I’ve known the location of Johari‘s move for sometime, and I have to say, I am quite happy that it’s Calgary. Their silverback, Jasiri, is the 13th most genetically valuable in North America. Still not quite as good as Jawara from Granby (Who is the third most valuable and strongly speculated to be the next silverback for Toronto), but absolutely no slouch in the genetic value department by any stretch.
I also suspect that this is part of what will be a long term plan to potentially get Johari back to Toronto. It’s been mentioned on here before, but Toronto‘s staff strongly did not want to send her out. However the fact of the matter is, she is 24 years old and the 9th most genetically valuable female gorilla in North America, and she has never bred before. The clock is absolutely ticking for her and she really should’ve had her first offspring a decade ago.
I suspect that Johari will return to Toronto with an offspring, once Jawara heads over to be their new silverback. Given the age and social structure of the four male gorillas at Granby (all adults living in two separate social units of two each), they will likely need to transfer out Jawaras social partner and half brother, Zwalani, to a facility in the states to lead either a breeding troop or bachelor group of younger males. As we all know here, a transfer to the states can take years, so even if the wheels are turning on that, it’s likely still a year or two off at the quickest.
This is just speculation on my part, but I will not be at all surprised to see the Toronto social structure remain as it is for the next year or two until the new Silverback arrives, and then at some point in the next 6 to 8 odd years, we see Johari return, but with an offspring or two of her own.
