| Tikko | |
|---|---|
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Species |
Chimpanzee |
|
Born |
Circa 1994, Africa |
|
Died |
17 February 2016 (aged approximately 22) |
|
Family |
Sally † (foster mother) |
Tikko was a male chimpanzee. He was the second in command of Hananya's Group from 2004 until his death in 2016.
Biography[]
Pre-Monkey World (1994-1996)[]
Tikko was born in Africa and along with two other young male chimps named Hananya and Semach, was smuggled from the wild for the pet trade, but the boat the three chimps were on, was seized by officials in Israel in April 1995. Following this, the trio were housed at Tisch Family Zoological Gardens with a another young male chimp named Gypsy (who was born at the zoo). The owner of a laboratory and primate breeding centre in Israel attempted to have the zoo give Tikko and the other young chimps to him, however the Nature Reserves Authority refused and deemed that Monkey World would be the right place for the chimps to go to.
Arrival at Monkey World and life in The Chimpanzee Nursery Group (1996-1998)[]
Tikko along with Hananya, Semach and Gypsy (whom the zoo no longer wanted) came to Monkey World on 28th August 1996. Monkey World staff attempted to place Tikko and the others into a group led by Rodney, but after an incident with one of the female members Cathy, it was decided to place the youngers into the park's chimpanzee nursery group and were cared for by Sally (who was caring for three young chimps named Bob, Arfur and Jess). It was during his time in the nursery that it was discovered that Tikko had a milk allergy and so instead he was given lemonade.
On the 29th September, they were joined by another young male chimp named Simon (who was found in Spain). In April 1998, they were joined by a young female chimp named Trudy (who was being abused by circus owner Mary Chipperfield).
Life in Hananya's Group and Death (1998-2016)[]
In July that same year, Tikko and his group made a new group with two older male chimps named Charlie (who served as leader) and Pacito. They were joined a month later by three other older chimps named Mojo, Mona and Peggy (who came from Chico's Group). Sadly, the following month, Bob tragically died from a stomach infection and shortly afterwards, Sally fell ill. Worried that Sally may have caught the same illness that killed Bob, Monkey World's staff placed Tikko and his playmates back in their old nursery enclosure away from the adults to stop the disease spreading. After Sally was well again, the group reformed.
In 1999, Mojo left the group and moved to the Bachelor Group after becoming too rough with Tikko and his playmates. That same year, Charlie and Pacito also left the group after Charlie started acting aggressive to the younger chimps. Following this, Rodney took over as leader of the group and Hananya served as his second-in-command.
In 2004 Hananya got into a fight with Rodney, to which Tikko and the other male members of the group (who had grown up with Hananya), took Hananya's side and attacked Rodney, but stopped when they realized that they had hurt Rodney. Sadly, Rodney died during the night from a heart attack. Following this, Hananya took over as leader of the group with Tikko as his second-in-command.
Sadly on 17th February 2016, Tikko died from a heart attack due to an enlarged heart.
Trivia[]
- As well as appearing in Monkey Business and Monkey Life, Tikko also appeared in the 1999 BBC documentary Q.E.D. Saving Trudy.