Maryland Zoo: Highlight #4 - Chimpanzee Forest

 Built in the mid-1990's, our Chimp Forest was the final bit of major construction that marked the late 1980's and 1990's as the Maryland Zoo's transformation into a modern zoological institution.  The Chimpanzee Forest is the epicenter of our Primate populations.  Built with a spacious interior featuring one large habitat called the "Day Room" specifically for the use of our Chimpanzees, and two smaller (but still large) adjacent interior habitats, followed on one end by a large habitat with both dry and wet areas (and under-water viewing) to house a species of African crocodile.  Multi-story faux trees with massive trunks both conceal support beams and integrate the guest experience in the large open hall with the habitats reserved for the apes and monkeys.  Live foliage adds a natural feel to the human only spaces.

When completed in the summer of 1995, the AZA christened it with a troop of 6 Chimpanzees.  It has been 25 years since Chimpanzees were part of the Maryland Zoo Experience.   One Male, Harvey (age 36), came from the Toledo Zoo on loan to anchor the troop as its first Alpha male.  Once a permanent male was selected, Harvey returned to Toledo and his home and troop there.  And Five Females: Joice, (age 23), her offspring, Renee (age 3), Carole (age 10), Rustie (age 7) who arrived pregnant and almost due (she gave birth to Raven, who was, obviously our first newborn Chimpanzee), and Bunny (Age 5).  From the start Joice asserted herself as the Alpha female and had a strong predilection to peacemaking.  To this day: Joice, Rustie, Carole, Bunny, and Rustie's daughter, Raven, remain part of our troop.  Renee and Rustie (who diabetic) both passed of natural causes.  Joice, at 53, is the oldest mammal at the Maryland Zoo and continues to play the role of peacemaker.  Four additional females joined the troop over time: Abbie Jane, Asali, and Rozi. Rozi was Rusties daughter and raised by keepers along side of Asali who was transferred from another zoo after her mother failed to nurture her.

Harvey was replaced by Kasoje, who was born at the Little Rock Zoo.  All of the females came to us from Yerkes Regional Primate Center in Georgia, a non-public AZA affiliated organization.  The next new members were a pair of brothers and former Hollywood Actors, Louie and Jack.  They starred in the two film franchise "MVP" Most Valuable Primates, a farce about Chimps who led a sport team to victory.  In addition, the pair were also seen in commercials and as guest spots on network shows.   The transition from life with humans to members of a Chimpanzee troop was not easy.  However, both boys found their footing, and today Jack is, in point of fact, the Alpha male--in spite of Kasoje's ongoing protestations. 

The final outside member is Alex.  If Jack is the Alpha Chimp, then Alex is the Omega.  Alex joined the troop in 2019 at the recommendation of the AZA after the Potowatomie Zoo in South Bend, Indiana decided to end their care of Chimps.  With a troop of just four, Alex and three females, and a habitat falling out of compliance with AZA requirements, Potowatomie Zoo made the difficult and necessary decision to place their focus on other species more suited to their space and welfare concerns for the animals in their care.  I learned only this past weekend that Alex, after nearly six years at the zoo, has never been formally introduced to Kasoje out of an abundance of caution for Kasoje's at times explosive temperament against Alex's demure and gentle nature.  This impresses the socks off of me.  How grateful I am that the habitats are designed with multiple interior and exterior spaces that allow for random and strategic grouping of the Chimpanzees.

So let us land in the year 2018.  The AZA's Chimpanzee committee meets and discusses the viability of the collective population, members at various institutions and desired lineages for future members.  As a result, the Maryland Zoo gets the green light to breed.  The first consequence of this occurs on July 5, 2019 with the birth of Lola to Bunny!  Bunny is a first time mom, and as keepers work with her, they have one major concern; Bunny has some degree of hearing loss.  Through the process, the depth of her disability becomes more apparent, but so does the depth of her maternal instincts.  Bunny is an excellent mom!  Prior to this, she was also the low chimp on the totem pole of females.  Now her cache among the troop rises exponentially.

In December of the same year, Raven gives birth to Violet.  Now there are two.  Then in the Summer of 2020, a newborn female chimp from the Oklahoma City Zoo joined our troop after her mother failed to nurture her.  At the Maryland Zoo, female member Abby came with a history of nurturing orphaned infants; however, this time she showed little interest.  That's when our keeper staff stepped in and using extraordinary strategies became Maisie's collective "mother," all the while working to introduce her to the troop.  The efforts paid-off.  And rather than a surrogate mother, she found a surrogate father in Louie.  Today she's a spunky little member of the sisterhood of young female chimps.

But wait, there's more!  In 2024, the troop experienced two births.  One chimp unfortunately died shortly after birth from conditions that could not have been remedied.  The other, another daughter, was born to Rozi and is our newest troop member, Ivy.  

A few years back, the Maryland Zoo made the extraordinary decision to hire a pair of animal research psychologists and create positions of lead and assistant Animal Behavioral Curators.  Their work began with making sense of the mountains of observational and behavior data that the zoo collects, and then turning that into actionable improvements for the welfare of our animals.  In the Chimp troop, this work led to a process called "Fission-Fusion" which monitors individual animal interactions in order to determine how to help them choose daily groupings.rs  Without the benefit of acres and acres of territory, this process best mimics the Chimps own natural ability to support or take a break from one another to the benefit of the ability of the troop to thrive socially.

On this midweek visit, I discovered only three members of the troop in the day room.  Louie relaxing on a bed of straw on his back.  Alex, grooming his lower belly and inner thighs, and little Maisie, grooming his left flank.  All engaged in behaviors that build their relationships and deepen their commitments to look out for one another.  Four Pics of Maisie

Four Pics of Maizie!

Additionally, the Chimpanzee Forest is home to a large, modular Herpetarium containing some of the Panamanian Golden Frogs that call the Maryland Zoo home.  Presently Extinct in the Wild in Panama, the Maryland Zoo was the first AZA institution to successfully breed these amazing amphibians in captivity.  The zoo is also a critically important partner with EVACC- El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in Panama where the only captive population of this animal exists in the country that thinks of it as its national symbol.  At any given time there will be up to 40 male frogs in the herpetarium, while behind the scenes at the Panamanian Golden Frog Conservation Center located in the zoo's hospital, up to 500 members of this species can be found.  Chances are if you encounter them at any other AZA zoo or aquarium, there will be members that are first, second or third generations relatives of those residing there.

Every Panamanian Golden Frog has a unique pattern, like a fingerprint