Colchester Zoological Society are extremely sad to hear of the passing of male chimpanzee Tombe at Belfast Zoo on Friday 28th March. Tombe recently moved with Tumba, another male, to join the Belfast Zoo chimpanzee group as part of a coordinated European wide conservation programme. These moves are common in Zoos and help to effectively manage populations of different species as part of our wider species conservation efforts.
Belfast Zoo has a long history of caring for chimps and both Tumba and Tombe were settling into the group very well, which makes this loss all the more difficult. Initial findings suggest a probable heart attack but we are awaiting full postmortem results from the team at Belfast Zoo.
Tombe was born here at Colchester Zoological Society (CZS), on the 2nd August 1996. Tombe was the dominant male chimpanzee at CZS and he sired a single female, Talia, in 2009 and so we take comfort knowing his legacy lives on here at Chimpanzee Lookout.
We would like to extend our gratitude to the dedicated veterinary and animal care teams who supported Tombe throughout his transition to Belfast Zoo and our thoughts are with all those affected by his passing.
Meanwhile, Tumba continues to do well integrating into the wider chimpanzee troop and the animal care team at Belfast are closely monitoring the troop.
