From what I've heard, this behaviour was quite typical of Spitter. In her prime, she successfully raised three offspring to adulthood and attained a high ranking position in the hierarchy. She was instrumental in helping one of the males (Sonny) rise to the alpha position in the late 80s, which increased her status even further. In 1999, her son Gombe killed the next alpha male (Snowy) and assumed the role as alpha. With her son as the alpha male for two years until his death, Spitter was the highest ranking female. Spitter didn't have an easy adolescence, she lost several offspring, with one being killed by other chimpanzee, before her first successful rearing of Sacha in 1980. Following the export of her mother in 1982, Spitter lost all family support and was no doubt forced to toughen up, as have Shiba and Kuma in more recent years, as to succeed in the community. I think these experience have greatly shaped Spitter's personality. She is a fiercely protective mother and grandmother with very strong maternal instincts. The opposite can be said for her daughter Sacha, she is now in her mid 30s and had the luxury of her mother's support her entire life. She is highly insecure and rarely has the confidence to support her offspring, screaming hysterically in fear if she is subjected to any conflict with the adult males. This means she is of little use to her sons in conflicts, and maybe Spitter tries to compensate for this. After Gombe's death, Lubutu assumed the alpha position and the power quickly switched from Spitter's line to Lulu and Lisa's line. There no doubt would have been some resistance from Spitter throughout these changes, which were further escalated in the mid 2000s, when her adolescent grandson Sandali attempted to challenge Lubutu for the alpha position. His many failed bids made him and Spitter (through her support of Sandali) targets of intimidation campaigns by Lubutu (as seen in the video). This was the primary reason Sandali was selected for export to the Adelaide/Monarto Zoo in 2008.
Even in her senior years, Spitter will actively back up any member of her family in any conflict. When Sasha does her hysterical screaming antics, Spitter is always first to be there and screams blue murder at whoever upset Sasha... and if either of the boys (Shikamoo and Sule) are involved in anything, Spitter is always right in the middle of the action screaming at the opponent. She doesn't get into much physical action, but will happily scream in anyone's face if her family members are put in a position of conflict. She is by no means the shy and retiring granny people think she should be... *grin* I find her 2 grandsons intensely fascinating... both have amazing political skills, and have most of the other females wrapped around their little fingers. Neither will actively start a conflict, and will usually resort to "reasoning" to resolve any challenges. I'm tipping one or both to take a turn as alpha at some point in the future... if anything happens to Lubutu... Most of the keepers I've spoken to think that Samaki or Furahi will challenge for alpha at some point, but without the full backing of most of the females, I really don't see it happening. I'm tipping that Furahi may make a play for the job once they try to reintroduce Kuma's family into the main group... he has been observed actively challenging Lubutu from his side of the barriers, and has assumed alpha position of the smaller group... he's not going to go back to underling in any hurry methinks. On a different note, I was at Taronga yesterday and watched the chimps for a short while. Ceres seems to be doing a lot better physically than a couple of months ago, but is still rather a nervous outsider. Hannah is the most confident and seems to have found her own niche in the main group. Naomi actively interacts with others too... and seems to have formed a bit of a friendship with little Sudi... I've got photos of her following him around holding his white tuft, and he's encouraging her to keep up with him... too cute for boots. T.
I think Furahi is the most likely contender for the alpha role. He has the ambition for it and the support of his equally ferocious mother Kuma. Samaki has played the role of Lubutu’s right hand man for a few years now and is currently the beta male. I don’t think he’ll succeed in displacing Lubutu and is probably happy in his role. I think it’s unlikely Shikamoo would rise to the alpha position given his placid nature. He reminds me of Sam (1977-2015) at Wellington Zoo. He was highly popular amongst the females and sired many offspring but never showed any interest in taking up the alpha role. Shikamoo had a chance to assume the alpha role recently in the small troop, which was comprised of four members of his family but didn’t contest Furahi for it. I guess time will with Sule. Is he still dominated by Sembe? Which chimpanzee are still left in the smaller original group? I wish Taronga Zoo would do an update!
In the smaller group I identified Kuma, Furahi, Fumo, and Shona - there was another that I couldn't quite get a good look at, and deduction by identifying the members of the larger group was hampered by most of them lying down on the higher platforms, so I couldn't make out all of them there either... grrr! I'm not completely sure of how many are in each group either due to their positioning. Might have to go back to TZ tomorrow and bail up a keeper to pump for info... *grin* T.
OK - went to Taronga yesterday and bailed up a keeper to find out exactly who was left in the smaller group. There are 7 of them, and are as follows... Kuma, Furahi, Fumo, Sasha, Shikamoo, Sule, and Shona Spitter was introduced to the larger group last Thursday, and even without family support, she has been throwing her weight around a bit... I told you she was a feisty old girl... lol! Ceres is looking a bit physically better than she was a couple of months ago, but is still very much the outsider, and is usually found sitting by herself away from the rest of the group. At the food throwover, she got a decent amount of food, but none of the choice ears of corn - she did get a really good couple of hands full of carrots though. Apparently Lubutu is protecting Ceres a bit... so hopefully she will continue to improve and become more acceptable to the others over time. Naomi and Hannah have found their places in the group from what I can see, and have very few wounds visible - mainly ears a bit tatty, but nothing serious... T.
Thanks for finding that out Tdierikx, it's good to finally have an update. Strange they decided to introduce Spitter separate from Sacha and her boys. Maybe they're hoping Spitter will adjust to the changes in the troop so she can focus all her attention on supporting Sacha when she arrives. I'm guessing Kuma and her sons will be introduced last. Personally I think they're overestimating Kuma's reaction to the new females. As long as she's assured they don't pose a threat to her or her offspring, I think it'll be quite a seamless introduction. So far, the only female to present a challenge has been Koko, but she's far from normal socially and has caused mutliple problems in the troop over the years. She gave Kuma a hard time when she an adolscent and then there was her attack on Samaki in 2004. I'm not sure if the females were taken off contraception prior to their introductions began in July. If they weren't on contraception from the start, Shabani and Samaki have had a significant advantage in siring offspring over Furahi, Shikamoo and Sule. So are the favourites of the males still Shabani (Hannah) and Samaki (Naomi)? I wonder if they'll ditch them for Shikamoo when he shows up?
Any news on the chimpanzee introductions anyone? Amazing to think Furahi has been separated from Lubutu for almost half a year now. That's gonna be one huge confrontation when he's reintroduced. I wonder if Fumo will be separated from Kuma for a few hours so Kuma can provide Furahi with some support against Lubutu and Samaki without the risk of Fumo getting injured and so Furahi doesn't have to face two males (both with full family support) on his own.
I'm still waiting for an update from the Taronga Zoo page, or any recent visitors to the zoo. I'm guessing they aren't too far away from having the whole group together now. I wonder if Kuma's status will take a knock as Shiba and her offspring have been together in the main group from pretty much the start and no doubt reassumed second place in the hierachy in Kuma's absence. As far as I'm aware, the new females' contraceptives were allowed to wear off in quarantine and new contracpetives not applied so hopefully we'll see offspring from this year. Naomi (2001) is still young and if given the chance to build up a family will progress well in the group I think. Ceres (1990) and Hannah (1993) will be coming to motherhood later in life than the other females but will hopefully do well in the group overtime. I't's be interesting to see if any of them are renamed as Taronga haven't confirmed either way on their website....
You can't currently view the chimps... they have the area barricaded off to the public. Methinks the introductions are causing more issues than were expected, and there are still 2 separate groups... Kuma's and Sasha's families and Shona still appear to be in the smaller enclosure. Very hard to find a keeper willing to share any info on the introductions of late... sorry... T. Edited to reflect correct families... thanks BennetL
This is weird.Looks like intro's aren't going well.If Kuma and Sasha (I think you mean) families and Shona haven't been introduced yet they have been on a halt in intros since Nov.The problems must be sourcing from the current group of Lubutu,the new females,Shiba,spitter,Samaki,Shabani,Sembe and Sudi. BennettL
Doesn't sound like the introductions are going well. They do seem to be becoming rather drawn out. Fumo is missing a lot of socialisation with Sudi and Liwali now too. I'd be interested to know if it's conflicts in the existing group that are delaying the introductions of the others or if the remaining chimpanzees are proving difficult to introduce?? Any ideas tdierikx or anyone?
With viewing of the chimps currently restricted, and it's very hard to find a keeper willing to discuss the introductions, it anyone's guess at this point Zoofan15... T.
Fair point, they've gone very quiet online, and now barricading off the area. Something is obviously up. Here's hoping all chimps concerned emerge from these introductions safe and integrated as a community, or at least tolerating each other. Personally I think the prolonged separation of the adult males is going to be a bigger source of problems than the integration of the new females.
I'm pretty sure it's with the group that has already been introduced.If it was the group that was being intoduced than they would still be on display as separate groups.Makes me wonder why Taronga have not given any updates.I hope nothing serious has happened our consequences them. BennettL
Chimpanzee Update: New chimps given space to bond So Ceres has overcome her difficult start and Hannah has gone from a relatively successful start to becoming the lowest ranking female. I'm guessing Ceres was perhaps more aware of the hierarchy and accepting of her low ranking position as a new female and only Koko really took objection to her, having now grown to tolerate her whereas Hannah caught the attention of the males and sought to advance her status, which has incited jealousy from higher ranking females in the group like Shiba and Kuma?
Possibly but that might mean that Naomi would be effected by jealousy too.I wonder which chimps have gone back to the old group and which remain.With Hannah losing her position in the group as it wasn't surprising as she has no family to support her and when she did make bonds with the males it was obvious the higher ranking females wouldn't like it and it also didn't suprise me that all the other lower ranking females are friends with her.So has Hannah lost Shabani?If Shiba and the other females are bullying her then her son wouldn't be with her anymore.Ceres seems to have risen and swapped with Hannah.Keep posting updates please Zoofan15. BennettL
Maybe Naomi took a different approach to Hannah, Naomi is still a young/adolescent female, and was probably accepted as a friend or playmate more readily by the other young/adolescent females in the group, Lani and Sembe. Naomi deferred to Sembe when they met, showing respect and has gained her trust and friendship in time. Since the birth of her brother in 2014, Sembe has been trying to find her place in the community now she is no longer a juvenile and no longer the centre of her mother's attention. Therefore the friendship has been equally beneficial to both Naomi and Sembe, giving them both more support. Hannah, having shown mostly only interest in the males, would have found herself facing jealousy from the high ranking females and lacking the support of any females as she hadn't invested time in those friendships initially like Naomi. Hannah has obviously learnt, hopefully not too late, the value of friendship and is now seeking to form these relationships. A lot of factors, including previous social experience and personality, may have led to Hannah and Naomi taking different approaches to integrating with the group. Naomi is described as very confident, so she was likely persistent in making positive interactions with other members of the community, which led to friendships.
