Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Meet the Zoo's New Chimpanzee! - Chimp Expansion Update

I wanted to post this info sooner, but again didn't get that far.  I have heard that the Chimp Expansion into the Pachyderm Building may open by the end of the month, so this is technically decent timing.  

The Zoo's new Male Chimpanzee arrived over a month ago and from what I heard is out of quarentine and in the Pachyderm Building!  
Meet Qadeer!  He sure is a cutie!  Qadeer is 33 years old.  He was born 2.21.85 at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  At age eight he was transferred to Oklahoma Zoo, where he has lived the last twenty-five years.  

I am looking forward to seeing this new Friend.  I hope Qadeer will be happy here.  I sure hope the Zoo doesn't pull their usual and try and rename this guy.  Anyone who knows me, knows I hate the renaming of any Animal, especially one who knows its name.  I can guarentee this guy knows his name.  You just don't rename a Great Ape.   I guess we will see.

There's a bit of curiosity about the Zoo's new Chimp acquistions.  I say acquisitions, plural, as I was originally told there would be more than one.

In early 2017 the new Primate Curator told me he was going to the SSP Chimpanzee meeting in April where they discuss transfers. He indicated that they were probably looking to bring in three Chimps. I questioned gender and ages because when the original "save" happened and we knew we would get additional Chimps I imagined because of the social structure guidelines as well as the ages of our Chimps, especially our male Cobby (who hasn't lived with another male i forty years) that bringing in two females in lower age groups, for example our ladies are nearing fifty years old, so maybe one in 20s/30s etc. would be a logical way to go. ... A couple months after that, I asked what happened at the meeting and was told nothing was set. So I figured that the secretive nature of the Zoo with setting in and I wasn't going to get any further information.  I have a theory but for now will leave it at this.

In January this year the Joint Zoo Committee Meeting Minutes indicated that two females were coming from Zoo Miami. And in March the acquisitions noted a male coming from Oklahoma Zoo, which I now assume to be Qadeer. I tried to do some research but Oklahoma Zoo had several males and I couldn't confirm which one it would be. The Zoo Miami females being transferred here was upsetting to read as my research showed that both the ladies had been there since the 80s and were in their forties I think it was. Which made me then think back to it being the same situation with moving our Ladies. These are basically seniors and they should not be uprooted from their home.  ... I have now heard that these two ladies are not coming here and that right now the only new Chimp we have is Qadeer. So don't know if any others will be coming. I know introductions for Chimps no matter what usually takes a lot of work. Still I do worry about Cobby being introduced to another male. I hope that goes ok. I don't understand why there are also not females so that if there was an issue all the new ones could be together until introductions were made.  With Oklahoma Zoo having so many it's too bad that one of the females from there could not have also come with Qadeer so he had someone he already knew.  Its all very curious and I doubt I will get any answers to these questions.

The opening of the Pachyderm portion of the expansion, comes three and a half years after the Zoo Director back paddled under public outrage she had planned to kick them out. For those who haven't followed the Chimps saga,... Zoo Director Tanya Peterson  wanted to  move our  three senior Chimps who had lived at the zoo  for near fifty years, two of them having it be the only home that they had ever known, allegedly an action rooted in the future plan to bring in Orangutans who would be housed in that area after renovation. Outraged and with a saddened soul for these precious Chimps I had grown up with I launched a crusade to not only get them to stay but to get upgrades to their living environment which they desperately needed and had not had any attention to in over twenty years.  Thankfully  Dan Noyes at KGO  was interested in the story  and within 48 hours after the story running, Peterson announced they would be keeping the Chimps. You can also read more detail about the Chimps, their history, and my efforts to save them on my blog dedicated to their plight.
http://savesfzoochimps.blogspot.com

These new adventures for them are along time coming. Adding new areas to explore and new Friends is going to be so exciting and enriching for them.  If their venture to the Skytrail for the first time is any indication, we are going to see some pretty happy Chimp faces!  I'm going to be pretty happy and excited as well.  Seeing this all finally happen gives my soul a good feeling.  

I may not have had the deep pockets that could fund this for them, but without them this wouldn't be happening, and without me, they wouldn't be here.  I don't like to bring this up,  because it was not about me, it was about Minnie, Maggie and Cobby.  For me, its always about the Animals.  That said, I am mentioning it because there are a couple staff members directly related to Chimp care who give me the cold shoulder.  I don't need everyone to like me, in fact I really don't care if anyone does, but I also think some level of cordial should be put forth considering no one would be working with those awesome and beautiful Friends if it wasn't for me saving them.  They would be gone and possibly not even alive today. Not one person associated with the Zoo lifted a finger to help them when they needed it.  I thank the two Keepers who don't work there anymore for knowing my heart is with these Animals and letting me know this was happening because they knew I would try my best to make things right.  Everything that is happening for our Chimps and their new Friend is a result of my living and breathing every waking hour to help them, Dan Noyes and his team and every member of the public who became their voice once they heard their story.

Wishing Maggie, Minnie, Cobby, Qadeer and hopefully more Friends in their future wonderful and enriching times ahead.  

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