As you said Zoofan15, Naomi is more of a younger female which means she will be accepted as a playmate for Sembe,Lani,Sule,Ect.Though Hannah and Ceres who are older will attract a lot of jeoulousy from the high ranking females such as Shiba and Kuma.Though the females (Ceres and Hannah) are starting to grow support from the lower ranking females which will then support them against the high ranking females.Their is a worry though Taronga have said the females who have no male support will be exported so this means Lani,Sembe,Shona,Koko and Kamili will be exported who are the lower ranking females.This means that both Hannah,Ceres and even Naomi will be left alone again with no support.So while they have support it will be important to gain trust with the high ranking females.What is happening with the infants?They must be losing lots of socialstion with the other infants now. BennettL
If Hannah was monopolising Shabani, Kamili wouldn't have taken that well at all... she regards him as her number one fella - especially when she's cycling. I've seen her get very cranky with him for showing attention to other females in the original group over the years... Not to mention that Koko is quick to back up Kamili if any fracas starts... T.
So that means that any flirting with Shabani causes trouble.I wonder if their are any changes that has happened on the group recently in their positions.Sembe has showen interest in the new females but the other likely females.No.Lani and Shona are showing no interest in the new females.I find both of them sort of solitary with barely any interactions.It goes the way that Shona will support Shiba in fights.Lisa is like Sacha they are quiet calm but can get feisty.So is Samaki still With Naomi or has it changed?Ceres is showing lots of affection towards Lubutu but the females aren't worried about her or him because he can't breed.Lol. BennettL
I think with Shona, she’s unfortunately quite isolated due to her inability to breed and therefore suffers from a lack of support. Prior to the arrival of the new females, she was the lowest ranking female and will no doubt be supplanted by them too as they eventually have offspring of their own. Shona receives almost no support from Shiba, who is the younger sister of Shona’s mother. Shiba has her own family of four offspring and has no need for support from Shona either. Shona should essentially be regarded as a separate family group on her own, rather than an extension of Shiba’s. While Sembe is indeed playing second fiddle to her younger brother Sudi for his mother’s attention, she still receives support from Shiba and of course her two adult brothers. Lani as you mention is quite aloof from the other families. Despite both being young adolescent females, her and Sembe have little to do with each other. I believe Lani’s aloofness is due to the high ranking position of her family and her having never needed to make an effort with the other chimpanzees. Sembe, on the other hand, is most likely behaving like her mother. Shiba is not a social chimpanzee, preferring the company of her own family and interacting little with the other chimpanzee. Her protectiveness of Sembe during her early years may have restricted opportunities for Sembe to socialise to the extent of other chimpanzees such as Shikamoo or Sule. Koko was hand raised for at least the first eight years which is most likely the cause for some of her social issues. She has caused issues for several females in the group, including Shiba and Kuma. In 2004, she and Kamili savagely attacked Shiba’s juvenile son, Samaki, who would have likely been killed if not for Shiba’s ferocious intervention. While infanticide in chimpanzees is common, an attack on a juvenile like this would be considered unusual and unprovoked. Certainly not normal behaviour. Shiba and Kuma have both since risen to high ranking positions and Koko is of little bother to them now, but I’d imagine she’s been quite the challenge for the new females. Lubutu was indeed vasectomised after the birth of Sembe and Sule in 2008 (his fifth and sixth surviving offspring), but unlike castration, vasectomisation has no obvious effects on a male chimpanzee or his ability to mate with females so it’s unlikely the other females would know he’s incapable of siring offspring. They are wise to support him as he is the alpha, but to mate with the other males on the side to hedge their bets in case one of them supplants him. Samaki is Lubutu’s right hand man and is second in command. In return for his support, Lubutu allows Samaki to mate with some of his females, which led to Samaki fathering one of the recent infants in 2014.
Shona is very much a loner one.Being the lowest ranking she doesn't really have the ability to breed.Shiba being Aunty to Shona still shows support at times to her but will focus more on supporting and successfully raising her family.In regards to Lani being one of the high ranking families with an older brother as alpha means that she doesn't need to interact with many chimps and mate to be high ranking.Sembe is also very that way but did have some good times with Sule.Sembe is more now getting ready to be a breeder in helping raising the young infants.I think Koko and Kamili's sabotage attack on Sa maki was an attack to get attention and higher ranking.In return Shiba has attacked many of their young offspring.Isn't Shabani Lubutu's left hand man? BennettL
Taronga say that Samaki is the beta male of the current troop, but Furahi plays the role on occasion also. Shabani is the lowest ranked socially of the adult males, even though he's the one who seems to be doing most of the mating... but is yet to be successful in producing any offspring. The baby Kamili had and lost a couple years back may well have been his, but as far as I can ascertain, no DNA tests were performed on the deceased infant. Same for Koko's infant of the same year. Shikamoo is the quiet achiever... fathering 2 of the current toddlers... *grin*... and I believe that he could quite easily become the alpha male if anything were to happen to Lubutu - he is politically more attractive to the females, whereas the other 2 main contenders are more aggressive and the females aren't impressed with that sort of behaviour, so may not support them as well in the role of alpha. Koko seems to be the fave Aunty of the current toddlers... and she is playing that role exceptionally well... hard to believe that she'd attack any of them nowadays... but she is definitely not to be trusted around newborns. T.
Shona’s inability to breed is due to the fact she was sterilised during the mid-1990s. I’m not sure for what reason this was done but it’s ultimately been of quite a hindrance to Shona in a community such as Taronga’s, where status is largely influenced by a chimpanzee’s ability or inability to produce and raise offspring. It’s possible she was sterilised as a means to population control as her family was already represented by Shiba, who had her first offspring in 1989. Kamili has had three offspring, the second was stillborn and the third was born (and died) in isolation from the community so Shiba was in no way connected with either of those deaths. It’s my belief she wasn’t responsible for the death of Kamili’s first offspring in 2005, as new information has since come to light on the deaths of Kamili’s infants and there was never conclusive proof Shiba killed the first infant. Shiba was blamed as the night cameras showed her carrying the dead infant, but the infant could easily have been killed by another chimpanzee (including Koko or Kamili) and then been picked up by Shiba out of curiosity or even concern. The video footage should hold some clues though…If Shiba had killed the infant moments before the footage was taken, then that would have caused commotion in the group and she would have been surrounded by multiple members of the community. If the infant had been dead for some time (and later picked up by Shiba), it would seem likely Shiba would only have her offspring surrounding her as the community would have since lost interest in the dead infant.
Samaki is a very worthy male to the position of alpha if something happens to lubutu.I think Samaki sired both of Koko and Kamili's offspring.Shikkamoo is very much a polite and interactive male which females like which is the reason he sired two of the recent offspring.Furahi sired the other.Weird story with Kamali's first offspring.I agree with you Zoofan15. BennettL
Shikamoo is father to Fumo and Sudi... and Samaki is father to Liwali... Furahi is not father to any of the toddlers in the troop. Kamili's last infant was most likely Shabani's, but as stated before, no DNA testing was done on the deceased infants (Kamili's and Koko's) - not that anyone is admitting anyways... T.
Taronga has not done paternity tests on any of it's chimpanzee infants that were stillborn or died soon after birth, including Koko and Kamili's infants in 2014. I believe the reasoning is, the infant will have no future influence on the captive population so paternity is useless information. Personally, I think this is a shame. From a research/personal interest point of view, it would be interesting to know which male was the father. I agree Shabani was the father of Kamili's infants. This would make it especially ironic if Shiba had killed Kamili's 2005 infant (though I don't believe she did). If the new females were off contraceptives when they were introduced, Shabani and Samaki would have had quite a head start over Furahi, Shikamoo and Sule in fathering offspring.
So Shikamoo and Samaki are the current breeders.Furahi is another male that is likely to join them as a breeder in the group.Shikamoo is the father of Sudi and Fumo and samaki to Liwali.Kamili's infant was sired by shabani and most likely koko's to. BennettL
It'd be interesting to see how things had played out had Shabani and Samaki not been given a head start with the new females. Furahi, Shikamoo and Sule would all be considered strong contenders otherwise. Sule is 9 years old this year. In 2001, Lubutu fathered his first infant at the age of 8, despite there being an adult male in the troop, who was also the alpha male.
Can't blame them. Okay cool, we all look forward to hearing your update. Can you please ask a keeper which females are off contraceptives?
Went to TZ today and grilled a vollie at the Chimp exhibit... Chimps still split into 2 groups - gone back to smaller group with the 3 new girls, and have the 3 mums and toddlers in larger group. Vollie couldn't tell me who was in the smaller group apart from the 3 new girls and Lubutu - but I couldn't find Sasha, Sule, Lani or Samaki in the larger group - Lani may have been in the big group, but I didn't spot her anywhere obvious. Hannah seems to be the one who has been copping it from others recently, but was assured by vollie that she was in better shape this week than she was last week. She has a foot injury that is apparently not readily fixable, so she's limping quite markedly, and looks a bit like Ceres did when she was the one on the outer. She is keeping to herself mostly up in the top corner of the smaller exhibit, but Fumo and the other youngsters do go over and interact nicely with her on occasion through the mesh from their side.Couldn't see much of the smaller exhibit as they had it barricaded off. I suppose that the good news is that they are going back to basics and reintroducing the others slowly now... On another note, I didn't see any behaviours that would indicate which of the other adult males had taken on "alpha" duties in the larger group... but I'm tipping that Furahi has put up his hand for it... *grin* Oh - and vollie didn't know which females were off contraceptives, but surmised that with the current state of affairs with the new girls taking longer than expected to integrate, that they were most likely not trying to get them pregnant at this point. T.
They're certainly taking their time with the introductions, not that I think they should be rushing them of course. Removing Shiba, Lisa and Kuma (if she was ever introduced) from the new group seems like a big step back so I'm guessing they were causing major problems, as well as Koko. In the latest update, they said the new girls had been forming friendships with Lani, Sembe and Shona so perhaps those three are with the new girls as well as Lubutu and Samaki. Furahi I'm sure would easily steamroll over Shikamoo, Sule, Shabani and possibly Samaki for the alpha role. With Lubutu out the picture, I'd agree he's probably reinstated himself as the alpha. I'm sure Kuma is enjoying being mother of the alpha role and has possibly overtaken Lisa as the alpha female? When Taronga last introduced new chimpanzees in 1993 (including Koko), Koko have birth the following year in 1994 so that introduction presumeably went more smoothly than this one. Surprising when there were more adult females back then and only one or two adult or adolsecent males (Just Snowy and Monte I believe). If the new girls were to have babies this year, it would definately be a make or break situation. From what I've heard, Naomi has settled really well and having a baby asap would be really good for her. For Hannah and possibly Ceres, I'd say the risk of infanticide for their infants would be high, and probably not worth the risk in Taronga's opinion. Last I heard (2015), Lisa had been put on contraceptives following Liwali's birth in 2014, while Kuma and Shiba had not, following the birth of their infants in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Maybe the best way to go would be to breed Shiba, Kuma and Naomi in the next 12 months and give Ceres and Hannah another 2-3 years to settle and cement their place (and acceptance) in the group before allowing them to breed. Edit: Shiba last gave birth 2014, not 2015.
I wouldn't be surprised either, if Naomi is permitted to breed in the not too distant future, as she's at the age that she'd likely be recommended by the coordinator to have her first infant. Shiba and Kuma falling pregnant would depend a lot on when they begin cycling again. I imagine if Shiba had another infant it would be her last; with four offspring already in the community, she's been very successful. Honestly, if it were down to me, I'd try Hannah at Monarto, perhaps with another female with whom she has a good relationship (according to a January blog, she is close to Shona, Sembe and Lani), as the two females are probably 'easier' than the Taronga ladies, especially gentle giant, Zombi. I really hope things improve with all the introductions soon; it must be incredibly draining for all involved.
Infant mortality greatly increases in correlation to maternal age. If Liwali survives to adulthood, Lisa (at 35 years) will have been the oldest chimpanzee mother at Taronga Zoo to produce an offspring that survived to adulthood. Shiba is 36 years old this year, however she is in increadible condition for her age, she looks ten years younger than her age, is healthy, fit and strong and has strong family support. Combined with her excellent maternal skills, I believe if any chimpanzee could break the record it's Shiba but if she did, like you say, it would undoubtably be her last infant. Kuma is in her prime and is also a successful mother. I think they shoudl take advantage of this and breed her again asap. Sending Hannah to Monarto could be a godo idea. Realistically, Taronga aren't going to be able to make the best use out of three new females, and Shiba and Kuma in terms of breeding if they all remain at Taronga. I'm thinking Lani could accompany Hannah to Monarto (and also breed), and then when Sembe is a few years older (and Sandali vasectomised after breeding once more with Zombi and once or twice with Galatea), she could also join them and breed with Tsotsi.
