Tragic life of last PG Tips chimpanzee from poaching injuries to death

Daily Mirror

26-05-2025

Choppers, a Western Chimpanzee, played grandmother Ada Lott in the long-running marketing campaign while she was still a juvenile
Nine years on from the passing of a "beloved" chimpanzee, Choppers, famed for starring in PG Tips tea adverts, scientists have uncovered disturbing truths about her past. Astonishingly, the Western Chimpanzee who played the character of grandmother Ada Lott while still young, was housed at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire for over four decades until she died in 2016, ITV reports.
Groundbreaking revelations about her life have come to light via National Museums Scotland (NMS) researchers, employing what they describe as "cutting-edge" techniques to narrate her life "like never before."
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Interestingly, this state-of-the-art method is similar to that used to decipher the history of King Richard III, whose remains emerged from beneath a Leicester car park. Known as osteobiographical analysis, it necessitates meticulous inspection of an individual's skeletal and soft tissues.
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While the technique typically sheds light on the lives of human entities, detailing their histories with impressive precision, its application to contemporary animal subjects is unheard of. Yet, NMS asserts that this occasion marks possibly the first time such a comprehensive use of this approach has been undertaken to probe the existence of a zoo creature.
Choppers, a former TV-star chimp who was famously rescued from West African poachers at six weeks old and later became a beloved character known as Ada Lott on British screens, tragically passed away with her skeleton being exhibited at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS), reports the Express.
Before settling into retirement around the age of six or seven, Choppers featured in countless living rooms, eventually leaving show business due to her maturing age. Back in 2014, the very zoo that trained chimps for television admitted to the BBC that utilising apes in entertainment was a mistake that led to lasting harm for the animals.
In an enduring contribution to science after death, Choppers's remains were given to NMS by the Twycross Zoo, adding to a vast natural science trove boasting more than 10 million artefacts.
NMS's Dr David Cooper, who conducted a cutting-edge osteobiographical study, said: "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 revealed personal hardships experienced by Choppers, including distressing injuries obtained during her capture as a baby. These afflictions affected her mobility and exacerbated age-related degenerative conditions, confirmed by scientific investigation.
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Experts have discovered that Choppers, a chimpanzee who was once a TV star, experienced significant changes in her diet and geography between the ages of three and four, coinciding with her move to the UK where she was introduced to a zoological diet.
The study revealed that Choppers's upper jaw was "significantly elongated" compared to wild chimpanzees, a result of an early diet rich in sugary soft fruit.
Researchers have noted that zoo primates' diets have recently changed to include tougher, less sugary vegetables, leading to marked improvements in their health and behaviour.
The findings, detailed in the journal Scientific Reports, were a collaborative effort involving experts from the University of Exeter, the University of Reading, Twycross Zoo, and the University of Edinburgh.
Phillipa Dobbs, veterinary services manager at Twycross Zoo, expressed delight at participating in the research, stating: "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."