Flo

Birth: ca. 1919

Death: 1972

Flo was once matriarch of the F-family

Biography
Flo (ca. 1919–1972)[5]  was the matriarch of the F-family, so named because she and all her matrilineal descendents were given names beginning with the letter "F". In 1962, Flo was one of the first chimpanzees to approach Dr. Goodall's camp, along with her infant daughter Fifi. Video of Flo approaching Dr. Goodall and allowing Fifi to reach out to touch Dr. Goodall's forehead, letting Dr. Goodall know she had been accepted, is shown in the IMAX film Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees.[6]  Later she brought her sons Figan and Faben, who would later become prominent members of the community to the camp, and when she came into estrus in 1963 she attracted the community's males to Dr Goodall's camp.[7] [8]

Flo was a high-ranking female who had at least five known offspring, three sons (Faben, Figan and Flint) and two daughters (Fifi and Flame). Flo was 28 years old when she gave birth to Faben. Most female chimps have their first infant when 12–14 years of age, so it is possible that Flo had at least one infant prior to Faben and that infant either died or, if it was a female, would have transferred to one of the other communities prior to Jane Goodall's arrival to Gombe. When Flo died in 1972, she was given an obituary in Britain's Sunday Times.[7]

Relatives

 * Faben : Flo's oldest son
 * Figan : Flo's second son