Tragic life of last PG Tips chimpanzee exposed in groundbreaking study

Daily Record

26-05-2025

Choppers was a long-term resident at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire and starred in a series of adverts for the tea brand before her death in 2016 after a childhood of cruelty
Nine years on from the passing of Choppers, a "beloved" chimpanzee famous for starring in PG Tips tea adverts, scientists have unveiled distressing insights into her life. Portraying the character grandmother Ada Lott while just a juvenile, the Western Chimpanzee was a long-standing inhabitant at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, where she lived for over four decades until her death in 2016, ITV reported.
Recently, revelations have emerged thanks to researchers at National Museums Scotland (NMS), who employed what they term "cutting-edge" techniques to piece together her life story in unprecedented detail.
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Interestingly, this same technology was used to piece together the history of King Richard III after his remains were discovered in a car park in Leicester. Known as osteobiographical analysis, this innovative scientific method meticulously examines an individual's bones and tissues.
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It is typically utilised in archaeology to forge comprehensive biographies of ancient human beings, revealing intricate elements such as their living conditions and personal histories.
The NMS, however, highlights that its application on contemporary animal subjects is quite extraordinary, and it's believed that this is the first instance where the method has been so extensively applied to delve into the narrative of a zoo animal's life, reports the Express.
Choppers, the chimpanzee who was rescued from poachers in West Africa at a tender age of six weeks and later became a beloved television star in the UK, has had her life story told through osteobiographical analysis. After retiring from her role as Ada Lott when she hit puberty at around six or seven years old and Choppers's life took a turn away from the limelight.
In 2014, the zoo that once trained chimps for TV appearances admitted to the BBC that using apes on television was a mistake, acknowledging the long-term damage suffered by the animals. Following her passing, Twycross Zoo contributed Choppers's skeleton to NMS, where it joined a vast natural science collection exceeding 10 million specimens.
Dr David Cooper, the NMS researcher who led the study, commented: "Choppers was beloved by audiences across the UK for years. Now the innovative application of osteobiographical analysis has allowed us to tell her story like never before.
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"Her life is a testament to the many thousands of chimpanzees that were taken from the wild and charts a crucial shift in the priorities of zoos away from entertainment and towards education, conservation, research and welfare."
The research provided detailed insights into Choppers's significant life events, including traumatic injuries she suffered as an infant due to poaching. These injuries affected her mobility and exacerbated age-related degenerative conditions, according to the scientists involved in the study.
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An analysis of Choppers's teeth revealed geographical and dietary shifts between the ages of three and four, corresponding with her move to the UK where she was placed on a typical zoo diet.
The study highlighted that her upper jaw was "significantly elongated" when matched against that of wild chimpanzees in their natural environment, which researchers attributed to an early diet rich in sugary soft fruit.
Experts have noted that recent years have seen a change in zoo primate diets to include tougher, less sugary vegetables, resulting in marked improvements in health and behaviour.
Findings from the research have been detailed in the journal Scientific Reports, with contributions from academics affiliated with institutions such as the University of Exeter, the University of Reading, Twycross Zoo, and the University of Edinburgh.
Phillipa Dobbs, the veterinary services manager at Twycross Zoo, expressed pleasure at participating in the research, commenting: "Choppers was an important part of our history and this pioneering research offers new insights into her life and the evolving role of modern zoos."
She added: "By supporting studies like this, we can continue to learn from the past and drive progress in animal care, welfare, science and conservation. It's an honour to be involved."