Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center

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Logo of the WKPRC

The Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center (Engl. Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center, WKPRC ) in Leipzig studied behavior and cognition (perception) of the four ape species of orangutans , gorillas , chimpanzees and bonobos . It was named after the psychologist Wolfgang Köhler in recognition of his work on the mental abilities of the great apes.

construction

The research center, sponsored by the Max Planck Society (MPG), is a project of the Comparative and Developmental Psychology Department of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology ; it is integrated into the Leipzig Zoo , and zoo visitors have the opportunity to see the great apes in to observe the outdoor and indoor enclosures of the Pongoland facility (derived from the scientific generic name Pongo of the orangutans) and to find out about the conduct of the scientific studies.

The center of the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center is a 12 to 19 meter high and 1,600 m² large tropical hall with an ETFE foil roof as a warm house. The main usable area of ​​the building designed by the architect Herbert Kochta from Munich is 2,900 m², the enclosed space is 34,000 m³. Five near-natural systems are divided into an indoor and outdoor area. The indoor facilities are located in the warm house. The living conditions of the animals were recreated with artificial rock and shore landscapes and a tropical tree population. Water and dry ditches and, in exceptional cases, armored glass separate the great apes from the visitors. The animal enclosures of the Pongoland comprise 24,705 m² of outdoor space (12,210 m² of enclosures, 4,645 m² of moats 1.3 meters deep and up to 10 meters wide, and 7,850 m² of visitor paths and green spaces). The building area is 3,255 m² (1,307 m² of enclosures and dry trenches, 581 m² of indoor greening and 1,250 m² of green roof). This makes the research facility the world's largest great ape facility. The Raspach architects from Oberhausen took on the planning of the entire system.

In the facility, scientific research is combined with contemporary animal husbandry and presentation; this concept was a worldwide innovation. For zoo visitors, Pongoland is a replica of a research camp on the Ivory Coast in a jungle village.

The subject of research is pure passive behavioral psychological observation, i.e. H. Animal experiments and animal experiments in the traditional sense do not take place in the research facility, no researcher presses or touches the animals, the distance to them is always maintained. The scientists are essentially playing with the great apes and observing their social and cultural behavior.

The research facility employs 9 scientists and 14 animal keepers. The directors of the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center are the American anthropologist Michael Tomasello and the Spanish animal psychologist Josep Call.

history

In 1997 the Max Planck Society was looking for a well-known university town in the new federal states with a zoo that had experience with great apes in order to set up a primate research facility there. The Max Planck Society chose Leipzig as the location for a research facility based on the model of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta . A plot of land within the zoo was made available and the Max Planck Society was granted the heritable building right to build a research center there.

The foundation stone of the plant was laid on May 3, 1999. The construction costs amounted to around 28 million D-Marks. The opening took place on April 1, 2001 in the presence of the then Saxon Prime Minister Kurt Biedenkopf .

Animals

The Pongoland facility of the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center is home to Sumatran orangutans, western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. In addition to a large chimpanzee breeding group, a second smaller group of chimpanzees is kept.

Orangutans

Indoor enclosure for the orangutans

The successfully breeding group of Sumatran orangutans has an indoor enclosure of 185 m² and an outdoor area of ​​1870 m², equipped with numerous climbing trees and ropes.

The group of eight currently consists of the following animals:

  • Bimbo (born September 20, 1980 in Duisburg, since December 2000 in Leipzig)
  • Suaq (born May 15, 2009 in Leipzig, son of Padana )
  • Martok (born March 25, 2017 in Leipzig, son of Raja )
  • Pini (born June 30, 1988 in Leipzig, daughter of Dunja )
  • Dokana (born January 31, 1989 in Dresden, since May 2002 in Leipzig)
  • Padana (born November 18, 1997 in Leipzig, daughter of Pini )
  • Raja (born September 26, 2003 in Leipzig, daughter of Pini )
  • Sari (born August 12, 2017 in Leipzig, daughter of Padana )

On October 27, 2009, the ancestral mother of the Leipzig group, Dunja (born April 19, 1973 in the Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde, since 1976 in Leipzig) died unexpectedly of pneumonia in the indoor enclosure of the Pongoland.

Gorillas

There are currently two male and four female western lowland gorillas living on the gorilla facility:

  • Abeeku (born May 5, 1999 in Rotterdam / Netherlands, since August 2012 in Leipzig)
  • Kio (born December 6, 2018 in Leipzig, son of Abeeku and Kumili )
  • Kibara (born January 13, 2004 in Leipzig, daughter of Gorgo and Viringika )
  • Kumili (born January 23, 2004 in Chessington / England, since November 2012 in Leipzig)
  • Diara (born March 11, 2014 in Leipzig, daughter of Abeeku and Kumili )
  • Kianga (born December 6, 2016 in Leipzig, daughter of Abeeku and Kibara )

Silverback Gorgo (born June 28, 1981 in Krefeld) and the female Bebe (born June 1979 in the wilderness) were given to Rostock in July 2012, where the two spend their twilight years in the new " Darwineum ". The female Viringika was aggressive towards the young female Kumili and was therefore given to Port Lympne in England after several months of separation in 2014.

The gorillas have an indoor area of ​​246 m² and an outdoor area of ​​over 2400 m², which, in addition to numerous climbing opportunities, also offers the animals the necessary opportunity to escape the visitor's eye.

Chimpanzees

The chimpanzee groups of the Pongoland are among the largest groups of their kind in Europe. The large breeding group of West African chimpanzees and two hybrid chimpanzees females with offspring are available in the hall 417 m², the large outdoor area comprises 4125 m² and offers the animals climbing opportunities and numerous retreats.

The breeding group currently (as of 07/2020) comprises eight male and fourteen female animals, five of which are females hybrids and sterilized:

  • Robert (born December 1, 1975 at the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Frodo (born November 28, 1995 in the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig, son of Robert and Natasha )
  • Lome (born August 11, 2001 in Leipzig, son of Corrie )
  • Lobo (born April 21, 2004 in Leipzig, son of Corrie )
  • Azibo (born April 14, 2015 in Leipzig, son of Swela )
  • Ohini (born March 25, 2016 in Leipzig, son of Kisha )
  • Makeni (born March 14, 2018 in Leipzig, son of Natasha )
  • Frank (born December 25, 2019 in Leipzig, son of Kisha )
  • Fraukje (born April 6, 1976 at the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Corrie (* December 12, 1976 at the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Riet , hybrid female (born November 11, 1977 in the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Natasha (born March 28, 1980 at the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Dorien (born October 22, 1980 in the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Maja , hybrid female (born May 1, 1986 in Hanover, taken over from Ostrava in January 2016)
  • Sandra , hybrid female (born June 9, 1993 at the Center for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Rijswijk / Netherlands, since February 2001 in Leipzig, daughter of Robert and Riet )
  • Swela (born October 19, 1995 in Basel / Switzerland, since March 2005 in Leipzig)
  • Zira , hybrid female (born June 3, 1997 in Ostrava, daughter of Maja , taken over from Ostrava in January 2016)
  • Tai , hybrid female (born August 12, 2002 in Leipzig, daughter of Robert and Riet )
  • Kisha (born March 4, 2004 in Osnabrück, since September 2013 in Leipzig)
  • Changa (born March 3, 2011 in Copenhagen, since December 2019 in Leipzig)
  • Youma (born March 25, 2018 in Leipzig, daughter of Corrie )
  • Karola (born May 1, 2020 in Leipzig, daughter of Fraukje )

The second group of chimpanzees, also known as the B group, consists of hybrids, one female West African and two female East African chimpanzees, with which no breeding should take place for genetic or age reasons. The animals have 177 m² inside and 1375 m² outside.

The group currently (as of 03/2019) consists of a sterilized male and five females of different ages:

  • Alex , hybrid male (born March 10, 2001 in the Safaripark Plaisance du Touch / France, since May 2002 in Leipzig)
  • Jeudi , East African female chimpanzee (* ~ 1966, since May 2013 in Leipzig, taken over from the monkey sanctuary in Aalpamere / Netherlands)
  • Frederike , East African chimpanzee female (* ~ 1974, since May 2013 in Leipzig, taken over from a monkey sanctuary / Netherlands)
  • Daza , West African female chimpanzee (* ~ 1979, since May 2013 in Leipzig, taken over from the monkey sanctuary Aalpamere / Netherlands)
  • Hope , hybrid female (born December 14, 1990 in Jerusalem / Israel, taken over from Ostrava in January 2016)
  • Bambari , hybrid female (born December 8, 2000 in Ostrava / Czech Republic, daughter of Hope , taken over from Ostrava in January 2016)

Bonobos

The currently twelve bonobo group (as of June 2020) lives in an indoor area of ​​282 m², which allows the animals to climb up to 10 m high and is spanned with a net. The large outdoor area, 2375 m², allows the animals to climb up to 25 m high living old trees.

The group currently consists of the following individuals:

  • Joey (born December 13, 1982 in Antwerp / Belgium, since March 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Jasongo (born August 2, 1990 in Wuppertal, since May 2011 in Leipzig)
  • Kuno (born November 26, 1996 in Stuttgart, since March 2001 in Leipzig)
  • Kasai II (born January 9, 2013 in Leipzig, son of Kuno and Yasa )
  • Yaro (born April 18, 2013 in Leipzig, son of Kuno and Lexi )
  • Tayo (born July 22, 2016 in Leipzig, son of Kuno and Lexi )
  • Sumai (born June 19, 2018 in Leipzig, son of Kuno and Yasa )
  • Hodari (born February 3, 2020 in Leipzig, son of Lexi )
  • Yasa (born August 27, 1997 in Twycross Zoo / England, since May 2004 in Leipzig)
  • Lexi (born September 13, 1999 in Jacksonville / USA, since May 2012 in Leipzig)
  • Luiza (born January 27, 2005 in Leipzig, daughter of Ulindi )
  • Amira (born May 15, 2017 in Leipzig, daughter of Kuno and Yasa , raised by Lexi )

Bonobo female Ulindi (born October 10, 1993 in Frankfurt, since May 2001 in Leipzig) and her son Loto (born September 2, 2009 in Leipzig) were given to Romagne / France in May 2013.

Other animal species

Several African bird species live in the tropical hall. Which includes:

literature

Radio broadcast

  • Planck in Pongoland. Primate research in the Leipzig Zoo. SWR 2, April 15, 2002 (Author: Konrad Lindner, Editor: Detlef Clas)

Web links

Commons : Pongoland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Staff at the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center . Retrieved April 22, 2017
  2. ↑ a b Mustafa Haikal , Jörg Junhold: On the track of the lion. 125 years of Leipzig Zoo. Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 2003, pp. 245 f., ISBN 3-936508-95-X
  3. ^ Philip Bethge: Shell game in Pongoland. Der Spiegel No. 14 of April 2, 2001, p. 200
  4. ^ Wolfgang Koehler Primate Research Center: Profiles
  5. ↑ a b c d Website of the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center: Profiles of the gorillas in Pongoland . Retrieved March 3, 2017
  6. ↑ Leipzig baby gorilla is now called Kianga - more offspring expected . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung , February 16, 2017

Coordinates: 51 ° 21 ′ 11.5 "  N , 12 ° 21 ′ 56.3"  E