“Good news,” reports nurse Tomáš Krbeček. “The gang is united now, it is working well, no alliance has been formed. Some clashes happen occasionally, but that is normal, if they don’t happen, something is wrong,” he added.
Siri is not young, she was born in 1987 in the Safari Park in Kraków and came to Pilsen from Krakow in August 2021 to replace her brother Bask, who is six years younger.
A zoologist from Ostrava consults chimpanzees across Europe
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However, she managed to court a quartet of local women – the domineering Marie, sisters Jiswa and Sedonja, and the foreigner Brigitta – and she gave birth to a three-year-old daughter, Kayla, with Jedonja. But Basque died in May 2021, and Siri was unable to replace him at first.
“He is very gentle, very timid, kind. The girls know, they feel the weakness,” zoologist Lenka Vaclavova mentioned him a year ago.
Women have to wait for food
It was then that the group split into two factions. Siri was in the common enclosure with Brigitte and Sedonja along with little Kayla, and the remaining two girls had to be separated at the back of the pavilion. And the nurses worked to cheer Siri up. “It’s trivial on paper,” Krbeček said.
“We preferred him to the girls. They had to sit and wait patiently for Siri to get her ration,” he said.
The Prague Rescue Center for Animals is getting modern premises that have been temporarily converted to horticulture
Homemade
“It took a while, but we persevered. And Sri regained his confidence and gradually began to reveal himself as a real man. Hoods, Bangs, Bangs (Spillway between paddocks – Reference Ed.) The girls didn’t take it too much at first, they were relaxed, they didn’t care. But the more aggressive Siri was, the more they receded into the background. And we know he’s up to the task,” said Krbezek, describing the months-long ordeal.
The gang reunited in December. “After all, it’s not long, two or three years is not exceptional. We’re used to gentle courses, but we added women to the group. Now a man, it’s really against nature,” pointed out the nurse.
The complete crew can still be found inland. “They will be moved to an outdoor enclosure in the spring when weather permits,” said zoo spokesman Martin Wobruba.
Now it wants one more bonus: a baby. Above all, because they breed a very rare subspecies of chimpanzees in Pilsen. Brigitte can only be pregnant and Ciri is still useless. “There is certainly hope here. But it will take time, Siri will have to get used to working with a new crowd,” Krbeček concluded.
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