![]() She was then taken to California’s Wildlife Waystation in 1995 with a group of around 30 chimpanzees. You can watch the video of Vanilla in the media player at the top of this article.Īccording to her bio on Save the Chimps, Vanilla spent her early years in a now-closed biomedical research laboratory in New York where chimpanzees were commonly housed in 5′x5′x7′ cages suspended from the ground like bird cages. Sanctuary employees shared a video of Vanilla adjusting to her new digs, including the moment she was left “in awe of the sight of the vast open sky for the first time.” The chimpanzee’s name is Vanilla and she was recently rehomed at Save the Chimps, a privately funded sanctuary in Fort Pierce on Florida’s east coast. Her whole life she maintained a high position in the troop, although her granddaughter Morami had taken over her central role for a number of years already.A 28-year-old chimpanzee saw an open sky for the first time in her life and her reaction, which was caught on camera, has since gone viral. At a later age she was appreciated by her peer group for her reconciling skills and her mediating role with conflicts. In some cases her babies even had to be raised with the extra help of the caretakers. Despite her name, she was a lousy mother. ![]() After her return to the troop Mama reluctantly had to accept this. When a few adult males were introduced, they were severely affected by it and only after Mama and Gorilla were temporarily separated, a new social ranking occurred. In his widely acclaimed book Chimpanzee politics Frans de Waal even calls her ‘ the oldest and undoubtedly most dangerous female of the troop.’ In a chimpanzee troop the males are indeed the boss, but an alpha male won't last long without the support of the females. In her glory days Mama was at the absolute top of the chimpanzee females within the Arnhem chimpanzee troop. I will definitely miss her.” Very influential Each time it took her longer before stumbling she reached the moat. This past year it became more and more difficult. When we arrived at the chimpanzee quarters, Mama always came running towards me from the farthest corners to excitedly greet me from the other side of the moat in chimpanzee language with a loud panting ‘oohooh!’. “Many people I have given tours to, after lectures and with training courses, have known her. In chimpanzee terms 59 years old is a very advanced age. Especially due to the ground-breaking behavioural research of Frans de Waal, currently an internationally known primatologist, Mama became famous for her dominant and influential role in the chimpanzee troop. Experts and zoo directors predicted a major disaster, but the skepticism quickly changed into admiration. Under the direction of behavioural scientist and Professor Emeritus Jan van Hooff, studies on the chimpanzee colony were done for many years. Shared areaįor the first time in Zoo history several adult chimpanzees were kept together in one area. In 1971 Mama, together with the chimpanzee females Gorilla and Franje, came to Arnhem, where they formed the new chimpanzee colony that would become world famous. It is estimated that Mama was born in the wild in 1957, after which she lived at the German Zoo of Leipzig for years. In all of Europe there are only two chimpanzees that are older. She was the oldest chimpanzee in the Netherlands. ![]() ![]() On Tuesday, 5 April 2016, chimpanzee Mama died at the age of 59 years old at the Royal Burgers' Zoo. ![]()
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