Colchester Zoo Very sad to announce the loss of Djambe the Orang Utan

went to the zoo today ... it was very sad not to see her there anymore ... the new encoulrse is fantastic btw .... i got there rather late .. stupid traffic jam , rajang spent most of my time there in a corner under a blanket but did come up to the glass a number of times to the delight of young children ... orangutan feed talk has been cancelled atm and there are a number of signs about the death around the zoo . however a nice young girl gave me a e-mail of a orang keeper so i will e-mail her ..... and she what she has to say ... will keep you informed ...
 
Yassa said:
I am not sure about Roma, but Wuppertal could NOT take Rajang, as I stated above, because they already have one adult (hybrid) male and can`t take a second!! Same for most if not all other zoos that house hybrid orangs! Some zoos need to keep these older hybrids and gove them a good life, since adult males can`t be mixed in mlti-male groups, so why not Colchester?!
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I had not gathered that Wuppertal is full up on hybrid orang spaces with 1.3. Roma has a group of 0.3 and perhaps room for a sterilised male, allthough admittedly I am not familiar with their orang exhibit set-up.

Alltogether, 17 zoos keep 12.15 hybrids and in 2006 thankfully no more offspring from hybrids were produced. They constitute 8.1% of the entire EEP orang population. All collections holding hybrids are urged to sterilize or vasectomise their hybrids. Should any be transferred out, they should effectively have been sterilized or vasectomised. Another option could be contraceptives and thus allowing them to be housed at a collection with pure-bred individuals.

A particular problem identified in orangs and now also in the hybrids is the disposal of a number of young hybrid orang males. Multiple male groups are not a success as after 10-12 years they tend to become aggressive towards one another.

This does not bode well for Colchester .... Unless, their exhibit allows for separation of Rajang in one enclosure .. while the next 1-2 are used for breeding pure-bred orangs.

Another options for transfer might also be: Royan (1.1 pure bred Borneans + 0.2 hybrids) .... :confused:
 
monkeyworld, are the other species eg- the turtles and the aquarium done yet?
 
jelle said:
Roma has a group of 0.3 and perhaps room for a sterilised male, allthough admittedly I am not familiar with their orang exhibit set-up.
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Rome's Orangutans used to live in a very small barred and completely bare enclosure in their gloomy 'Ape House'. These were among the worst conditions I've seen in Europe zoos. Things may have been improved of course as that was quite a long time ago now and the 'bioparc' has upgraded many of its exhibits..

Regarding 'Rajang'- I cannot see Colchester moving him. But I would still like to hear whether the new enclosure layout means they could keep other orangs seperate from him in the exhibition area(s) or not- it seems that would probably decide Djambe's replacement(s).
 
jelle said:
Multiple male groups are not a success as after 10-12 years they tend to become aggressive towards one another.
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I'm surprised they ever thought it would be possible to keep adult males together in captivity without them fighting. In the wild they tend to be territorial and fight viciously if they meet.

What is possible is one adult plus younger males together, but you have to keep setting up fresh groups as each lot of males mature so there continues to be only adult one per group-and thats completely impractical really.:(
 
Quote from our local paper

COLCHESTER Zoo's female Orangutan Djambe died of a heart attack, it has emerged.

The zoo has received the initial post mortem results following the death of the popular primate on October 25.

The results indicated that she suffered a heart attack following the rupture of a large ovarian cyst.

A spokeswoman for the zoo said: “Djambe and her companion, Rajang were moved to the new Orangutan Forest enclosure however, during a medical examination at the time of the move an irregular shaped mass, now known to be an ovarian cyst, was found on the right side of Djambe's abdomen.

“She was assessed by the zoo's veterinary team on the 24th October and a second anaesthesia to examine the mass in her abdomen was planned.

“It is now clear from the post mortem it is highly unlikely that this surgery could have been successful. A plaque at the new enclosure is planned to remember Colchester Zoo's very special female Orangutan.”
 
karenZOO said:
at the time of the move an irregular shaped mass, now known to be an ovarian cyst, was found on the right side of Djambe's abdomen.
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Is an Ovarian cyst more likely occur in a female like Djambe that was never bred from?:(
 
Pertinax said:
Rome's Orangutans used to live in a very small barred and completely bare enclosure in their gloomy 'Ape House'. These were among the worst conditions I've seen in Europe zoos. Things may have been improved of course as that was quite a long time ago now and the 'bioparc' has upgraded many of its exhibits..

Regarding 'Rajang'- I cannot see Colchester moving him. But I would still like to hear whether the new enclosure layout means they could keep other orangs seperate from him in the exhibition area(s) or not- it seems that would probably decide Djambe's replacement(s).
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I'm Sure Monkeyworld and Roz (when she has seen the new enclosure today) will agree without the outside space it would be unfair to house 2 groups of orang utans at the moment.

It would mean one of the groups being kept in the sleeping quarters while the other is in the indoor play area and although they are roomy and interconnectable it is just a hammock and a couple of climbing logs in each and the public can see in through glass windows.

Once the outside area is complete the Rajang could stay in the warm indoors and the younger orangs could be outside.

Unless they can be mixed it doesnt seem worth it when it is scheduled to be completed by Easter 2009 (when i went a few weeks ago most of the retaining walls had been completed)
 
karenZOO said:
without the outside space it would be unfair to house 2 groups of orang utans at the moment.
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In that case they may wait a while before doing anything, and from the description of the design, its anybody's guess what they plan in the way of replacement animals. However, in the 'Orangutan Forest' section of the website, which has been altered since Djambe's death, it does still say they hope to obtain a 'future breeding pair' though its couched in rather vague terms.
 
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went to colchester yesterday. Love the new orang enclosure, but did not take any pics because rajang was at the back and was just staring through the bars into the keper area. Went back in the dark on a ghost tour and saw him asleep in the corner of the indoor area under a sheet- apparently he refuses to sleep in the sleeping quarters. can,t wait for the outdoor area- its huge! It was very different to see the zoo at night, though in some parts it was far too crowded and other parts me and my cousin were on our own. Also, komodo dragons now have access to a larger part of dragons of komodo though they are not using it! Also, it would definately be unfair to house 2 orang groups just inside.

(ps- karenZOO I am a male!)
 
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OOPS I do apologise Roz :o I am known as 'Bob the Carp' on the fish keeping forums so excuse my gender confusion :p

I have been to 'wake up with the zoo' but would love to see it after dark ,maybe next year!

Did you go to the Aardvark Feed? Not that they would be out of their nice warm burrow for it (I guress?) but What with all the success they have had with the breeding of them I think they should put the outside bit undercover and make it more 'nocturnal' and visitor friendly, I would love to see them anywhere but always in the burrow!

Good news about the Komodos finally having access (although not using it) I know they were keeping them in side bit for training but think they were getting to used to the public and just played to them!

Aww poor Rajang i cant imagine him wanting to use the hammock in the slleping areas it was always Djambe you saw on the sleeping ledge or in the treehouse bit of the old enclosure he always seemed happier on the floor
 
i did not go to the aardvark feed but did see the out in the enclosure- they are a lot more active than i thought. I also saw the reptile keepers feeding the new baby madagasgarn tree boas born in august!
 
I also saw a sign saying that work is going to start on the amur leopard enclosure this winter, making the enclosure 4 times bigger than it is now! It will be built on the tamarin enclosure and the dik dik and stork paddock behind dende's area of the present leopard enclosure.
 
The site has update her cause of death ....

However, during a medical examination at the time of the move a large, irregular shaped mass; now known to be an ovarian cyst, was found on the right side of Djambe's abdomen. On 25th October, keepers perceived everything to be normal with her as she was alert and fed as usual and surgery was planned for two weeks later, once she had settled from the move. However, late in the afternoon she was discovered dead. Post mortem results indicated that she had suffered a heart attack following the rupture of the ovarian cyst. It is now clear from the post mortem that an attempt at surgery would not have been a viable option for her due to nature of this condition.

very sad indeed ..... rip .....
 
Went to Colchester today!

UPDATE NOTICE IN ORANGTAN FOREST (QUOTE - YES i AM SAD ENOUGH TO PHOTOGRAPH THE NOTICE :rolleyes:)

How is Rajang?
As most of you are aware, sadly our female orangutan Djambe died on 25th October 2008.
Initially Rajang showed signs of distress following this loss which is not surprising as they shared the same enclosure for over 10 years.
His keepers spent a great deal of time with him in the following days and he seems now to be much more settled, interacting with the public and is back to his old ways.
Orangutans are naturally solitary animals and although they can live in the same area quite comfortably, they do not require the same social intervention such as a social animal like a chimpanzee does.

Therefore orangutans can live quite happily on their own.

HOWEVER WE DO HAVE PLANS TO BRING IN ANOTHER FEMALE ORANGUTAN IN THE NEAR FUTURE
 
When we got there today Rajang was in one of the sleeping quarters happily sitting with a bucket and a piece of wood and he was using the wood to pick up the bark flooring and filling the bucket!

He then went into the main 'play area' and sat staring at the crowd, I went over to the side and he spotted me and came over for a kiss :D, he looked quite happy (well as happy as they ever look!) he then got fed up of the crowd that came over and went into the far corner, put a sheet over his head and went to sleep!

Must admit I was welling up and it looks so big in their with just him :( Hopefully they will find a lovely orang to keep him company but Djambe was a lovely orang and had one hell of a personality that was very much missed today :(
 
karenZOO said:
UPDATE NOTICE IN ORANGTAN FOREST (QUOTE - YES i AM SAD ENOUGH TO PHOTOGRAPH THE NOTICE :rolleyes:)
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Don't put yourself down- photographing a notice is a very good way of storing useful information in one press of a button..

I'm trying to second-guess where they might get another female at short notice from. Another hybrid or Sumatran female would have to come from Europe. There are Bornean females closer to home here in the UK but no particularly obvious contender. It will probably depend on an EEP allocation.
 
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