Another (very young) Bengal Slow Loris has recently arrived. She was confiscated as an illegal pet in Beirut and cared for by Animals Lebanon before being shipped to Monkey World. At the park she's been mixed with an older adult female (Bu)
Sally the foster-mother chimpanzee sadly died on 10th September of kidney failure. She looked after all the park's babies over many years.
Johni turns 19 On this day, back in 1999, there was a surprise arrival in what was still known as Paddy's chimp troop. Clin, one of the females, who was by then in her late teens herself, gave birth to a female infant. One of the directors of the sanctuary, Alison Aimes, found Clin holding an infant by the neck. There was disbelief that the infant was hers considering that she had a contraceptive implant under her skin (which obviously stopped working or was pulled out through over-zealous grooming among chimps). Clin, an eccentric chimp by nature, had no skills to mother the infant therefore the baby was taken away and handreared by the then head keeper Jeremy Keeling. The infant was put in an incubator because she seemed rather premature. The baby was named Johni after the sanctuary's vet John Lewis. She was also bottle-fed alongside her late half sister Hebe and in 2002 when both infants were around 3 they were briefly reintroduced to their mothers in Paddy's troop but poor sensitive little Johni was attacked by one of the adult males and taken back into Jeremy Keeling's care in the chimp nursey. It was not until 2006 at the age of 7 that an adolescent Johni was put again into an adult group, Rodney's former family now headed by the Israeli king Hananya! She made quite an impression; dominating all but three of the females and flirting with the males. She gained a high rank rather fast for a young female her age and still holds it today. Johni has gotten darker with age and not the pink face of her infancy! She is relatively large and confident, and intelligent. She may never see her mother Clin and father Paddy but the group she is in certainly suits her. Since the sad passing of Peggy, Johni is now the number 2 female in Hananya's dynasty, second only to Cherri (and Thelma) on the power ladder.
Sally was very much in her prime at 29. She was a very athletic and fit individual so I doubt this was because of her physical condition or age. It must have been some inoperable heart condition again.....which seems to take the chimps these days. How many more will succumb to this?
Does anyone know what will happen to Sally's group now. Are any new chimpanzees or orangutans being rescued in the near future? Kind regards The Hedgehog!
The dynamics of Sally's former group will change, most notably the female hierarchy. Sally was in charge and the position of 2 may have once been Lulu but Ash, being larger, probably took that position. Ash is significantly larger and...dare I say it....more able bodied than Lulu which obviously means Ash is better equipped at combat. Ash is the largest female and likely to take charge of the group. The male hierarchy is not much affected by Sally's absence I would imagine, Bryan is still the leading male obviously higher up than young Rodders. They will definitely miss her, especially Jess's son! The park has not rescued another chimp since 2011. They keep saying they aren't breeding the chimps to save space for more but they haven't brought in anymore.
I wouldn't be too surprised if the traumatic start to life that faced a lot of these chimps (particularly on their body development) took a few years off their lives compared to those that grew up more naturally within a troop with their mother. Always a shame though.
Potentially valid, just at the moment a mere supposition without any concrete evidence other than just renal failure. I would be interested to know what a full necropsy would reveal. Do they actually do autopsies on all their charges at Monkey World?
A female Chimpanzee is on her way to the park from Thailand today. Chimpanzee ‘Natalie’ leaves for Britain - The Nation
I wonder which group they will try her with. The former nursery group (although maybe it would be a bit too much for them trying a new chimp with them so soon after Sally's death)? What was formerly Paddy's group (who is in charge there now?) seems to be comprised of slightly older chimps, and I seem to recall that Hananya can be a bit antsy with new additions (although maybe it helps that Natalie is female).
Natalie, who I believe is actually Naree the then young chimp with swollen face/dental problems Alison and Jim tried to rescue over a decade ago, has been put into what is now Bryan's group. At 20, she is younger than the 26 year old Lulu but older than the 13 year old Ash, which makes me think she has or will take the number 2 spot in the female hierarchy (but then again Ash's size means she could either retain the number two spot or even take the top spot among the ladies), although being new she is probably still too cautious and trying to make friends with everyone before fighting for a position. She seems like a lovely chimp and her life most certainly just got better.
Cindy, the community's second oldest female at age 39, has taken leadership of the remaining group of 17 chimpanzees. Chimps live in a patriarchal society so it is unusual to have a female leading the group but it seems to work for now.
