ZooNooz Article - SEPTEMBER 2008

Self management - Chimpanzee style

Sydney people, and Zoo Friends in particular, have long known that Taronga has Chimpanzees. "It has always been that way". However not many people realise just how special our Chimpanzee group really is!

Photographs Marnie Blair, Lisa Ridley, Jeremy Rowling.

Furahi and Shikamoo

Taronga's chimp community is considered to be one of the most successful captive groups in the world. So much so that two of the zoo's primate keepers were recently invited to speak at the Species Survival Plan Chimpanzee Husbandry Workshop held in Knoxville, Tennessee, to outline how we manage our community. The rest of the world recognises that value of our Chimpanzee group and wants to know our methods.

Chimpanzee society has been studied extensively in the wild and this has given us a wealth of knowledge to compare with what we see in our own group. Many people find the behaviour of chimps in the wild to be aggressive, but behind this is a complex political and family structure which is mimicked in our zoo chimp group.

One of Taronga's senior primate keepers, ALLAN SCHMIDT, reports on the management and interactions of one of the most natural captive Chimpanzee groups in the world.

The past

Chimpanzees were present at Taronga Zoo in the 1920s, soon after the zoo opened, but numbers and sexes remain a mystery due to a fire in the records office at this time. The surviving history at Taronga Zoo begins in 1935 with the import of a male Chimpanzee from Germany. Nineteen others arrived between 1935 and 1957 and the first recorded birth occurred in 1941. Two of our oldest individuals ever were acquired in 1954, and one still remains with us today.

In these early days many zoo Chimpanzees were hand-reared animals which came direct from Africa and were often poorly socialised. As not much was known of normal behaviour, traditional Chimpanzee management around the world saw a lot of keeper intervention. Keepers established themselves as alpha (dominant) individuals and intervened in social interactions, stopping fights and separating individuals if they did not get on.

Male Chimpanzees were also routinely separated from females at night due to the perception that they could cause problems whilst unsupervised. This strategy resulted in the need for males to try and reimpose their dominance over other community members each morning.

In the wild, Chimpanzee communities consist of multi-male alliances with constant challenges for favour and status. At times this is aggressive but it is a normal part of the life of wild chimps. Historically the jostling for position of alpha male has been the cause for much concern in zoos and, in many cases, male Chimpanzees that caused problems were simply relocated. While this created a short term resolution to unrest in the group, we now know that it was simply normal Chimpanzee behaviour.

Shiba with baby Sembe

The present

The paramount difference in zoo management techniques today is that, through several long-running studies, we now have a greater understanding of wild Chimpanzee behaviour. At Taronga, we have a naturally developing group of maturing males that has grown up in a social setting which reflects one found in the wild. The unfortunate loss of the alpha male some years ago resulted in a massive political vacuum and the resulting actions showcased Chimpanzee intelligence and political nous. The vacuum needed to be filled - but all that was available was an eight-year- old male, Lubutu. At this age he would be sure that he was cool and tough, but in reality he was nowhere near a physical or mental match for our experienced politically connected adult females.

Male Chimpanzees physically dominate females with a mixture of both compassion and punishment according to a political agenda that is known only to them. So why would our females be willing to accept an insignificant youngster in this role, especially when his only choices for male support lay with a seven-year-old and two six-year-olds? Chimpanzee society is a complex web of politics between individuals and families.

Given that they often resolve matters through aggression, these political dealings constantly ebb and flow and are continually being challenged and tested.

It is the power of the adult males that stabilises and maintains control within a chimp community. The one thing that all individuals fear and respect (more than each other) is the dominance of the cadre of adult males.

Gradually the majority of adult females began to accept Lubutu in the position of alpha male, but some females resisted for years before recognising his authority. Overall this occurrence showed the awareness of the females in acknowledging that the vacuum needed to be filled.

The boys

The current alpha male, Lubutu, is now 15. He played his politics well with the females in his younger years and so is respected and accepted amongst the community. He also interacts favourably with infants, a sterling quality for an alpha male, and he has powerful family support.

Shabani, at 14, is a physically powerful and intimidating male. However a strategy of indiscriminate intimidation has done him no longterm favours. He has no great family support, but this is changing as his brother Samaki, seven, gets older.

Sandali, at 12, was an original contender for the alpha male position due to his powerful family backing. However, he and his family have suffered from a well-run campaign of intimidation from Lubutu and allies. He is not the force he once was.

Chimbuka lost his mother when he was five; his only family is an ageing grandmother (our current oldest individual). This certainly has not set him up for greatness in political life.

However, at 12, he is now the size and strength of an adult male and takes great delight in dominating certain individuals within the community - no doubt remembering past incidents.

Showing remarkable political astuteness he has apparently thrown all his support behind Lubutu. He has nothing to lose and so this makes him a valuable ally.

The rest of the group

Lubutu

We have an incredible age range in our group. Our oldest individual is Bessie who originally came from Africa and is estimated to be about 58 years old. At the other end of the spectrum are Sembe, a female born on February 27, and Sule, a male born April 4.

Keepers are working hard to provide our chimps with the facilities to run their own affairs. An example of this is the new expanded fallen forest area, completed late in 2007.

Giving our group a more visually and structurally complex environment can diffuse the intensity of social interactions. Putting it simply, it enables individuals to get out of each other's eye line. Chimps are visual species - out of sight can mean out of mind. Giving males more alternatives on which to display also benefits subordinate individuals, who may well have been the target for such displays.

The future

We recognise that our Chimpanzee group is a naturally evolving entity and plans are already in place for its future. A massive multi-million-dollar redevelopment of the current exhibit is under way to accommodate future growth and community development.

The current enclosure will receive an extensive exhibit furniture overhaul to provide the group with a far more complex three-dimensional space.

The wet-weather shelter will also be increased in area. Finally, an extensive revamp of the night house, aimed at easing the passage of individuals into our community, will be undertaken.

This redevelopment for the future means lots of work for Taronga's staff, but we all agree our community is worth this effort.

Whatever the outcome, one thing is sure - Taronga's chimps, their keepers and zoo visitors face an exciting future.

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