In August 2002 Chimpanzee-male Fons at Burgers Zoo was sterillisated because it was not completly clear if he was a pure-bred Western chimpanzee and to avoid more sub-species hybrids this step was taken. Genetic reseach has improved quite a bit over the last 15 year and renewed testing of Fons proved now that he is a pure-bred Western chimpanzee. To give him the change to breed, Fons has undergone a surgical operation and his vas deferens were fixed again. Now it is to wait if everything went well and if Fons will become father of some pure Chimp-babies. Article and clip in Dutch : Arnhemse chimpansee na 15 jaar weer vruchtbaar gemaakt
Great to see Fons fathering some offspring.By the looks of the photo in the article he looks about 15-18 years old. BennettL
Don't know if the picture is of Fons but when this is the case it's a very old picture, Fons is actualy 41 years old !
Wow.It actually looked to me like a 8-10 year old chimp but since he was sterilised in 2002 I tried to guess a young chimp around that age! BennettL
Yaaaaaaaay for Fons! Although if he passes away soon (he's the oldest of Arnhem's four males, the other three of which are castrated as they are non-subspecific) they'll need to bring in new PTVs...
@BennettL true, but there also aren't too many females of breeding age that are allowed to breed anymore...last I checked of the 16 chimps at Burgers' Zoo only Fons of the four males and Jimmie, Marlene, Roos, Gaby, Tesua, Tushi and Raimee of the 12 females are (believed to be) PTV...Jimmie is definitely one as she was wild-caught but is way past breeding age at an assumed age of 57, Marlene is also confirmed as western but is the same age as Fons so she is also almost certainly past breeding age, Roos will be 38 this year so she is of quite an elderly age too, but not completely unlikely to breed as she has done so before (Raimee is her daughter), Gaby has bred before but her father is unknown so, considering their recent mistakes thinking her younger brother Giambo was PTV, will likely be put on birth control, and Tesua and Tushi are both Fons' daughters, leaving Raimee as the only female confirmed to be PTV and of breeding age! So they may need to bring in new western males and females soon...it's not completely impossible, there are plenty of young confirmed PTVs out there in Europe that are/will soon be in need of new homes, and the group isn't impossible to introduce new individuals into as it was only a year ago that Marlene, her non-sub adult daughter Erika and another non-sub female called Moni moved in. I do hope Fons has some more offspring, the group's last baby to be born was the youngest male, Ghineau, who turned 11 in December! They are not the only zoo to pledge themselves to the P.t.verus EEP with not many individuals either...Twycross want to breed theirs with just one western male, two western females past breeding age, one western female still of breeding age, two eastern females who have been put on contraceptive, and seven male and six female non-sub (and therefore not allowed to breed) individuals!
In other news, gorilla Kisiwa moved from Apenheul to Beekse Bergen this week to become a breeding female in the group governed by young male Komale, which was formed last year. Her five year old daughter Chama will be left behind, but never really got on too well with her mother, so has been taken under the wing of Kisiwa's full sister Gyasi.
The photo of Fons as a young animal clearly shows he had the typical facial dark mask of a young Western chimp, though of course that might show in a sub-specific cross also. Do you happen to know how many of the Twycross males are castrated, and which ones?
All except Kibali if I'm not wrong, so Jambo, William, Flynn, Jomar, Peter, Tommy and Danny. EDIT: In 2014 William, Jomar, Peter and Tommy were all neutered. Jambo was neutered as recently as 2015, and Danny and Flynn ought to have been neutered last year if I'm not mistaken.
Apart from the ones that were neutered as younger animals during the Badham era, are you sure they have recently actually castrated these other adult males, as against vasectomising them? It sounds a bit drastic in this day and age.
I know Jambo, William, Jomar, Peter and Tommy are definitely castrated, the more recent ones (Flynn and Danny) were likely vasectomised.
And I don't think I ever mentioned but the baby chimp at Dierenrijk has been named Kibibi. I think I should maybe post an up to date list just for people to use as reference this calendar year. At the time of writing the zoos and groups are as follows: STICHTING AAP Chimpanzee = 43 (27.16) total in nine groups - Freddy Mojo (2.0, both non-sub) - Hiasl, Rosi (1.1, both non-sub) - Tanno Koko, Mimmi (2.1, all non-sub) - Oscar Noah Kenny (3.0, Noah P.t.s, Oscar + Kenny P.t.v) - Sony Buddy Macario Unyoro (4.0, Buddy + Macario non-sub, Sony + Unyoro P.t.v) - Zorro Juus Tomas, Iris Willy (3.2, Juus + Willy non-sub, Zorro + Tomas + Iris P.t.v) - Jim Toto Julio, Linda Fiffy Regina (3.3, all non-sub) - Zeef Bie Erik Laurens Tijs, Maja Ono (5.2, Maja non-sub, all others P.t.v) - Ton Joost Huub Fuad Fauzi, Phil Peggy-Sue Femma Marjo Sylvia Karlien (5.6, all P.t.v) AMERSFOORT Chimpanzee = 9 (4.5) total kept in one group with one female separated - Mike Karibuna Kumi Wingu, Sjors Bini Willy Bibi Chura (Kumi non-sub, all others P.t.v) *Bini is kept separated from the group* APENHEUL Bornean orang-utan = 10 (4.6) total, adult males x2 kept separately and females and offspring allowed to choose which male/if they want to be alone - Kevin Amos Kawan Baju, Silvia Sandy Wattana Binti Samboja Dayang (Kevin and Amos live separated, females and offspring allowed to choose who they spend their day with if they want to be with a male at all) Western lowland gorilla = 13 (5.8) total - Jambo Mapasa Wimbé M'Zungu Jabari, Mintha Mandji Nemsi Gyasi M'Fugaji Iriki Tayari Chama Bonobo = 11 (4.7) total kept in fission-fusion group, meaning group may sometimes be separated in two and then reunited a short unspecified period of time after (ranging from a day to a few months) - Kindu Bolombo Makasi, Bonnie Jill Zuani Kumbuka Besede Yahimba Monyama Ayebi ARTIS Western lowland gorilla = 8 (5.3) total - Akili Bembosi Shambe Douli Shae, Shindy Dafina Binti Chimpanzee = 9 (3.6) total - Vizuri Wakili Ajani, Margot Leen Sabra Quincy Amber Saphira (Leen P.t.s, all others non-sub) BEEKSE BERGEN Western lowland gorilla = 8 (5.3) total kept in two groups - Uzuri M'Bewe Kidogo M'Kono (4.0) - Komale, Kisiwa Tuena N'Washi (1.3) Chimpanzee = 24 (9.15) total kept in three groups - Dennis Gert-Jan Daan Wouter Sanne (5.0, Wouter + Sanne non-sub, Dennis + Gert-Jan + Daan P.t.v) - Socrates Stephan, Marlies Michelle Pepa Fangina Martje Jozi Inosha (2.7, all P.t.v) - Wakili Julian, Anna-Clara Lenny Centa Linda Nadine Joke Marijke Lily (2.8, all P.t.v) BLIJDORP Western lowland gorilla = 9 (4.5) total - Bokito Nasibu Aybo Thabo, Annette Tamani Aya Ayba Tonka BURGERS' ZOO Western lowland gorilla = 11 (5.6) total - Bauwi Nakou Nukta N'Kato Madiba, N'Gayla Nimba Makoua N'Aika N'Hasa N'Irale Chimpanzee = 16 (4.12) total - Fons Jing Giambo Ghineau, Jimmie Marlene Moniek Roos Gaby Tesua Morami Móni Tushi Erika Geisha Raimee (Jing + Giambo + Ghineau + Moniek + Morami + Móni + Erika + Geisha non-sub, Fons + Jimmie + Marlene + Roos + Gaby + Tesua + Tushi + Raimee P.t.v) DIERENRIJK Chimpanzee = 7 (2.5) total - Dirk Pat, Carolina Sonja Jana Christa Kibibi (all P.t.v) GAIAZOO Western lowland gorilla = 9 (3.6) total - Makula Loango Mosi, Dalila Tamidol Sangha Ayo Zola Nala OUWEHANDS Bornean orang-utan = 7 (3.4) total, adult male x1 and adolescent male x1 kept separate, females and offspring alternate between the two - Bako Damai Sabbar, Anak Tjintah Jewel Daya (Bako and Damai kept separate, females and offspring alternate between the two) Western lowland gorilla = 6 (6.0) total - Bitono Jah Bitanu Popa Baloo Imbizo KEY non-sub = subspecies unknown or subspecies hybrid P.t.s = eastern chimpanzee P.t.v = western chimpanzee NOTE: Genetic testing for chimpanzees is ongoing and is constantly being perfected so the subspecies IDs may change accordingly. Ouwehands is due to receive 2.6 bonobos this year from France, Germany and the USA
Male chimp Jim has died at Stichting AAP at the approximate age of 52. Jim was the second oldest male chimp after Freddy, who is approximately 59. This means Julio's group now consists of males Toto and Julio, and females Linda, Fiffy and Regina.
Stichting AAP have 44 chimps now following the arrival of two males Bongo and Klaus from a centre in Tenerife.
