Bryan
Bryan is a male chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) who arrived at Monkey World on 7/12/06 and we estimate that he was born during 2003. He was smuggled from the wild in Africa, through Cuba, and then onto Mexico where he was purchased by a beach photographer. Mexican authorities confiscated Bryan but not before the photographer knocked out all but four of his teeth. We know this was terribly painful and traumatic for Bryan because during his initial health check we found pieces of his broken baby teeth embedded in his gums. Bryan is now developing into an impressive adult male but remains a very sensitive individual.
Ash
Ash is a female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) who was born at the park on 13/09/05. Her mother, Cathy had a bad reaction to the birth control pill and and while assessing her condition, she fell pregnant. Cathy cared for her for a week but the baby was slowly dehydrating as she was not getting enough milk. Cathy finally rejected the upset infant. Luckily for Ash she was cared for by the Primate Care Staff, along with Rodders for the first year of her life. Now she lives with Rodders in Bryan’s group and is a very dominant character.
Lulu
Lulu is a female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) who arrived at Monkey World on 14/10/00 and we estimate that she was born during 1992. She was born in a circus travelling through Cyprus when her mother attacked her and bit her arm. Lulu’s arm became infected and a Cypriot family saved her life by taking her home and getting their doctor to amputate the poisonous limb. She gets along very well without her right arm so much so that most people do not realise that she is an amputee.
Naree
Naree is a female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) who was taken from the wild and smuggled into Thailand for a circus show in an amusement park. She arrived at the park on October 8th, 2018. Jim & Alison Cronin first found her working in the circus in 2003. Naree’s teeth had already been knocked out, and probably as a result of the trauma, her sinuses had a bony overgrowth, leaving her with facial deformities. She only has a few molars in the back of her mouth. Thai authorities seized Naree in 2005 and moved her to a wildlife centre where she received better care but was still on her own. In 2018 Monkey World was asked if we could give a home to a lone, adult, female chimpanzee from Thailand that was named “Natalie” and had facial deformities. It was Naree! We estimate that she was born in 1995.
Rodders
Rodders is a male chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) who was born at the park on 03/08/05. His mother, Jess did not always take her birth control pill so we started giving her birth control injections. Rodders was conceived the week the injections began! Jess cleaned the baby but then left him and walked away. Our Primate Care Staff cared for Rodders and Ash for their first year until they were introduced to the chimpanzee nursery. Rodders remains very close to his adopted sister Ash.
Kangoo
Kangoo is a male chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) that was born on 27/04/07 at the former Buenos Aires Zoo where he lived with his mother (who is also his half-sister) and his father. In 2016 the government decided to close the antiquated zoo and re-home non-native wildlife but Kangoo’s father was elderly and they decided not to move the chimps until he had died. In 2021 Monkey World was contacted and asked if we could take the two remaining chimps. Sasha and Kangoo arrived at Monkey World on 31/08/22. Initial attempts were made to introduce both chimps to Bryan’s group but Kangoo’s mum Sasha would not allow her son to meet the other chimps. Following their separation, Kangoo has gone on to become great friends with the dominant male Bryan.
