It was a chimpanzee beloved by Brits throughout the 1970s as it became the star of the PG Tips advert.
And now the life story of Choppers, a Western Chimpanzee, that played Grandmother Ada Lott in the ad has been revealed in a new study.
It had been rescued from poachers in Sierra Leone at just six weeks old, before being brought to the UK.
After starring in the ads, the chimp was cared for at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire for more than 40 years, until it died in 2016.
A team led by scientists at National Museums Scotland (NMS) has now told Choppers’s story ‘like never before’, thanks to a cutting-edge scientific method called osteobiographical analysis.
The technique, which involves detailed analysis of bones and tissue, is more commonly used in archaeology to reconstruct the life stories of ancient human subjects like Richard III, identifying where and how they lived in remarkable detail.
It is rarely used on modern animal subjects – and this is the first time the technique has been applied so comprehensively to a zoo animal.
NMS researcher Dr David Cooper, who authored the study, said: ‘Choppers was beloved by audiences across the UK for years.
Choppers, a Western Chimpanzee, played Grandmother Ada Lott in PG Tips adverts
After starring in the ads, the chimp was cared for at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire for more than 40 years
Choppers later in life at Twycross Zoo
‘Now the innovative application of osteobiographical analysis has allowed us to tell her story like never before.
‘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 study saw researchers use biogeochemical, pathological, and morphometric analytic techniques to paint a rich picture of Choppers’s key life events.
These included evidence of traumatic injuries sustained when she was poached from the wild in infancy, which impacted her throughout her life by impairing her movement and worsening degenerative issues linked to old age.
Analysis of Choppers’s teeth also indicated geographical and dietary shifts between the ages of three and four – coinciding with her move to the UK.
Choppers played Grandmother Ada Lott before retiring aged about six or seven.
Researchers said her upper jaw was ‘significantly elongated’ when compared with that of a wild chimpanzee, which they said reflected an early diet of sugary soft fruit.
They pointed out that in recent years the diets of zoo primates has shifted towards tougher, less sugary vegetables, which they said is leading to significant improvements in health and behaviour.
After her death, Twycross Zoo donated Choppers’s skeleton to NMS, where it became part of an internationally-significant natural science collection of more than 10 million specimens.
The study, which is published in the journal Scientific Reports, also involved researchers from the University of Exeter, the University of Reading, Twycross Zoo and the University of Edinburgh.
The research is part of the Animal Feeding project funded by Wellcome, and comes as the NMS prepares to welcome the return of the biggest exhibition of primate biology ever staged, Monkeys: Our Primate Family, opening on June 28.
