Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell Gorilla update.

Jordan-Jaguar97

Jordan-Jaguar97

Well-Known Member
I saw online somewhere that 'Kahili' one of the three female Gorillas is pregnant, can anybody confirm this?:confused: It'll will be brilliant news if it's true. 'Badongo' the male only arrived last year in a swap with 'Ya Kwanza' who became the dominant male at Vallee with four younger males.

The last Gorilla born at Durrell was 'Mapema' the last offspring (Afaik) of 'Ya Kwanza'. Ya Kwanza was genetically very important as he was from Melbourne, 'Ya Kwanza' was also hand reared and moved to Durrell when he was only six.
 
Pootle said:
Posted today on their webiste. I was looking at somethig else on their site when I read this First pregnant gorilla at Durrell for over a decade! | Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

I was going to just post, but you nipped in before me Jordan! :)

Good news and fingers crossed for all involved here.
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I saw an article at the bottom of my screen when I was looking at another Gorilla birth and I was wondering if it was speculation or not, clearly it isn't. :) Does anybody know about the other two females and if they're pregnant or not?
 
It's not speculation, Kahili is due in around three months... we weren't keen to say anything to early, and veterinary staff and keepers are still cautiously optimistic.

But Kahili is doing well, and the group is becoming ever more cohesive. There's been a massive show of support from local Jersey businesses too - several of them have stepped in to help renovate the interior section of the gorilla enclosure with massive discounts on material and labour - so the baby will have a fantastic nursery to come into!

Also, Jersey Fire and Rescue Service gave 200metres of fire hose from their appliances which are getting an upgrade, so they'll have brand new hammocks!

As for the other two females, Badongo is mating them, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed... the new arrival should cement his dominance, and bring the group even closer. There is many smiling faces around the park, and the island in general.

If you aren't already signed up for the e-news, do so, as the idea is to keep everyone updated throughout this, including the possibility of kindly donated webcams in the nursery - as long as they don't affect the gorillas in any way!

RJ
 
Rick J said:
It's not speculation, Kahili is due in around three months... we weren't keen to say anything to early, and veterinary staff and keepers are still cautiously optimistic.

But Kahili is doing well, and the group is becoming ever more cohesive. There's been a massive show of support from local Jersey businesses too - several of them have stepped in to help renovate the interior section of the gorilla enclosure with massive discounts on material and labour - so the baby will have a fantastic nursery to come into!

Also, Jersey Fire and Rescue Service gave 200metres of fire hose from their appliances which are getting an upgrade, so they'll have brand new hammocks!

As for the other two females, Badongo is mating them, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed... the new arrival should cement his dominance, and bring the group even closer. There is many smiling faces around the park, and the island in general.

If you aren't already signed up for the e-news, do so, as the idea is to keep everyone updated throughout this, including the possibility of kindly donated webcams in the nursery - as long as they don't affect the gorillas in any way!

RJ
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Thank you for this information. I should think the other two females should get pregnant very quickly too. Badongo obviously knows what to do.
 
Rick J said:
As for the other two females, Badongo is mating them, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed... the new arrival should cement his dominance, and bring the group even closer.
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I believe that Kishka has already had a miscarriage to Badongo ? I also heard Bambuti/Bahasha was pregnant also?
 
Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
The last Gorilla born at Durrell was 'Mapema' the last offspring (Afaik) of 'Ya Kwanza'. Ya Kwanza was genetically very important as he was from Melbourne, '
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The last(fullterm)Gorilla born at Jersey was Ya Pili, younger sister to Mapema. She died aged about four from a virus.

Ya Kwanza was genetically important because his parents at Melbourne were both wildcaught with no other offspring.

Ya Kwanza was nine(not six) years old when he moved to Jersey.
 
Pertinax said:
The last(fullterm)Gorilla born at Jersey was Ya Pili, younger sister to Mapema. She died aged about four from a virus.

Ya Kwanza was genetically important because his parents at Melbourne were both wildcaught with no other offspring.

Ya Kwanza was nine(not six) years old when he moved to Jersey.
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I didn't know about 'Ya Pili'. 'Ya Kwanza' had arrived in 1993 I got the dates wrong with one of the females.:p
 
Pertinax said:
I believe that Kishka has already had a miscarriage to Badongo ? I also heard Bambuti/Bahasha was pregnant also?
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There have been a few positive, then subsequently negative tests done on all of the females - Kahili included. I think- and I'm neither a keeper nor a vet - that urine tests are only conclusive if many of them come back positive, and blood tests - which would be conclusive - are avoided unless absolutely necessary because the gorillas don't like them, and if we do have a pregnancy, stress is a concern.

There is no official report of the others being gravid, they were never considered to be, only possibly so.

But with Badongo becoming more and more accepted as dominant, we have great hopes - especially given the effect that a baby will hopefully exert on the social structure of the 'family'.

It's such great news though!
 
Pertinax said:
The last(fullterm)Gorilla born at Jersey was Ya Pili, younger sister to Mapema. She died aged about four from a virus.

Ya Kwanza was genetically important because his parents at Melbourne were both wildcaught with no other offspring.

Ya Kwanza was nine(not six) years old when he moved to Jersey.
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Actually, Ya Kwanza has a half brother 'Yadumu' at Werribee born to Motaba x Yuska.
 
Rick J said:
There is no official report of the others being gravid, they were never considered to be, only possibly so.
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I feel pretty confident the other two will become pregnant soon if they aren't (or haven't been) already.
 
Are any of the females currently pregnant? Even Kahili could potentially be pregnant again by now?
 
From Facebook:

We're very excited to announce the birth of a western lowland gorilla here at Durrell Wildlife Park!
On Tuesday 26th April, Kahilli, one of our female gorillas, gave birth to twins, which is very rare for gorillas. Both infants appeared to be in reasonable condition at first, though potentially a little premature. Kahilli was left with them overnight to see how they fared - unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, one passed away during the night. Durrell staff have been monitoring the other twin for the last few days and so far the baby is doing well.
Deputy Head of Mammals Gordon Hunt said, “We are very sad about losing one of the twins, though delighted that although we believe the remaining twin is a little premature, mother and infant seem to be doing well. Getting to the end of the first week will be a big milestone”.
Discussing the importance of the birth he continued, “The new arrival is a great success for Durrell and the breeding programme of these critically endangered primates."
The gorilla enclosure is currently open as usual and visitors are able to see the mother and new baby but we have to be cautious during this sensitive period so there may be times when Kahilli and her infant are off show.
Be sure to look out for gorilla updates on our Facebook page during the coming months to see how mum and baby are doing!
 
Zoofan15 said:
Are any of the females currently pregnant? Even Kahili could potentially be pregnant again by now?
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Kahili evidently was....;)

I don't quite understand the situation with the other two females in the Jersey group- Kishka and Bahasha/Bambuti- neither have bred successfully in recent years, leaving Kahili as apparently their only regular breeding female.
 
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