Australian (and NZ) Great Ape News and Discussion

Wellington Zoo Chimpanzee Enclosure Upgrade

As already mentioned in the Wellington Zoo News 2017 thread, their chimpanzee exhibit is scheduled for an upgrade, due to be completed in 2018:

Extensive upgrade planned for the Zoo's Chimpanzee habitat

The upgrade will provide an improved environment for the chimpanzees, as well as giving visitors the opportunity to have a more immersive experience:

The plans to improve the habitat for the largest chimpanzee troupe in New Zealand are still in the early stages, but construction at this stage is expected to be completed mid to late 2018.

“Our chimpanzees and their welfare are very important to us, the main aim of the new habitat design has been to increase the complexity of the chimp’s environment to better allow their natural behaviours to occur,” said Karen Fifield MNZM, Chief Executive of Wellington Zoo.

“Thanks to the generous support of Pub Charity Limited and Wellington City Council we have been able to plan for an environment that is not only more suitable for chimpanzees, but also allows a better visitor experience by giving people the opportunity to get a much improved view of the chimpanzees with more emphasis on telling the important story of chimpanzees and their conservation,” said Karen.

From the conceptual sketch, it does not appear that the size of the enclosure will increase, though the upgrade includes some exciting renovations to the climbing structures, which will no doubt be welcomed by the chimpanzees. I'll be interesting to see how the upgrade makes the exhibit more immersive from a visitor perspective. The exhibit is already, in my opinion, more engaging from a visitor/chimpanzee interaction perspective than Hamilton Zoo where you can only look down on the chimpanzee from the swing bridge, or see them through thick glass, which muffles their sound. The chimpanzee talk/feeding is always a highlight of mine when visiting Wellington Zoo as you can see them eye to eye and watch the keeper engage with them.

With 2.5 adults and 2.0 juveniles, the community is the second largest in Australasia, and I'm hoping the zoo will receive new females down the line as their males are related to all the females in the community and breeding options are limited. Alexis is currently the only breeding male as the other adult male, Marty, is vasectomised and the two juveniles are too young to breed. Ironically, the most valuable female genetically is his 36 year old mother, Cara.

 

Update on Wellington Zoo’s Chimpanzee

I was able to visit the zoo last weekend and as always, the highlight was the chimpanzee. There have been little changes in numbers since my last visit (no births and one death) but there have been big changes to the hierarchy.

Alexis (1998) is now firmly established as the alpha male and has the full support of the females, except for Jessie (1978). Marty (1987) was overthrown as alpha in a relatively peaceful take over and has adjusted well to the change. As an adult male, he still maintains a high ranking position in the hierarchy as in chimpanzee society, males rank above females.

Alexis’ strongest source of support was Sally (1985), who as king maker, is now the highest ranking female. Part of her status is attributed to her juvenile son, Bakari (2012). Sally is a large, well built female. She is similar in size to the males and is an excellent mother. Sally reminds me so much of her family at Taronga Zoo. She looks old for her age, with many grey hairs around her face like her sister, Sacha but has the confidence and parenting skills of her mother, Spitter. Spitter was also a high ranking female in her prime and like Sally, played the role of king maker when Sonny overthrow the previous alpha male at Taronga in 1989.

Jessie held the position of alpha female for many years despite the notable handicap of never producing surviving offspring and being hand raised. Much of her status was attributed to her relationship with the previous alpha males (Boyd and Marty), who’d she’d grown up with and developed a close relationship and her tendency to throw tantrums, which would intimidate even the males. Jessie has been supplanted as the highest ranking female by Sally, largely due to Jessie being the only female who still supports Marty over Alexis, even though he is no longer the alpha male. Jessie was sitting away from the group which is not uncommon for her.

Cara (1981) has in the space of a year, progressed from being the lowest ranking female to the third highest. As the mother of the alpha male, Cara now enjoys a high ranking position. Cara still looks youthful for age and is clearly enjoying her new position after many years as a low ranking female.

Keza (1998) has risen in rank since the birth of her first offspring, Kitwe (2014). She is now the fourth highest ranking female.

Samantha (1983) has dropped in ranking significantly in the last couple of years. She has lost status since the death of her adult son Temba (1994-2015), who was the beta male, and has lost further status due to no longer having an infant or juvenile offspring. Samantha had a visable wound on the back of her neck from one of the other chimpanzees, which is chimpanzee terms was very superficial.

Malika (2010) has recently lost her white tuft, as she enters adolescence and the adult chimpanzee hierarchy. As the lowest ranking female, Malika keeps a safe distance from the higher ranking females during the food throw overs and any support she receives from her mother counts for little as Samantha is low ranking also. At one stage Malika antagonised the highest ranking female, Sally, who with son Bakari riding on her back, charged at Malika causing her to flee.

In conclusion the hierarchy is now:

Males:

Alexis (1998)
Marty (1987)

Females:

Sally (1985) + Bakari (2012)
Jessie (1978)
Cara (1981)
Keza (1998) + Kitwe (2014)
Samantha (1983)
Malika (2010)

 

Thank you for a very interesting read. I'd love to see recent pictures of the younger chimps in the group. Malika and Bakari must be huge now.

 

No worries. I didn’t get any photos of the chimpanzee but yes, the three youngest: Malika (2010), Bakari (2012) and Kitwe (2014) have grown a lot since my last visit.

Malika is huge. She isn’t much smaller than the adult chimps, approximately 75% of their size. She has long limbs, like her cousin Sembe at Taronga – a common trait amongst the descendants of Susie’s line. She is completely independent of her mother.

Bakari is not overly large for his age. He has short to average length limbs, like his cousin Sule at Taronga but like his mother, Sally, has a stocky build. He is very independent of Sally, but doesn’t hesitate to hitch a ride on her back, especially if she is about to have a go at a lower ranking female.

Kitwe is not a lot different in size to Bakari, slightly smaller due to the age difference of two years but they were so similar I initially identified Kitwe by his proximity and interactions with his mother, Keza. When Bakari and Kitwe are directly next to each other, the size if difference is more noticeable.



Paternity of these three is still anyone’s guess:



Malika could have been fathered by Sam (1977), Temba (1994) or Alexis (1998)



Bakari could have been fathered by Sam (1977), Temba (1994) or Alexis (1998)



Kitwe could have been fathered by Sam (1977), Temba (1994), Alexis (1998) or Beni (2007)



I’m guessing Malika was fathered by Sam due to her large size, as Sam and Temba were both large males, and if given plenty of alternatives, males don’t typically mate with their mothers (which would rule out Temba).



I’m guessing Bakari was fathered by Alexis due to his stocky, shorter build and Sally’s fondness for Alexis.



I’m honestly unsure on Kitwe, maybe Alexis as he’s close to Keza and the smaller size of Alexis (compared to Sam and Temba) could have offset the genes for large size from Keza to give a medium-large offspring.

 

Rockhampton Zoo have announced via Facebook
"We have a baby! We are delighted to announced the safe arrival of our first ever baby chimpanzee. Born yesterday to mum, Leakey and dad, Alon, both mum and baby are doing well". Full article on Rockhampton Zoo thread. Nice video of Leakey and baby on Facebook.
Rockhampton Zoo

 

Awesome news. Impressed they've announced it just after the birth also. I was thinking only the other day that Alon (2008) has been taking his time, considering males like Marty (1987) and Lubutu (1993) became fathers as young as 8-9 years. Hopefully the older females (aged 29 and 34) are also pregnant or will conceive soon.

 

Following their arrival from Taronga at the beginning of the month, Hannah and Lani have been successfully integrated into Monarto's chimpanzee group! A hugely exciting development for the group, which has been short on females for a long time now. Announcement on Monarto Zoo's Facebook page.

 

Sending Hannah to Monarto Zoo was long overdue (should have been done 2 years ago) and the best thing they could have done. It was obvious from early on that she was never going to settle at Taronga and both yourself and I predicted she would have done better in a small community with relatively easy going females like those at Monarto.

Interesting that Lani went with her. When Sandali left Taronga Zoo as a 13 year old in 2009, Lani would have been 7 years old. I don't know if they were close but surely they would have recongnised each other again when Lani arrived this month.

Personally, I always favoured the idea of sending Lani and Sembe to Wellington Zoo together and sending Samantha and Malika to Monarto but I guess Hannah and Lani have formed a friendship during Hannah's time at Taronga and they felt Lani would provide support at Monarto. Swapping Sembe for Samantha/Malika would be largely pointless for genetics reasons as Samantha and Sembe both descend from Susie's line and are cousins. Lani however, would have been more distantly removed.

What's interesting now, is that with Hannah and Lani's export and Sembe's return to the main group, the group has become even smaller. It now consists of males Lubutu and Samaki and females Shona, Ceres (+infant) and Naomi.

Early on, I believe it would have been more productive to continue with Ceres' and Naomi's introduction to the main group as both were making progress. Ceres having an infant and the length of time the adult males have been separated will surely prove a challenge to restarting introductions.

The logical step would be to export this small group to the new zoo in Sydney, but one could forgive Taronga for being reluctant to part with the new females, they have spent so much effort on importing and trying to integrate with their community. Perhaps they should try and intergrate chimpanzees from the larger group with the small group, sending any chimpanzees causing long term tension/problems to the new zoo.

 

Rockhampton Zoo Chimpanzee:

Rockhampton Zoo have announced the chimpanzee infant born 11/02/2018 to Alon and Leaky is a female.

A naming competition is now open until 23/03/2018:

Name the new baby chimp

 

Fantastic that the last three (if suspicions surrounding Ceres' baby are true) infants in the region are female after a long string of males.

In other big Australasian ape news, Rotterdam Zoo has announced on Facebook that their blackback gorilla Nasibu (2007, Matze/Rebecca) will be coming to Orana in 2019 to head up a family group. I am absolutely intrigued as to what this means for Orana's present bachelor group (Kibabu sons Fataki, Fuzu and Mahale) and whether females will be imported into the region to form this new family. I'm very excited to have Nasibu coming into the region, as I have been closely followed his story since he was an infant. After the death of his father he had to be removed from his natal group in Frankfurt, and was raised instead by Bokito's group in Rotterdam. He looks a lovely young gorilla.

 

I doubt Orana have the space to manage two groups (breeding and bachelor) so I'm guessing a relocation is likely. The new Sydney Zoo maybe, or even Werribee (with their gorillas going to the Sydney Zoo since Fataki doesn't like crowds)?

Our region is relatively short on breeding age female gorillas. There's only:

Taronga Zoo:

Frala (1981) - has a dependent juvenile
Johari (2000) - social issues
Mbeli (2003) - has a dependent juvenile and infant

Melbourne Zoo:

Kimya (2005) - has a dependent juvenile

Mogo Zoo:

G-Ann (1979) - almost post reproductive and social issues
Kriba (1979) - almost post reproductive
Kipenzi (2011) - ideal for relocation into a breeding situation

Kipenzi (2011) is the only female suitable for relocation into a breeding group at the present time in my opinion as the other females are either almost post reproductive (approx. 40 years), have dependent offspring or have social issues (and are lucky to have settled where they are # if it ain't broke, don't fix it).

I'm guessing the new group at Orana will consist of Nasibu (M07), Kipenzi (F11) and either one or two young females from outside the region.

 

That would be my guess also. Definitely interesting times ahead!

 

Curious choice of Nasibu as male. His parents Matz x Rebecca are heavily represented in Europe, there are silverback sons with breeding groups and several offspring each already in Chessington UK(Damisi) Artis(Akili) and Prague(Richard) and a daughter Fossey has just a baby in Valencia. He's not related to other Gorillas in Australia but still an odd choice IMO.

 

I can only see it as the EEP looking at the Australasian population as a separate entity, in which Nasibu would have more genetic value than he would in Europe. More 'valuable' males that might have been exported instead will be retained in the European population.

 

I think they sometimes choose a younger blackback male as being easier to integrate with new females also, and Nasibu fits that category and seems to need to leave Rotterdam also due to conflict with silverback Bokito. A combination of factors often seems to determine the choice.

 

I suppose the positive here, is that Nasibu’s dam is proven to have reared sons (in this case three) who have become successful silverbacks. In contrast, Otana, who has been intolerant of socially challenged females (killing one and evicting another from the group) was not proven. He was the third offspring of his mother, the first died in infancy and the second was a female.

Considering the geographical isolation of Australasia compared to Europe, where there are many available black backs as ‘back ups’, perhaps it is more important to factor in the likelihood of the import being successful as a leader. I’m not implying this should override the genetic value of the male or his potential contribution but if there are four or five males of similar age and genetic value, then this should surely be an aiding factor in deciding which male to choose.

 

Rockhampton Zoo's Chimpanzee Baby Named

Shortlisted names and their meanings from entries submitted:

ADA: Ada, or variations of Ada, was one of the top three names nominated. "Ada is an African name which means 'first daughter'. It also means prosperous and happy in English, and beautiful and adorned in Hebrew."

BELLA: There were a number of nominations that were variations of Leakey's name or a combination of Alon and Leakey. Bella represents that theme. "ALon and LEakey's Baby - capital letters spelt backwards."

CAPRI: Capri, Capricorn and Capricornia popular nomination reflecting where she was born.

JANDY: Jandy, Jandi, Jandey and Jane were the most popular nomination in terms of number of individual entries. Jandy is the name nominated by the Zoo staff. The name honours Dr Jane Goodall and the Hebrew version Jandy reflects Leakey and Alon's birth place.

OHANA: "Ohana means family and family means no one will be left behind. However, if you choose to leave we will always remember you."

Winning Name chosen by Leakey:

Five shortlisted names. Five smoothies. One mother chimp who probably didn't know the severity of choosing her breakfast drink.

Families turned out to Rockhampton Zoo this morning to see a name chosen for the baby chimp who was born on February 12.

"We have had an absolute wonderful morning, so many people came along to witness the occasion and it was just lovely to see,” Councillor Cherie Rutherford said.

The zoo staff then prepared five smoothies that corresponded to five envelopes with the names.

Mum Leakey chose envelope number two, Capri, nominated to reflect Capricorn and Capricornia, the region where she was born. The name was nominated about 10 times.

"There was variations of the name Capri and then there was Roxy (spelt Rockzy) to reflect Rockhampton that didn't make the cut.

Back up plans were in place just in case Leakey didn't want to play the name game.

"We were a bit concerned she wouldn't come down, the first time we did introduce mum and babe to the cameras, she didn't come down because they didn't like so much attention, but she was wonderful as she has been since the baby was born,” Cr Rutherford said.

Cr Rutherford hoped it was a day all families there would remember.

"When we all think back about things in our childhood, we remember a tree we planted or a visit to the zoo, I am hoping these children can bring their children to the zoo or their grandchildren and say they actually go to witness the baby chimp being named,” she said.

With the name now officially in place, the advertising campaign will kick off.

"We have some chimpanzee toys we have been holding for a name so we can have those embroidered so they can all purchase a chimpanzee with the name Capri on it and those funds will assist us in making the zoo bigger and better,” Cr Rutherford said.

Now almost two months old, baby Capri "is coming ahead in leaps in bounds”.

"You just see her develop every week, she is talking now, she is making her own little sounds, she is starting to strengthen up, Leakey holds her and she hangs,” Cr Rutherford said, "Hopefully we will be able to watch her grow for years to come.”

Name chosen for baby chimp as advertising campaign kicks off

 

Perth Zoo’s legendary grand old dame, Puan, has died, aged around 62 years old- the oldest Sumatran orangutan on record. She leaves behind a great legacy, and many hearts touched.

Perth zoo keeper’s heartfelt tribute after death of world’s oldest Sumatran orangutan | The West Australian

 

Wow..really sorry to hear that but what an age to reach. I saw her once some years ago with her last infant- she was a very small but active Orangutan( Puan, I mean).