‘Surreal’ killing of 4 chimpanzees has zoologist reconsidering ties with Swedish zoo | CBC Radio

Cognitive zoologist Mathias Osvath cannot wrap his head around why the Furuvik Zoo fatally shot four of Sweden’s beloved chimpanzees.

Linda, Santino, Torsten and Manda broke out of their enclosure last Wednesday and were on the loose inside the zoo’s “monkey house.” Furuvik Zoo was closed to the public, and temperatures were around –15 degrees, but it took days for the zoo to bring the situation under control. 

Along with the chimps, there were other apes, reptiles and animals in the cold building waiting for zookeepers to bring them food and water. But instead, the zoo ordered that the chimps be killed.

“I was a bit shocked because it seemed so surreal,” Osvath told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. “I could not understand why that would be necessary, or if there was something extremely unfortunate that had happened.”

The situation was “extremely serious and tragic, both for our animals and our employees,” according to a statement from the zoo. They said that they did not know how the chimps got out. Zoo staff considered the chimps to be dangerous and determined that they had to be killed. In an FAQ posted on its website, the zoo said tranquilizer was not used over concerns for staff safety.

A spokesperson for the group operating the zoo, Annika Troselius, told Swedish broadcaster SVT, “We have to think about people’s lives and safety in the first place. No employees are allowed to work in close contact with animals like this.”

As It Happens reached out to Furuvik Zoo for comment but did not hear back before deadline.

Furuvik Zoo is located near Gavle, which is 165 kilometres north of Stockholm, and is part of an amusement park. According to the zoo’s website, it is also the only primate research station in the Nordic countries.

Osvath studied the chimps at Furuvik closely for years, and he says he’s not convinced by the zoo’s argument.

“They shot a three-year-old chimpanzee, and a three-year-old chimpanzee [does] not pose any lethal threat whatsoever … but still, they thought it did, which shows to me that they might not have the right competence,” the zoologist said.

Santino’s storied career

The chimpanzees were famous in Sweden for their TV appearances — their former zookeeper regularly interacted with them on children’s shows. But 45-year-old Santino was also popular among scientists.

“[Santino] gave me one of my nicknames, the One Chimp Guy, because I did an almost impossible thing,” Osvath said. “That is to publish this study based on one subject, and the method I used was highly unorthodox and still it had this impact.”

Before he became old and weak, Santino threw stones at visitors in what the zoologist called “typical male chimpanzee displays.” He started to collect those stones in the morning, before the zoo opened to visitors, and put them in little piles.

By watching Santino, Osvath saw the chimp calmly plan and strategize for the instances when he was not so calm later in the day, during his outbursts.

It was not the first study to influence the way society thinks about chimps and what they can do, but it became a clear example of their capacity to plan like humans.

Santino went on to be a part of further research, including an Ig Nobel Prize-winning study for anthropology in 2018, which suggested that the Furuvik Zoo’s chimps were just as likely to imitate their human visitors as the other way around.

Santino’s blood was also used in a study by this year’s Nobel Prize winner, Svante Pääbo. In 2002, the scientist’s work helped identify genetic differences between humans and primates.

“It’s very sad because he would probably have died soon anyway, but not like this,” Osvath said.

‘We need to figure out precisely what happened’: Osvath

When Linda was saved from poachers in Liberia by Swedish diplomats, she was believed to be between six- and nine-years-old.

Osvath said that they shot her mother for the bushmeat trade, probably while she was carrying Linda. The poachers may have intended to sell the young chimp, Osvath believes, but she was rescued and brought to Sweden.

“The irony is, of course, that she got shot in Sweden, with a juvenile on her back.”

Three chimpanzees remain in the care of Furuvik Zoo, including one dominant male. 

As of Monday, according to the zoo, the chimps are showing signs of recovery from the cold weather. They are being treated medically and are eating.

The zoo also shared details about one of the chimps, Selma, who has injuries on an arm and in one eye. She has started to move her arm and fingers, and the swelling of her eye has reduced.

Osvath argued that the chimps would be better off, in terms of dominance and hierarchy, if they were integrated into a group with younger chimps at another sanctuary or zoo.

He’s also having second thoughts about his own research, as head of the Cognitive Zoology Group at Lund University, and the university’s long-running research partnership with the zoo. That collaboration was put on hold this weekend, in the aftermath of the shooting.

“We need to figure out precisely what happened and whether they did something wrong — and if it’s ethical to continue doing work there.”