| Rodney | |
|---|---|
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Species |
Chimpanzee |
|
Born |
Circa 1968, Africa |
|
Died |
15 September 2004 (aged approximately 36), Monkey World |
|
Family |
Arfur, Seamus, Bob † and Ben † (sons) |
Rodney was a male chimpanzee who was the leader of his group from 1999 until his death in 2004.
Biography[]
Pre Monkey World (1968-1993)[]
He along with Bixa, Evie, Jestah, Buxom, Jane (with whom Rodney had a son named Bob in 1994 (who died in 1998) before her death in 1995) and babies Arfur (whom Rodney had with Bixa) and Jess (whom Rodney had with Evie) used to live at Windsor Safari Park until it's closure.
First Leadership (1993-1997)[]
He and his group arrived at Monkey World on 31st May 1993. Arfur and Jess were hand reared (due to Bixa not having enough milk to feed Arfur whilst Evie rejected Jess) and later placed in the park's Chimpanzee Nursery Group and were cared for by the group's dominant female Sally. In 1996, Buxom and Jestah left Rodney's group and joined the Bachelor Chimpanzee Group. Rodney's group was later joined by Charlie (who served as second-in-command), Peppa, Susie, Paco, Gamba, Cherri, Lola, Olympia, Cathy, Clin, Athena and Grisby, who were previously members of a group led by Butch (who became leader of the Bachelor Chimpanzee Group). That same year, Monkey World staff attempted to introduce four newly arrived young male chimps from Israel named Hananya, Tikko, Semach and Gypsy to Rodney's Group. However after an incident with Cathy, it was decided that it would be safer for them to live in the nursery group.
Paddy's second-in-command (1997-1999)[]
In 1997, the females in Rodney's group were beginning to become unruly and Charlie wasn't being a good second-in-command. The staff decided to merge the group with Paddy's Group. After a brief clash, Rodney stepped down and accepted Paddy as leader, whilst Charlie was moved out after his hand was badly bitten during the introduction.
Later life and second leadership (1999-2004)[]
In 1999, Rodney was ousted from the group and was made leader of a group (which was made up of previous members the Chimpanzee Nursery Group) that was previously led by Charlie (until he was moved into the Bachelor Chimpanzee Group due to his behavior towards the other members) which consisted of Hananya (who later became Rodney's second-in-command), Tikko, Simon, Gypsy, Semach, Arfur, Jess, Trudy (whom Rodney treated like a daughter), Cherri, Mona and Peggy (the latter two were previously in Chico's Group). Afterwards, Cherri gave birth to her and Rodney's son Seamus. Unfortunately, Cherri did not know how to care for Seamus properly, resulting in him being hand-reared and later joining the nursery group and eventually the Bachelor Chimpanzee Group after a failed attempt to have him rejoin his birth group.
In September 2001, Rodney had a son with Peggy named Ben. Sadly, Peggy rejected Ben, who was then hand reared before joining the nursery group before joining returning to his birth group in 2008 before joining the Bachelor Chimpanzee Group in 2009 where he lived until his death in 2017. Two months later, Rodney had a daughter with Cherri named Pip. Cherri cared for Pip for the first few weeks of her life before starting to put her down. This resulted in Pip having to be hand reared before joining the nursery group before returning to her birth group in 2008 before passing away in 2009.
Rodney led his group until 2004 when he got into a fight with Hananya. The males of the group (who were childhood friends with Hananya) took Hananya's side and attacked Rodney, but stopped when they realised that they had hurt their leader. Rodney was later taken out of the enclosure and had a four hour surgery to tend to his injuries. Despite this, Rodney did not recover and sadly died during the night from a heart attack. Following Rodney's death, Hananya took over as leader of the group.
Legacy[]
In 2005, Rodney postumously became a grandfather to Jess and Hananya's son who was named Rodders (who now lives in Bryan's Group (the former Chimpanzee Nursery Group)) by the staff as a tribute to Rodney.
Related Pages[]
Trivia[]
- As well as appearing in Monkey Business, Rodney also appeared in the 1999 BBC documentary Q.E.D. Saving Trudy.