Basel Zoo: evolving ape care from domination to modern standard

At the start of Basel Zoo's 150-year history, the focus was on dominating "exotic" animals. Over time, a needs-based approach took hold, culminating in the "Basic Rights for Primates" initiative. The history of ape care at the zoo reflects significant change. In the 1930s, images of two chimpanzees, "Max and Moritz," sitting at a table and spooning up soup caused a sensation. The head keeper at the time, Carl Stemmler, remarked about "his" animals: "Max learnt to eat properly with a spoon in three days. It took Moritz over a month to realise he had to hold the spoon in his hand." What seems bizarre today was normal until the 1960s: "educating" apes by humanising them. Historian Jennifer Degen explains: "The apes often arrived at the zoo as young animals without a mother. The keepers believed they needed to teach them something." Control was also a factor: "They realised that adult monkeys could be dangerous, so the relationship always had to be hierarchical." An anecdote ...