| Arfur | |
|---|---|
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Species |
Chimpanzee |
|
Born |
23 April 1993 (age 30), Windsor Safari Park |
|
Family |
Rodney † (father) |
Arfur is a male chimpanzee. He is a member of Hananya's Group.
Biography[]
Pre-Monkey World (1993)[]
Arfur was born at Windsor Safari Park to Rodney and Bixa. However due to Bixa not being able to produce enough milk to feed Arfur, he was hand reared along with his half-sister Jess (who was also hand reared due to her mother Evie rejecting her). The two developed a close bond with each other.
Arriving at Monkey World and life in The Chimpanzee Group (1993-1998)[]
On 31st May 1993, following the closure of Windsor Safari Park, Arfur along with his mother, father, uncles Buxom and Jestah, Jess, Evie and Jane (who would later give birth to Arfur's half-brother Bob in January 1994) were moved to Monkey World.
Arfur and Jess were then hand reared by Monkey World's Animal Director Jeremy Keeling. After being weaned, Arfur along with Jess, was placed in the park's chimpanzee nursery group and were cared for by the group's dominant female Sally. They were later joined by Bob (who was also hand reared by Jeremy). In 1995, the group was joined by a young male chimp named Freddy. However Freddy was very humanised and struggled to fit into the group and was moved out.
In August 1996, four young male chimps from Isreal named Hananya, Tikko, Semach (who were taken from the wild to be sold in the pet trade before being seized by officials) and Gypsy (who was captive born at a zoo but was no longer wanted) joined the nursery group. The following month, another young male chimp named Simon arrived after being found tied to a post outside a petrol station in Spain. In April 1998, a young female chimp named Trudy joined the group.
Life in an adult group (1998-present)[]
In July that same year, Arfur, his siblings, playmates and Sally became members of a new chimp group which was also included two older male chimps Charlie (who served as alpha male) and Pacito. The following month, Mojo, Peggy and Mona (the latter three were originally part of Chico's Group) joined the group. The next month, Arfur lost his brother Bob to a stomach infection. Sally later fell ill and the staff, worried that Sally may have the same illness that killed Bob, temporarily moved Arfur and his playmates back into the nursery enclosure separate from Sally, Charlie, Pacito, Peggy, Mojo and Mona. However after Sally became well again, the group reunited.
In ealy 1999, Charlie, Pacito and Mojo were removed from the group and moved to the Bachelor Group. Following this, Arfur's father Rodney became the group's new alpha male and a female chimp named Cherri joined the group. Around this time, Arfur began to be left behind as Jess entered puberty and began spending time away from him and playing with Hananya. Despite this, the two were still close.
In 2001, Arfur's half-siblings Ben (Rodney and Peggy's son) and Pip (Rodney and Cherri's daughter) were born, but had to be hand reared as their mothers did not know how to care for them.
In 2004, Arfur became involved in Rodney and Hananya's fight for leadership of the group, which resulted in Rodney being badly injured and later dying. Following this, Hananya became leader. In 2005, Arfur became an uncle when Jess gave birth to her and Hananya's son Rodders.
In 2008, Ben and Pip joined the group and Arfur developed a close bond with them. During one of Ben and Pip's introductions to Hananya, Ben was attacked by Hananya. Fortunately, Arfur and the female members of the group came to Ben's defence and fought Hananya. Sadly a year later, Pip died after having a heart attack due to taking a bad reaction to aesthetic whilst being treated for a knee injury whilst Ben moved to the Bachelor Group after Hananya still refused to tolerate him.
Currently, Arfur still lives with his group, of which he is low-ranking, and is still close to Jess. He also has a close bond with Hananya and Cherri's daughter Thelma.
Trivia[]
- Arfur, Jess and Seamus are the only children of Rodney to survive into adulthood. Bob died in 1998 aged 4 from a stomach infection, Pip died in 2009 aged 7 from a heart attack due to a bad reaction to anesthetic whilst Ben died in 2017 aged 15 from a heart attack due to an enlarged heart.
- Arfur is recognisable in Hananya's Group due to his silver fur, which he has had since adolescence.
- As well as appearing in Monkey Business and Monkey Life, Arfur also appeared in the 1999 BBC documentary Q.E.D. Saving Trudy.