When I visited the other day I couldn't kip or jolly didn't see any one to ask does anyone now if they are OK
Well lets see to old Chimps,hate to say this but they were getting on they could well have passed away!
Yes indeed where are Kip and Jolly the chimpanzees, do they still reside at Twycross Zoo or not?. In my search I looked at Twycross Zoo's facebook page, there is no mention of either these great apes apart from an enquiry from someone who I presume to be a regular visitor and is interested in the chimps at this zoo, this was posted on December 29th, there is no reply whatsoever from the zoo. I can fully appreciate the concern for the two from a member of zoo chat who is anxious, I am sure all who are interested in the Twycross chimps feel the same. The chimps may of coarse be still at the zoo, however it must be remembered that the zoo has no obligation, morally or legally to make public announcements regarding the stock held on site, and it is to be remembered that Twycross Zoo/The East Midland Zoological Society is managed by highly qualified, competent people.
Twycross has lost a number of chimps- about eight- in recent years. Mostly these deaths have been age-related, though the last(?) one 'Ricky' appeared to die rather suddenly during the integraton processes they have undertaken recently. But in each case they normally post a short 'obituary' somewhere about the death. No mention of the disappearance of these two could indicate they are still there somewhere, or it could represent a deviation from their normal procedure in such circumstances.
Benji was the most recent, he appeared to die suddenly of a heart attack I think, around the time of introductions. Ricky died apparently after a fight during introductions a couple of years ago. Getting the chimps who were kept inappropriately for so long has not been easy and sadly there have been quite a few casualties. I'm torn between feeling that it is for the benefit of the groups as a whole and great sadness about the loss of these individual apes. I know the critics of the current management will blame the the current staff but I think you have to take into account the whole sad history of these chimps.
Personally I cannot think of any reason to blame the current management for putting a problem right that should have been,put right over 20 years ago but then that was never going to happen,with the founders in charge as they were right all the time,even when they weren't,and as for the management that followed them the less said the better!!!