DALLAS — On the morning of Jan. 12, staff at the Dallas Zoo loaded 7-year-old Mshindi into the back of a truck and wished him well as he began a nearly 1,500-mile journey.
About 21 hours later, the chimpanzee was whisked out of his crate and into quarantine at the Los Angeles Zoo, where he’ll spend a month before being introduced to his new California troop.
Staff at the Dallas Zoo were sad to see him go, but Mshindi’s mission is bigger than himself.
The young chimp’s move is the first in a series of changes at both institutions that will eventually lead to the growth of the endangered species.
Mshindi’s move to Los Angeles was recommended as part of the chimpanzee species survival plan created through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits both zoos.
Zoos accredited through the association meet every other year to create a breeding and transfer plan based on the genetics of the animals and the needs of each facility.
For the 2021 plan, the L.A. Zoo had the goal of bringing in more male chimps to its troop in a way that would set it up for longer-term breeding options.
“It’s been seven years since our last infant was born,” said Candace Sclimenti, curator of mammals at the L.A. Zoo and a member of the chimpanzee’s species survival plan committee. “With attrition and elderly individuals passing away … I’m looking at the longevity of our troop.”
The Dallas Zoo had similar goals in mind. Staff there were eager to grow their troop, and as much as they loved him, Mshindi would have made that challenging.
“A group has to be put together so that they can all breed together, or else you have to use birth control or some other method,” said Keith Zdrojewski, mammal curator at the Dallas Zoo.
The only female available for breeding among the Dallas Zoo’s chimpanzee troop is Mshindi’s mother, Ramona.
Staff would either have to perform a vasectomy on Mshindi or try to keep the males and females separate when the females were cycling.
With him going to Los Angeles, “we don’t have to worry about that issue,” Zdrojewski said.
New possibilities
For the Dallas Zoo, Mshindi’s move opens up the possibility for more chimpanzees to be transferred into the troop, which could eventually lead to breeding opportunities.
Zdrojewski would ideally like to have 11 chimpanzees, but he’s hoping to expand the troop by at least a few chimps by the end of the year.
Both the Dallas and L.A. zoos aim to have troops large enough so that smaller groups can form, just like they would in the wild.
“In the wild, you can have a troop of up to 30 chimps in one area, and then during the day, they’ll break off into smaller groups of say eight to 10,” Zdrojewski said. “Then when they come back together, they can kind of pick who they want to spend the night with. They don’t have to stay with that smaller group of eight that they left with for the day. It’s constant movement.”
At the Dallas Zoo, a larger troop will also mean a richer quality of life for the chimps.
“We want them to have the most choices in life. We don’t want to have to tell them what to do” and who to spend their time with, Zdrojewski said.
At the L.A. Zoo, Mshindi will eventually join 15 other chimpanzees, two of which are 7-year-old males.
“Having three young males together in a troop is very much like what you would see in the wild,” Sclimenti said.
