I have a google news alert set for "sfzoo". I try to scan it every night, but missed some recently and ended up getting a bit behind. This video news report out of Baltimore interviews the Maryland Zoo staff and shows their Chimpanzee Family, the troop Our Twiggy will soon be joining. Her departure, and the boys following (when their new home is identified), is sad for me, but this news story made me feel better about the life our precious Twiggy will have there. I knew she was going to a place where she knew a staff member and an old Chimp friend, but seeing this helped soften the sadness, and made it bittersweet.
December 3, 2025
Article Text
Maryland Zoo set to welcome motherly chimp to 'Chimpanzee Forest' exhibit
Keepers at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore are preparing to welcome an older chimpanzee from the San Francisco Zoo.
At the zoo's "Chimpanzee Forest," the troop of 12 females and four males is about to get bigger. Twiggy will soon arrive in the coming months, and it turns out, she will reunite with some old friends.
"Abbey is carrying Ivy, she's Ivy's foster mom, and then, following them around is Lola," Pamela Carter, the zoo's area manager of the "Chimpanzee Forest," said as she toured WBAL-TV 11 News around the exhibit. "We'll be adding one more girl, with Twiggy."
Twiggy, who will be 40 years old at the end of the month, is coming to Baltimore early next year from the San Francisco Zoo, which temporarily halted its chimpanzee program.
"I'm sure they'll be very excited to see her, as well. Chimps have amazing memories. They have a lot better long-term memory than humans do," said Carter, who is also on a Chimp Species Survival Plan Management Committee that helped facilitate the move to Baltimore.
Carter told WBAL-TV 11 News that Twiggy is a good fit for a few reasons: First, familiarity, as Carter and another staff member worked with her at a zoo in Tampa, Florida, where she also got along well with two other chimps, Abbey and Alex, who are also now at the Maryland Zoo.
"She's good with babies. So, giving her opportunities to be in a troop that has babies would be very beneficial to her," Carter told WBAL-TV 11 News. "She is what we consider an older chimp, not geriatric but older. She also had a hip dislocation a year and a half ago, which has healed. She's on a physical therapy training program, which we actually also do here with one of our older females."
The older female, named Joyce, is the zoo's oldest chimp at age 53. She gets regular yoga for physical therapy as she ages.
One unexpected issue Carter has run into is that Twiggy has an allergy that will affect the rest of the troop.
"She is highly allergic to mangoes, so that will be something we will have to adjust with our troop, because they really like mangoes," Carter told WBAL-TV 11 News.
Twiggy is expected to arrive in Baltimore in mid-January, and she will have a 30-day quarantine before the introduction process begins.
"I am expecting (for) it to be fairly straightforward. She's a very easygoing animal. She's not one that likes to start altercations or get into fights," Carter told WBAL-TV 11 News. "It'll be fun."
It sounds like a great new home for her. As sad as it is that she is being moved from San Francisco, Twiggy gets to be a queen in a dynamic new troop. As are you, I am happy she will be with a few familiar faces.
ReplyDeleteGoodbyes are very sad, but her hellos might be magic.
Twigs, I wish you all the best, and every much-deserved happiness!!