Australasian Western Lowland Gorilla Population

[Zoofan15]

Melbourne Zoo Update

Thank you to @Jambo for the following update on Melbourne Zoo’s plans which confirms the following two predications in this thread were correct:

- The plan is to retain Otana as silverback given there’s no options for placing him elsewhere in the region.

- Melbourne Zoo plan to import one or two females in the next few years.

Kanzi will not leave the troop unless she receives a breeding recommendation, which is unlikely given the over-representation of her family line.

Given the surplus of gorillas within the captive population, I’d expect to see more and more females retained in their natal troops as non breeding females, rather than going straight into breeding troops upon reaching adolescence.

Non breeding males (in bachelor troops) became a phenomenon two or three decades ago and now non breeding females will likely become a trend - a far cry from the pioneering days of captive gorilla breeding where every mother raised infant went straight into a breeding situation.

 

[Zoofan15]

Gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo:

A gorilla infant was born at Mogo Zoo to Kisane and Kipenzi on 21/10/2022.

This is the first gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo, the first in the region since 2019 and the first infant of these parents.

 

[Zorro]

Gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo:

A gorilla infant was born at Mogo Zoo to Kisane and Kipenzi on 21/10/2022.

This is the first gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo, the first in the region since 2019 and the first infant of these parents.

Wonderful news

 

[Zoofan15]

Wonderful news

I'm glad they've decided to focus breeding efforts on 11 year old Kipenzi, rather than her 43 year old mother. Hopefully the rearing of this infant goes well.

 

[Zorro]

I'm glad they've decided to focus breeding efforts on 11 year old Kipenzi, rather than her 43 year old mother. Hopefully the rearing of this infant goes well.

I agree also hoping its a female. we need imports especially since the EEP and SSP are at maximum capacity.

 

[Zoofan15]

I agree also hoping its a female. we need imports especially since the EEP and SSP are at maximum capacity.

A female would be good as this infant won't be part of a cohort as we've seen at Taronga in the 2000's and 2010's, meaning options for merging a male into a bachelor troop will be limited. A female could conversely remain in her natal troop long term or be assimilated into a breeding troop.

 

[Zoofan15]

Gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo:

A gorilla infant was born at Mogo Zoo to Kisane and Kipenzi on 21/10/2022.

This is the first gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo, the first in the region since 2019 and the first infant of these parents.

An update that the infant is a male.

 

[Jambo]

Gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo:

A gorilla infant was born at Mogo Zoo to Kisane and Kipenzi on 21/10/2022.

This is the first gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo, the first in the region since 2019 and the first infant of these parents.

Wonderful news! Unexpected to say the least.

Eleven is the perfect age for a first time mother; similarly other first time mothers in the region, Mbeli and Kimya both had their first offspring at eleven and ten respectively.

An update that the infant is a male.

I'd had hoped for a female to at least grow Mogo's troop, but any infant is great whatsoever!

 

[Zoofan15]

Wonderful news! Unexpected to say the least.

Eleven is the perfect age for a first time mother; similarly other first time mothers in the region, Mbeli and Kimya both had their first offspring at eleven and ten respectively.



I'd had hoped for a female to at least grow Mogo's troop, but any infant is great whatsoever!

It came as a great surprise to me, though I’ve said from the beginning that trying to breed from Kriba in her early 40’s was a dead end and they long should have switched to Kipenzi.

Kriba gave birth to her first offspring at the age of 10 and her other four daughters (three of which have bred in Europe) welcomed their first offspring at the ages of 10, 11, 12 and 10 years old respectively.

I imagine we’ll see Fikiri breed at a similar age being comparatively genetically valuable via her maternal line; but that same reason, doubt we’ll see Kanzi transferred into a breeding troop anytime soon. Mouila’s line is very well represented.

 

[Jambo]

I imagine we’ll see Fikiri breed at a similar age being comparatively genetically valuable via her maternal line; but that same reason, doubt we’ll see Kanzi transferred into a breeding troop anytime soon. Mouila’s line is very well represented.

Fikiri's an obvious candidate for Melbourne. Such transfer though is still at least five years away; so importing females from Europe is the best course in the meantime.

I doubt Kanzi will be breed from too. Keeping her at Melbourne as another adult female to balance out the gender ratio is probably the best option going forward. I doubt she'd have much interest overseas too, as Mouila's line has grown quite considerably.

 

[Zoofan15]

I doubt Kanzi will be breed from too. Keeping her at Melbourne as another adult female to balance out the gender ratio is probably the best option going forward. I doubt she'd have much interest overseas too, as Mouila's line has grown quite considerably.

I agree. Given Kimya isn’t particularly genetically valuable, one option could be to retain her and Kanzi in the troop as non breeding females and import a young female for breeding with Otana. That way the disadvantage the immigrant female is at re. Kimya and Kanzi being a mother-daughter dyad is countered by her being the only breeding female. This method is currently working well at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

This would additionally give them the option to add Fikiri to the troop in five years time - which would otherwise be difficult space wise if they imported two females from Europe and had a larger troop.

 

[Zoofan15]

Mogo Zoo’s director has posted an update on the gorilla infant:

It’s clear from the update the infant has not been reintroduced to the troop at this stage - though that remains the long term goal:

So today 7 days after he needed to come into care we have finished medications on our little man, nasal feeding tubes and oxygen lines have all been removed, which is such a huge relief.

We now watch and monitor closely of course but we are headed in the right direction. The rest of the family are all much more relaxed routines are getting back to regular and trust accounts are getting deposits again.

Long way to go, with plans upon plans depending on what the group is showing and telling us.

As always in everything we do our animals come first, their emotional, mental and physical needs are our primary concerns so we will just take this one day at a time.

 

[Zoofan15]

Gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo:

A gorilla infant was born at Mogo Zoo to Kisane and Kipenzi on 21/10/2022.

This is the first gorilla birth at Mogo Zoo, the first in the region since 2019 and the first infant of these parents.

The male infant at Mogo Zoo has been named Kaius:

1.0 Kaius (21/10/2022) Kisane x Kipenzi

It’s noted his K name pays tribute to his family line - with both his parents (Kisane and Kipenzi) and maternal grandparents (Kibabu and Kriba) having K names.

 

[Jambo]

A recent video on Zookeeper Chad’s socials shows Kriba approaching and interacting with young Kaius through the fence.

Awesome to see; hopefully it won’t be long now before Kaius can be reintroduced into his troop- his grandmother may be able to play more of a maternal role towards him especially if Kipenzi won’t.

 

[Zoofan15]

A recent video on Zookeeper Chad’s socials shows Kriba approaching and interacting with young Kaius through the fence.

Awesome to see; hopefully it won’t be long now before Kaius can be reintroduced into his troop- his grandmother may be able to play more of a maternal role towards him especially if Kipenzi won’t.

The reintroduction will be determined by Kaius’ development. At this stage, gorillas are completely dependent on their mothers and milk is their primary source of nutrition. Even if Kriba could care for him, neither she or Kipenzi would be lactating and provide milk.

By six or seven months of age, Kaius should be relatively mobile (and eating solids), so I imagine that’s the age a reintroduction could be attempted - with Kaius approaching the mesh by himself for supplemental milk feeds.

 

[Pertinax]

By six or seven months of age, Kaius should be relatively mobile (and eating solids), so I imagine that’s the age a reintroduction could be attempted - with Kaius approaching the mesh by himself for supplemental milk feeds.

Yes, they can't do it any earlier now or he would starve, even if one of the females 'adopted' him. There's a very short window for a reintroduction soon after birth while the mother is still lactating, if that is missed, because extra medical care is still needed or some other reason, they then have to wait until the baby is mobile.

 

[Zoofan15]

Western Lowland Gorilla Population - 2022/2023 Summary

2022 Summary:

August 2022 brought the sad but inevitable news Yuska at Melbourne Zoo had died. Yuska made history with the delivery of the world’s first IVF gorilla baby in 1984 and was a much loved and familiar face at Melbourne Zoo, where she spent almost her entire life.

Yuska was 51 years old when she dies, which stands as the record for longevity of this species in Australasia.

The highlight of the year was the birth of the male infant, Kaius, at Mogo Zoo in October 2022. Kaius was the first offspring of his parents and was the first gorilla infant born in the region since 2019.

Kaius is currently being handraised, with the hope of reintroducing him to his family once he’s old enough. The staff have worked hard to maintain his social bonds with the troop via the mesh and signs so far are encouraging.

2023 Summary:

With Melbourne’s troop reduced to 1.2 gorillas, their current plan is to import one or two females (likely from Europe) to expand their troop. No timeline has been announced for this import beyond “the next few years” - though I imagine it’s a priority with regards to the social dynamics of the troop.

Mogo’s plans are unknown but there’s the possibility of a repeat breeding recommendation for Kipenzi.

To my knowledge, Taronga have no plans to breed ahead of the transfer of their troop to the new Congo complex, which is scheduled to be built in the next few years. The cessation in breeding allows the option of transferring in a new male - though to be clear, this is an observation; not a confirmation of their plans.

————————————

Please note: This summary will be followed next month by a full population list update.

 

[Jambo]

With Melbourne’s troop reduced to 1.2 gorillas, their current plan is to import one or two females (likely from Europe) to expand their troop. No timeline has been announced for this import beyond “the next few years” - though I imagine it’s a priority with regards to the social dynamics of the troop.

Im thinking Otana’s aggressive nature may be behind the fact that MZ haven’t imported any females.

Moving Otana into a bachelor group would be the best option; and I’d imagine that a repeated breeding recommendation with Kimya (to hopefully produce a son) has been the focus for a while now. Unfortunately it seems the size of the group is affecting Kimya reproducing.

 

[Zoofan15]

Im thinking Otana’s aggressive nature may be behind the fact that MZ haven’t imported any females.

Moving Otana into a bachelor group would be the best option; and I’d imagine that a repeated breeding recommendation with Kimya (to hopefully produce a son) has been the focus for a while now. Unfortunately it seems the size of the group is affecting Kimya reproducing.

I’m confident Otana would accept the addition of young, mother raised (socially normal) females into the troop at Melbourne. It’s worth noting that the two females he’s had issue with were both socially abnormal and similarly clashed with an adolescent male in a previous troop, who otherwise accepted socially normal females.

@Pertinax has listed previous examples in the past of males like Otana, who have assumed leadership of a troop at a young age and despite issues at the start, matured into competent silverbacks. Hopefully Otana will prove another example of this.

 

[Pertinax]

@Pertinax has listed previous examples in the past of males like Otana, who have assumed leadership of a troop at a young age and despite issues at the start, matured into competent silverbacks. Hopefully Otana will prove another example of this.

Yes IMO there's nothing unusual about Otana at all, he had good social rearing and group experience during his formative years at Howletts. Unusual behaviour only surfaced when faced with de-socialised females at Melbourne. He would accept new mother-raised females as easily as any other normal silverback, I am quite sure.