Sakura, an 8-year-old female Chimpanzee at Tama Zoo, arrived from Kochi Prefectural Noichi Zoological Park on February 22, 2017, for breeding purposes.

In wild Chimpanzee society, many females move to other groups once they reach maturity. However, they are often fiercely attacked in the new group, sometimes losing their lives, and the move is fraught with danger. This is also true for Chimpanzee in captivity. Let me tell you about the process of introducing Sakura into the group.

After Sakura arrived at the zoo, we started by getting her used to a private exercise area. This private exercise area is large enough for her to escape if she is attacked by other members of the group.

Initially, we let Sakura out into the exercise area by herself. However, she didn't come back inside even by evening. It seemed Sakura was scared because the passageway connecting her sleeping area and the exercise area was dark, and even though we tried to lure her back with her favorite food, she ultimately didn't return from the exercise area that day.

Sakura		Sakura greets Berry (left).		Sakura (right) foraging for food in an artificial anthill, while Berry watches her.

The next day, we introduced Decky (male, 39 years old), who had previously been kind to animals that had come from other zoos, into Sakura's enclosure. This introduction of Decky proved successful, as Sakura seemed to overcome her anxiety and began following him around. Finally, on the third day, she returned to her sleeping quarters with Decky. From then on, Sakura was able to move smoothly between her sleeping quarters and the enclosure.

Next, we introduced Sakura to the other Chimpanzee through the bars. At first, all of them reacted aggressively, but as Sakura continued to greet them without hesitation, their aggressive reactions gradually subsided. The friendliest of them all was "Mil" (female), who is seven years older than Sakura. So we decided to let Sakura and Miru live together in a private exercise area.

Social Chimpanzee engage in "greeting" behaviors with each other. Chimpanzee may include showing their rear end to each other (as pictured), hugging, or kissing. They may also make sounds like "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh" during these greetings.

From the very first day, Sakura greeted Mil kindly, and they never fought. The two groomed each other and showed a friendly relationship. Later, when Sakura was housed with other animals, Mil became a reliable protector for Sakura.

Since then, Sakura has continued to diligently greet other individuals whenever she is housed with them, and currently, she is able to live with all 18 individuals kept at Tama Zoo, provided the group size is small.

However, even individuals that have successfully coexisted safely may become aggressive if the combination or number of individuals changes. Therefore, we are currently experimenting with different combinations to introduce Sakura to other individuals. Ultimately, we will assess Sakura's relationship with the other individuals before introducing her to the public area. Please look forward to Sakura's appearance before everyone.

◎Related articles
・" Welcome to Tama! Introducing Sakura Chimpanzee!” (March 10, 2017)
・" Chimpanzee has arrived from Kochi Prefectural Noichi Zoological Park.” (February 23, 2017)

[Yosuke Taguchi, Animal Care and Exhibition Department Tama Zoo]

(October 6, 2017)