endangered species Programme (EEP). Paignton Zoo Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment is the vice coordinator of the Orang utan EEP.
 
All three females, Mali, Gambira and Chinta, have spent time with Demo and could all be pregnant, though this has not been confirmed. You can see different combinations of the orangutans in the show den - Demo, Mali, and Gambira, or Demo and Chinta ..... but not all four together yet (or ever?)
 
Gigit said:
Fuengirola has Nakal, female Mukah, their son Banggi, and male Bima. I was wrong when I said Lee Lee was there. He's been moved to Palmitos, in the Canary Islands, with male, Peek, and hybrid male Bassir. I'm afraid I don't have any details about Kadim ~ I'll keep looking!
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation after so many years. I came to this thread with the keywords "Bima" and "Fuengirola." I visited Hong Kong Zoo in early February, and since then I've been researching the family tree of Bornean orangutans residing there. I sent an email query to the zoo regarding the family, but I had no luck getting a reply yet. According to the studbook 2015 by Orangutan SSP, a female named Bima was born under Datu and Merdeka in 1996. She was then transferred to Fuengirola Zoo in 2005. She gave birth to a male baby on November 23, 2006, but the baby died after 5 days. What is more tragic is that Bima passed away on December 18, 2006. Do you know what happened to Bima? Is the individual named Bima in your post different from the one I'm trying to find out? I can't find any sources regarding her case. Bima seemed to be the only child of Merdeka (female, 39, HKZBG) who survived to adulthood. So, I am really willing to know more about her. If anyone knows about her, I really appreciate sharing the information.
 
Karin said:
I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation after so many years. I came to this thread with the keywords "Bima" and "Fuengirola." I visited Hong Kong Zoo in early February, and since then I've been researching the family tree of Bornean orangutans residing there. I sent an email query to the zoo regarding the family, but I had no luck getting a reply yet. According to the studbook 2015 by Orangutan SSP, a female named Bima was born under Datu and Merdeka in 1996. She was then transferred to Fuengirola Zoo in 2005. She gave birth to a male baby on November 23, 2006, but the baby died after 5 days. What is more tragic is that Bima passed away on December 18, 2006. Do you know what happened to Bima? Is the individual named Bima in your post different from the one I'm trying to find out? I can't find any sources regarding her case. Bima seemed to be the only child of Merdeka (female, 39, HKZBG) who survived to adulthood. So, I am really willing to know more about her. If anyone knows about her, I really appreciate sharing the information.
Click to expand...
I'm afraid Gigit can't answer you- in her own words she has 'gone to the Great Ape house in the sky.'.....someone else might know though.
 
Pertinax said:
I'm afraid Gigit can't answer you- in her own words she has 'gone to the Great Ape house in the sky.'.....someone else might know though.
Click to expand...

Thank you Pertinax for responding to my previous reply to Gigit. I am sorry to hear that Zoo Chat has lost one of the core members of this community. RIP Gigit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top