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

Very sad to announce the loss of Djambe the Orang Utan
27-10-2008

Quote- "Colchester Zoo are very sad to announce the loss of Djambe, the female Orangutan on the 25th October. Djambe and her companion, Rajang had moved to the new Orangutan Forest enclosure at the beginning of October and had both coped well with the relocation under anaesthetic. However, during a medical examination at the time of the move an irregular shaped mass, possibly a tumour was found on the right side of Djambe's abdomen.

It was not possible to examine this further at the time, except to take blood samples for analysis, which were later found to show no abnormal levels. A few days later Djambe developed what was thought to be a respiratory infection and under veterinary guidance she was prescribed a course of antibiotics. This treatment programme was apparently successful and her condition appeared to improve. She was assessed by the zoo’s veterinary team on the 24th October and it was agreed that she had made a recovery from the respiratory infection and would be fit for a second anaesthesia to examine the mass in her abdomen. This was planned to take place in two weeks time involving a full anaesthesia, ultrasonograhpy to scan the abdominal mass and if it was considered the right course of action a biopsy of the mass.

On the Saturday morning (25th October) Djambe was quite herself; the keepers perceived everything to be normal with her as she was alert, responsive to their presence and fed as usual. However, late in the afternoon she was discovered dead.

It is not possible at this stage, to know if the mass in her abdomen was the cause of her death and a post mortem will take place in the next few days to determine this.

Djambe, was born in Stuttgart Zoo on the 8th July 1978 and came to Colchester Zoo in 1998. There is always a concern when an animal has to be anaesthetized and we were delighted that both Rajang and Djambe coped so well with this, we are obviously devastated by this turn of events."

27-10-2008

A sad loss for the zoo + staff and the new exhibit.

Did she have any offspring at all represented?


I really wish now that the hybrid male be transferred to a collection with only (sterilised) hybrids and that Colchester Zoo - having a new exhibit - may focus on breeding either Sumatrans or Borneans.

Incidentally, I think the Stuttgart breeding group is standing idle there and as the new Great Ape House (building work to start 2009 and for completion 2010) will only involve bonobos and gorillas, this is perhaps a good opportunity to both improve the breeding records for Colchester and improve habitats at Stuttgart!

Any suggestions welcome.

27-10-2008

A really sad loss for the zoo ... i wounder how rajang is coping with the loss of yet another female .... maybe he may get a new orang freind soon .... but really sad news ...

27-10-2008

Djambe had no offspring but came from well represented lines. She never bred at Twycross, probably because her mate 'Toby' was infertile and she was in a nonbreeding situation after moving to Colchester. I do wonder if the 'abdominal tumour' had any connection with her never having been bred from....

Clearly Colchester will need more Orangutans now. But will they be purebreds, or simply another non-breeding 'mate' for Rajang? I'd be surprised to see them move Rajang away but it seems unclear to me whether the new enclosure can hold seperate pairs or not.

27-10-2008

Heartbreaking We didn't envisage that scenario, did we?

27-10-2008

No, I thought she would outlive Rajang. I always felt rather sorry for her never having had any young, despite being perfectly capable.

27-10-2008

Sad news indeed, Am waiting to see what comes of this situation.

28-10-2008

OH no what awful news and just after they moved to much better accommodation

When I went a couple of weeks ago she was in a nest she had made on the higher level by the viewing platform but she had her back to us and the usual sack over her head.

her and Rajang had a love/hate relationship with her only ever eating garlic and onions and him hating them! but im sure he will miss her company and I hope he is ok too

She will be sorely missed

28-10-2008

Sad news.

Jelle, moving Rajang out to start a breeding group of purebred orangs is a *brilliant* idea, but where shall Rajang go? All zoos in Europe that keep hybrid orangs have already an adult male (Osnabrück, Wuppertal for example) and more then one adult per group is not working. So either Colchester stays a non-breeding place for the next years or Rajang is moved to a circus, a zoo in the third world that can`t get a purebred orang ect. It`s really the same problem with non-breeding male gorillas, everybody here always says "move Jitu, Ya Kwanza, Bobby, Ivo ect ect." but where shall they all go? Some zoos need to keep non-breeding orangs, gorillas ect. and especially with Colchester, I don`t see another possibility then to keep Rajang there, even if this means no breeding for the next couple of years.

28-10-2008

could she have had a sudden heart attack or something similar?

28-10-2008

What I find sad is this sites obsession to talk non stop about breeding as if it is the whole point of zoos!

yes conservation of species is important in this uncaring world but so is education and the endless stream of babies at zoos may be good for the ticket sales but unless you are releasing the animals back into the world surely having overpopulated zoos or in poor Rajang's case and Annouska (tiger at Colchester) being not pure bred means you have no place in a zoo

I admit I am slightly biased having adopted Rajang for years and seeing him at least twice a month for the past gawd knows how long but leave the poor old fellow be just because he cant breed doesn't mean we don't need or want him at Colchester! He is the most popular zoo animal there i would love to see the uproar if they did try to move him (not that I think they ever would)

Colchester has plenty of time for breeding in the future maybe get him a young female companion and then they will be ready for the sad day that Rajang is no longer with us

28-10-2008

i agree with karenzoo rajang has been there for many years and i dont think the public and the keepers will let him go ... im off to the zoo tomrrow to see what going to happen ...

i think they should bring in a breeding female to keep him happy then when he passes on bring in a breeding male ... however orangutans in the wild live on their own ....

28-10-2008

completely agree with karenzoo- rajang is one of the zoo's best loved animals and they would never move him. i am going on wednesday so will also be able to see how he is

28-10-2008

aww thank you monkeyworld and roz please let us all know how Rajang is and any news you can get and thank you roz for posting this I was so shocked when I saw it, I usually have a look on colchester's site but hadn't today! must admit i have been bludding since reading this but i am a muppet when it comes to Colchester's animals especially the orangys

28-10-2008

i have also just remembered that on saturday the park was open until 9pm so someone could have seen her pass away