What zoo is the species coordinator based at now? I know previously it was Maria Finnigan at Perth Zoo, which seemed strange considering Perth Zoo has not had a permanent group of chimpanzee for decades and has little to no association with them. Surely someone at Taronga, Wellington, Hamilton or Monarto Zoo could have taken on this role. I could be wrong, but for a female the critical period of learning for a chimpanzee is up to 12 years isn’t it? I.e. a female like Koko who came to Taronga Zoo as an adult could watch as many normal mother/infant interactions as she liked, but wouldn’t learn a thing from them. Therefore any education in maternal behaviour or delay in breeding beyond the age of 12 years is theoretically pointless. A number of chimpanzees have proved excellent mothers at a young age: Gemini (at age 11), Sutu (at age 9), Shiba (at age 8), Lisa (at age 10), Samantha (at age 10), Sally (at age 10), Kuma (at age 11). Even females like Sacha, who had her first infant aged 9 and lost it, had success on breeding again aged 11. In some ways, I think it’s almost unnatural not to follow the pattern of natural chimpanzee society, where females breed upon reaching adolescence instead of being contracepted for years (and losing status due to not being able to breed). Shiba and Kuma (both allowed to follow the natural pattern of breeding upon reaching adolescence) are two of the highest ranking females because of their offspring. Research has determined the most successful mothers are aged in their 20s. While part of this success is attributed to this being their prime reproductive aged it is no doubt that the presence of adult offspring (which the mother had as an adolescent) and the experience she gained through raising them, also played a crucial role in this success.
Maria Finnigan was the species co-ordinator when she was the head of the African Division at Taronga for several years before moving to Perth. She knew all the Taronga Chimps intimately, and being a kiwi, I think she worked at Wellington before Taronga. Hix
Maria Finnigan worked at Auckland Zoo. She was a senior keeper there during the 1980s (and knew the Auckland Zoo chimpanzee well) and was later appointed as curator of Auckland Zoo.
Was looking around the ZAA website the other day and noticed that the chimpanzee co-ordinator has changed to Monarto Zoo.
Beth Pohl (curator at Monarto) is now the species co-ordinator. I hope too that the change might put things in motion to bring some females to Monarto, but time will tell. I'm a bit out of the loop as in Europe at the moment! With regards to putting young females on contraception, it has been widely observed that captive females left to cycle naturally, will produce infants much younger than their wild counterparts, at the onset of adolescence rather than undergoing what appears to be a period of adolescent sterility. The first birth in wild chimps is on average between the ages of 13 and 14, and rarely much younger. Thus, preventing conception until the female is at least 12 years old more closely mirrors what would occur in the wild than not intervening at all. The problem, of course, is that some contraceptive methods such as implanon can have long periods of effectiveness, and require anaesthesia for removal prior to their wearing off.
It seems madness that Europe has so many young females being sterilised and contracepted (i.e. not serving any breeding purpose) while Australasia is in desperate need for new genetics, and a more even balance of the sexes in troops like Monarto's. Surely more imports should be a priority as well as the two obvious moves that need to take place within our region's own groups (Lani and Sembe + Samantha and Malika). Out of interest @marmolady, do you know if adolescent sterility occurs in captive females? Some of the Taronga females like Chiki (1970), didn't produce her first infant until the age of 11 (other females were breeding as early as 7-9 years), suggesting maybe Chiki missed the boat on conceiving at 7-8 and then entered a period of sterility? Shiba (1981) had her first offspring in 1989, which died 1992. It was 2 years before she gave birth again. Could the death of her son occurred during this sterility phase, therefore explaining her inability to conceive soon after his death in 1992 (giving birth earlier than 1994)?
Unless individual females are listed as surplus, I doubt exportation of hybrid females is a priority, as the Australasian breeding programme has no subspecific value. There are, of course, complex social reasons why zoos may want to keep hybrid females within their colonies. Obviously I'd like to see hybrid females imported from Europe, but not at the expense of their welfare, or the welfare of their group. As we have seen, it is not always a smooth ride for the immigrants. Individuals are going to play roles in their groups, often significant, whether they are breeding or not. The new Sydney Zoo has a group of chimpanzees lined up for importation, though it is still early days. I wonder if they are coming from Europe. I'm not sure. I imagine it is very much an individual thing.
Like you say, it would depend greatly on the role the individual chimpanzee is playing in it's group at the time. If the commmunity is large (like at Kolmarden) and there are females with 4 or 5 offspring each in the group, removing 1-2 of them is unlikely to prove devastating to their status. As seen with Shona (1987) at Taronga Zoo, being sterilised is a huge detriment to status and a chimpanzee has the chance to emigrate to a new colony (and breed) vs remain in a large colony as a non breeder, the sacrifice of upheaval is a small one to make. It also follows the pattern of female diseprsal which is common amongst female chimpanzees. Above all else, I believe the best results are achieved from taking the stage a chimpanzee is at in it's life into accoutn when making managment decisions. Females who breed in the wild at age 13 have reached adolescence later and are still reproducing as they enter this phase of life. In cpativity, females reach adolescence earlier and therefore spend a significant amount of time 'waiting' to breed, which is contradictary to their natural state. When Fumo was born in 2013, 11 year old Lani was obsessed with trying to hold him (and getting frustratedwhen Kuma refused). As a female several years into adolescence, Lani would have had her own offspring by this stage, had she not been contracepted. In terms of imports, I strongly believe females of the natural age of dispersal (adolescents) are better suited than mature or prime age females. Successful introductions have included the three adolescent females who joined the Wellington Zoo troop in 1992 and to an extent, Naomi, who made significant progress during introductions at Taronga. Unsuccessful intos including Chima at Hamilton Zoo, Fimi at Hamilton Zoo and Hannah and Ceres at Taronga havve all had one common factor - the females were aged far beyond the natural dispersal age. It'll be exciting to see what route the Sydney Zoo take with their imports - hybrids? purebreds? Australsian imports or global imports?
This was on monarto zoo section. Two new chimps swing into Monarto Zoo By Sophie Hueppauff Sophie Hueppauff is Zoos SA's Communications Assistant We’re excited to share the news that two new chimps have joined Monarto Zoo’s Chimpanzee troop! Hannah Meet Hannah and Lani, two curious girls who are busy settling in after making the journey from Taronga Zoo in Sydney earlier this month. Senior Primate Keeper Laura Hanley spent a week at Taronga Zoo getting to know the new chimps before their arrival. She says the girls will be a great addition to the Monarto Zoo chimp group. “We have been trying to source females for quite some time and are ecstatic to find such great chimps within our region,” Laura says. After spending some time off exhibit interacting with the rest of the troop, Hannah and Lani are settling in well. “Hannah is a really sweet chimp, and is having a great time playing with and carrying around two-year-old Enzi,” Laura says. “It’s beautiful to see and a fantastic for her mothering ability as well.” The 24-year-old primate was initially nervous when meeting the troop. Luckily, alpha male Tsotsi quickly took her under his wing, offering her support as she met other individuals. Lani Despite being shy at first, the other newcomer, 15-year-old Lani, is now more comfortable within the troop. “Lani has a fantastic personality – she’s calm, playful and very social,’ Laura says. “She tends to sit back and watch her new troop and keepers to work out exactly how everything operates before she takes part.” Male chimp Gombe has been showing Lani around, frequently joining her as she explores her new home. Lani has also developed a friendship with five-year-old Zuri. The two frequently play chasey together – though they are still working out the boundaries of the game! Keepers have been staying overnight at the zoo to closely monitor Hannah and Lani’s interactions with the rest of the troop. We’re pleased to report that around-the-clock supervision is no longer necessary as the troop is continuing to bond positively. Hannah was born in Belfast on 28 November 1993, moving to Taronga Zoo from Warsaw Zoo in Poland in late 2015. Monarto Zoo is Hannah’s fifth home. Lani has had much less moving experience since, being born at Taronga Zoo on 25 May 2002.
Thanks for posting that @Osprey71. Here's the link to the article on Monarto Zoo's Website: Two new chimps swing into Monarto Zoo's Chimpanzee troop
Taronga's lack of updates on their chimpanzees lately is frustrating. Lani has lived at Taronga Zoo since her birth, nearly 16 years ago and comes from a family line that has been at the zoo since the 1960s. Why her departure from the zoo (as well as Hannah's) wasn't considered news worthy I don't know. The six pieces of news Taronga has published in the last month are mostly drivel/self promotion (birthday deals, blowing their trumpet on what they've done etc.). If it wasn't for Monarto Zoo, we wouldn't have even know these chimpanzee has left and we're still waiting to hear if the chimpanzee baby born in October is a male/female or alive, let alone a name or an update on the two groups.
The new babies name is Cebeli and it is a girl. It is alive and well. Photos up. In the Taronga Zoo media section
Nice to see that the Monarto group are much more accepting of newcomers than Taronga's troop. Poor Lani... going from high in the political heirarchy to bottom rung... but she's a smart girl, and it won't be long before she works it all out to her advantage... *grin* Fingers crossed we see Hannah pregnant in the near future... T.
Interesting to see they chose the name Cebeli for Ceres' infant. I'm guessing this is out of respect for the previous and ill-fated C family at Taronga - Chiki's line? Chiki and her last four offspring before her death, Cheena (1985), Chad (1989), Chunga (1991) and Chimbuka (1995), all had Ch names so perhaps out of respect to this line, no other chimpanzees will.
I think with Lani, she very much understands how to 'suck up' to the other chimpanzee within the community, but up and until now has never had to. Taronga's embrassingly out of date profiles on the chimpanzees refer to Lani as being aloof to the other infants (at that time this was Samaki, Furahi and Shikamoo), most likely due to her high status. Sister to the alpha male and daughter of the highest ranking female. Lani was often distraught at not being able to hold Fumo when he was born like Sule was, only occasionally being given this privaledge by Kuma. This birth initiated the rise of Kuma to the alpha position of course, over taking Shiba and then Lisa (upon Lubutu's removal). It was interesting to see Shiba, a high ranking femake usually disinterested in the others, sucking up to Kuma around the time of Fumo's birth. It was suggested this was to give Sembe the oppotunity to interact with Fumo. I don't think we'll see Lani as the alpha female any time soon as this is firmly Zombi's position but whether Lani can take out the position of beta female will be influenced primarily by whether she produces an infant and successfully raises it. I'm guessing with Galatea and Hannah being given priority to breed, Lani will be relegated to a lower position for some time to come. Zuri (born 2012) will soon be entering the adult female hierachy, as Malika (born 2010) at Wellington Zoo has recently done. However, unlike Malika, Zuri's mother is the alpha female so it'll be interesting to see where this places Zuri.
It sounds as though Lani has already found an ally in Gombe, and has also struck up a friendship with Zuri. She is on contraception, but Hannah is not. Genetically, poor old Lani doesn't have much going for her. My guess is that if she is given a recommendation to breed, it will be more to do with her welfare than furthering the breeding program. I'm interested to see Zuri's development as an adolescent. She has a great- and high ranked- mother on her side, and has always had a very close relationship with Tsotsi. She'll also eventually have the support of Enzi as he too matures. Interesting times ahead, for sure!
Archived Articles about Taronga Zoo's Chimpanzee Community: The Australian Women’s Weekly, April 3 1968, Page 21 The keeper of chimpanzees and orangutans, Mr. Bill Sykes, takes Lola for a walk. Lola is kept separately from the other chimps as she has been set aside for educational and photographic purposes. She is three years old-roughly the equivalent of a human nine-year-old. Her diet is varied. She eats fruit, vegetables, cake, porridge, vegetable extract, and loves her cup of tea. Her biggest outing has been to the Aquarium, which she loved, Mr. Sykes said, it is in the zoo. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48210743/4831254 Notes: Lola (born 1964) is the third offspring of Susie (1948-1995). It is interesting to note the decision to remove her from her mother, which was apparently not as a result of neglect or mismothering by Susie, who was an excellent mother. Lola was sent to Ridgeways Circus in 1971 and died in transit to a private facility in Fiji in 1999. The Sydney Morning Herald, March 12 1990, Page 80 THE CHIMP WHO CAME FROM NOWHERE: On Nine at 6.30 pm. Not since Return To The Planet Of The Apes has there been such case of simian rivalry. Forget Godzillas in The Mist, this is a yarn that makes Don Corleone look like a nancy boy. The scene: Taronga Zoo, chimpanzee enclosure. Keepers decide new blood needs to be introduced into the colony to prevent the inevitable decline which attends a closed breeding circle. If we must have these animals in cages for our delectation, we should have robust, lively specimens not mangy, clapped-out pinheads, right? Enter Sonny, a virile young male destined to replace the ageing but still actively dominant Danny. During the period of Sonny's closely monitored introduction to the females, disturbing events unfold. Three of the four baby chimps are wounded, two fatally. The third, whilst not badly injured, is rejected by its mother and all the other females and is as good as dead. Surveillance equipment points the finger at eight-year-old Mervyn. Could it be he has been engaged by Danny as a hit man, to bump off the new generation and keep his bloodline dominant? Westminster law doesn't apply to the chimpanzee hierarchy or any other part of the animal kingdom. Should natural or unnatural selection prevail? Is it murder in any terms other than human? Ought there be intervention in the interest of the colony, the zoo or the public? This is a terrific if inconclusive story, the equal of any internecine nastiness you could hope to find in Dynasty. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/122671943/ Notes: This was apparently a documentary about Taronga Zoo’s chimpanzee, which screened on Channel Nine in 1990. I’m not sure why Sonny (born 1978) is described as being ‘introduced’ to the females as he was mother raised by Susie and grew up in the community, along with siblings Sutu (born 1974) and Shiba (born 1981). It describes the death of three infants which are Chiki’s son Chad (born July 1989; died Dec 1989), Lulu’s daughter Leakey (born Aug 1989; died Sep 1989), Sacha’s son Sokwe (born Aug 1989; died Oct 1989). I’m not sure which of the three was rejected by its mother but I’m guessing it was Leakey as I’ve recently found an article about Lulu, which mentions she neglected Leakey. In addition, out of the three infants, Leakey was the youngest when she died at the age of 1 month, versus Chad who was 5 months old and likely well bonded with his mother by this stage. It's interesting to note that the chimpanzee responsible for these deaths was Mervin (born 1982), who was just 7 years old at the time. I’ve heard many cases of adult chimpanzees killing infants, but never a juvenile of Mervin’s age. Mervin’s family history may explain this. As described on Page 23 of this thread, Mervin’s mother Mary (1956-1989), attacked Lulu’s infant twins in 1983, injuring one so badly it had to be euthanised. While 14 month old Mervin would have been unlikely to have remember this incident, this aggressive behaviour was apparently nothing unusual for his high ranking mother, who also cannibalised another female’s infant. It was unclear if the infant was stillborn or if Mary had killed it. Mervin’s brother, Mike (1973-2011), who was exported to the Auckland Zoo in 1982, also killed a female’s infant in 1985. This however, was considered a natural response for an adult male chimpanzee upon meeting an infant of an immigrant female. Whether or not there was something malevolent about the M family I don’t know, but either way, Taronga Zoo chose to export all of Mary’s remaining offspring after her premature death in 1989 (Mervin in 1992 and Melissa and Monte in 1998) instead of continuing this family line. All that remains of Mary’s genes at Taronga is Shiba’s son Shabani (born 1994), who was fathered by Monte, prior to his export. The Sydney Morning Herald, August 15 1964, Page 3 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/123944257/ Notes: The article is near indecipherable but it describes Lulu’s arrival at the zoo in 1964. I’ve included it so people can click on the link and view the picture of Lulu. Lulu was estimated to be born in 1952 by Taronga Zoo, but in my opinion she looks far younger than 12 years old in this picture. I’d guess she was 4 years old (born 1960), which would have made her 9 years old upon the birth of her first infant in 1969 (not 17 years old).
