Mogo Wildlife Park Mogo Zoo News
- Thread starter Jet
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Western lowland gorilla introductions:
An unexpected update from Mogo’s director that after successfully integrating Kaius with G-Ann, the plan is for the two of them to be integrated with the other three gorillas (Kaius’ parents and grandmother).
It may not be an easy road, but if successful, it’ll be fantastic for Kaius to continue his growth within a fully functional troop and learn silverback behaviour from his father.
From socials:
Kaius will meet his grandma first as she has always been the most interested and hopefully protective when dad and mum come in shortly after. Getting Kaius to live with gorillas was always the goal from the very beginning and we are so thankful that happened but the progress didn’t stop there with getting the family hopefully all together.
An unexpected update from Mogo’s director that after successfully integrating Kaius with G-Ann, the plan is for the two of them to be integrated with the other three gorillas (Kaius’ parents and grandmother).
It may not be an easy road, but if successful, it’ll be fantastic for Kaius to continue his growth within a fully functional troop and learn silverback behaviour from his father.
From socials:
Kaius will meet his grandma first as she has always been the most interested and hopefully protective when dad and mum come in shortly after. Getting Kaius to live with gorillas was always the goal from the very beginning and we are so thankful that happened but the progress didn’t stop there with getting the family hopefully all together.
That’s fantastic news. I was concerned for Kaius’ future, being integrated with a human raised gorilla and what it would look like for him one G-Ann passed away. Hopefully the team at Mogo will take it slow and steady and it’ll be a positive outcome for all.
Same here. Due to her background, G-Ann was always going to be a limited (and ultimately insufficient) role model of gorilla behaviour. Though the reintroduction to his natal troop isn’t without risk, it is in my opinion the best option within the region for giving him the social grounding he needs to lead a fulfilling adult life. That’s clearly the goal here and it’s commendable Mogo are taking this step. I wish them all the best.
Western Lowland Gorillas now fully integrated
As posted on Zookeeper Chad’s Instagram, all the Gorillas at Mogo Zoo have all been integrated. There’s a video that shows Kriba and Kaius, and the post noted how protective she’s been of him during the integration.
As posted on Zookeeper Chad’s Instagram, all the Gorillas at Mogo Zoo have all been integrated. There’s a video that shows Kriba and Kaius, and the post noted how protective she’s been of him during the integration.
Outstanding news indeed. Chad did an excellent job with this much credit to him!
That’s really good news. Congratulations to Mogo Zoo on achieving a full introduction 18 months on from Kaius’ birth in October 2022.
It’s really encouraging to see how interactive Kriba is with him, compared to G-Ann, who was rarely shown interacting with him in the footage shared. Kriba was an excellent mother to her five daughters.
The announcement seemed very sudden! As you'd know there was a lot of critisism about 'humanisation' and publicity videos etc. While they always talked about reintegration into the group being the aim, it seems to have happened with no fanfare at all, though I think more video may be forthcoming. Very rewarding, as you said, to see Kaius with a female who wants him. I guess GAnne will play no further role now as she showed little interest in him previously. I wonder if she can remain with the group full time though...
Yeah, it came as a surprise to me as six days ago we had an update saying the next step of introducing Kaius to his parents/grandmother was about to begin (noting it would be a process of many steps); followed by a post today saying they’ve been together for almost a week.
Hopefully G-Ann can remain with the troop going forward as her living alongside the troop was never ideal. I guess it will depend on how tolerant Kisane is of her lack of social skills. She appeared to coexist well with the majority of silverbacks she’s been housed with in the last (Kibabu, Motaba etc) and while he’s young, Kisane was noted to have matured in today’s update.
Yes, it might have gone better, quicker than they expected. Unexpected things happen sometimes- I won't speculate further on how it might have developed as I really have no idea but its had a good outcome. I think Kriba may have taken him immediately she could though. Hopefully Kisane will ignore Ganne as he has more of a family to focus on now, though antipathy from the male toward a 'non-social'group member sometimes builds up over time. We will see.
I had been following each and every posting and videos for some time on socials and one can see the exhausting amount of effort that the manager had put into his raising and integration, He did an outstanding job so full kudos to him with excellent results in the end!
Video of Kriba carrying Kaius:
Exciting News: Baby Gorilla Kaius Thrives in New Gorilla Family at Mogo Wildlife Park! Our baby Western Lowlands gorilla Kaius and Auntie G-Anne... | By Mogo Wildlife ParkFacebook
Following the successful introduction of Kaius to the gorilla troop, Mogo have released a video showing Kriba carrying him. It’s a stark contrast to the videos I’ve seen of G-Ann and Kaius, where she showed little to no interest in him. Kaius is now truly where he needs to be.
It was reported on here that the original plan was for Kriba to breed with Kisane. Due to her age, this was unsuccessful, so it’s great to see Kriba have this opportunity to rear another infant via caring for her grandson. She was an excellent mother in her younger years. In time, I’m sure Kipenzi will have the opportunity to breed again and hopefully things will go smoother.
Exciting News: Baby Gorilla Kaius Thrives in New Gorilla Family at Mogo Wildlife Park! Our baby Western Lowlands gorilla Kaius and Auntie G-Anne... | By Mogo Wildlife ParkFacebook
Following the successful introduction of Kaius to the gorilla troop, Mogo have released a video showing Kriba carrying him. It’s a stark contrast to the videos I’ve seen of G-Ann and Kaius, where she showed little to no interest in him. Kaius is now truly where he needs to be.
It was reported on here that the original plan was for Kriba to breed with Kisane. Due to her age, this was unsuccessful, so it’s great to see Kriba have this opportunity to rear another infant via caring for her grandson. She was an excellent mother in her younger years. In time, I’m sure Kipenzi will have the opportunity to breed again and hopefully things will go smoother.
Mogo Wildlife Park now has Koala:
From socials:
Mogo Wildlife Park on Instagram: "BIG NEWS! Australia’s biggest icon has made the move down south! You can now see Koala’s at Mogo Wildlife Park, an important step in their conservation management between our parks.
From socials:
Mogo Wildlife Park on Instagram: "BIG NEWS! Australia’s biggest icon has made the move down south! You can now see Koala’s at Mogo Wildlife Park, an important step in their conservation management between our parks.
Zoo Tour Australia
Active Member
That is great news. Hope they can begin with breeding in the not to distant future.
Would certainly agree with your observations here. G.Anne had no real interest in Kaius at all- they were hardly ever in the same shot in the short videos that were released and the only contact between them seemed to be occassionally initiated by the baby. But knowing Ganne's history its what I expected. The contrast with his positive reception in the group is very different and shows how a handraised baby of his age can readapt to living in a group like this very quickly indeed. I did wonder if Kipenzi's apparent 'lack of' interest initially was more because Kriba took the baby over right from the start and presumably being dominant over her daughter, Kipenzi didn't get any chance to interact with her son. A recent video shows Kipenzi handling him and it appears also trying to place him on her neck, so maybe there will be more sharing of him in future. Its good practise for Kipenzi too if she has another baby. Whichever, after all the earlier criticisms, this has been a very pleasing outcome.
It’s certainly beneficial for Kaius to be back in the mother-raised troop, especially at such a formative age. I have every confidence he’ll grow into a well socialised young male.
You make an interesting point regarding Kipenzi’s rejection of him. While I’m of the belief that her ill health following the birth was the catalyst, I agree it was likely compounded by Kriba’s interest in him.
Richard’s troop at Prague had a culture of shared care of the infants. Kriba’s daughter, Kijivu, was a medium to low ranking female and her half-sister, Shinda, would routinely take her infants off her. The youngest one was raised by Kamba, who assumed care for him early on. Mbeli at Taronga made several attempts to take Fabumi off Frala in his infancy, but she firmly blocked her at every point and turn as you’d expect from an experienced mother.
Interesting that you mention this. There have been two recent (female) births in the Prague group, now headed by a new silverback Kisumu. The first was to Duni, the second to Kijivu. Duni is actually Kijivu's grandaughter, though born in a zoo in Spain and she only joined the Prague group quite recently. She also took Kijivu's baby for periods of time, and never the other way around. It seems to have stopped (or lessened) now as I haven't seen any photos of her carrying both of them recently. Its also happened in other zoos like London and Berlin and sometimes too with pregnant females who take over another female's baby. But in all my years of watching gorillas in the several breeding groups at Howletts, I don't remember ever seeing this there though it may have happened.
Regarding Mogo, I'm sure the circumstances around the birth are what caused Kipenzi's rejection of him- I suspect otherwise things would have progressed normally. But I do wonder whether, on his reintroduction if Kriba hadn't stepped in, Kipenzi would have taken him over straight away.
Future giraffe breeding:
Mogo Wildlife Park posted a video of their giraffe herd on socials tonight, with two of their cows looking pregnant imo (one quite heavily). It’ll be interesting to see if any birth announcements follow.
Mogo’s last births were as follows:
0.1 Binti (2013) - November 2021
0.1 Tuli (2014) - September 2022
0.1 Oni (2016) - May 2022
Mogo have built up an impressive matrilineal herd, with the above cows all being the daughters of Shani (2002). With the current breeding bull (Mtundu) having sired a number of calves now, it’ll be interesting to see if any of his future daughters are retained with the view of bringing in a new breeding bull in the next 2-3 years.
It’s great to see the Mogo herd flourishing!
Mogo Wildlife Park posted a video of their giraffe herd on socials tonight, with two of their cows looking pregnant imo (one quite heavily). It’ll be interesting to see if any birth announcements follow.
Mogo’s last births were as follows:
0.1 Binti (2013) - November 2021
0.1 Tuli (2014) - September 2022
0.1 Oni (2016) - May 2022
Mogo have built up an impressive matrilineal herd, with the above cows all being the daughters of Shani (2002). With the current breeding bull (Mtundu) having sired a number of calves now, it’ll be interesting to see if any of his future daughters are retained with the view of bringing in a new breeding bull in the next 2-3 years.
It’s great to see the Mogo herd flourishing!