Susie ( 1948 - March 20, 1969 ) is a female chimpanzee brought from the United States to the Ueno Japanese Zoo . Being able to perform many tricks, such as cycling , walking on stilts and ice skating, she soon gained popularity in the media [1] and became a kind of symbol of the Ueno Zoo. In 1956 she gained national fame by shaking hands with Emperor Hirohito , who visited the Ueno Zoo.
| Susie | |
|---|---|
| ス ー ジ ー | |
 The famous photograph in which Suzy holds out Hirohito's hand | |
| View | chimpanzees |
| Floor | female |
| Date of Birth | 1948 |
| Date of death | March 20, 1969 |
| A country |  Japan |
Content
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Death
- 2 notes
- 3 Bibliography
Biography
Until 1945, four chimpanzees from the exchange between zoos from Germany lived in the Ueno Zoo: two 4-year-old chimpanzees, a male and a female, arrived in 1938, but died of tuberculosis in 1939. Two more arrived in 1941 , also male and female, but died during the war in 1943 and 1945, respectively. 3-year-old Suzy was brought to Ueno from the United States in 1951 , being acquired from a California-based animal trading company from Hermosa Beach; soon a 7-year-old male chimpanzee Bill was also acquired. Susie was assigned two rangers, whose task was to prepare the monkey for various tricks, including throwing rings, clapping hands, riding one and three wheeled bicycles and skating, in preparation for the celebration of the zoo’s 70th anniversary in 1952. walking on stilts, handstand, and so on, and, among other things, the monkey was even trained to press the camera button and play simple short tunes on the piano. Suzy showed good susceptibility to training and excellent results, although her training had to be suspended for half a month due to a dislocation of the heel, resulting from a fall from a half meter height.
Having successfully performed in 1952 , Suzy continued to successfully perform on the stage of the open-air zoo theater until the end of 1956, enjoying great popularity among visitors. She was often written about in newspapers, especially at the end of her “career”, when on April 20, 1956, Emperor Hirohito visited the Ueno Zoo, before whom she rode a bicycle in her stage costume (cap, T-shirt and plaid skirt) and who shook her hand; according to newspaper descriptions, the rangers did not teach her to shake hands, but she supposedly went up to him herself and extended her hand, after which the puzzled Hirohito decided to shake her. Photographs of this event, hastily taken by journalists, were published on the front pages of the evening issues of major newspapers.
Death
Since July 1955, Susie suffered from colon disease, and on January 20, 1957 she was officially retired. She got along with Bill peacefully, but refused to mate with him and never brought offspring. In an effort to cure Susie of the disease, the zoo did not invite her to the veterinarian, but the chief surgeon of Komagome Hospital, who underwent a complex operation on her intestines. She spent about two months in the hospital and lived another twelve years. In March 1969, she suddenly had a relapse, and, despite an urgent second operation, she died a few days later.
Notes
Bibliography
- 大型 類 人猿 の 日本 で の 飼育 の 歴 史 (inaccessible link) = "History of the great apes in Japan."
- ス ー ジ ー ち ゃ ん の カ メ ラ マ ン (inaccessible link) = "Photos of Suzy-chan."