Juvenile apes and their keeper 1973

The orang is Azimat and I think the gorillas are Kumba and Kukee, although there was a third gorilla, Lomie, in the enclosure at the time. All these apes arrived at the zoo around the time it opened, just over a year before I took this photo. Note the original state of the outdoor ape enclosure, now used by the orangs.
In the background note the penguin pool, which subsequently housed otters, and some construction work. Ape House, Blackpool, 13th August 1973. Scanned from a Kodachrome slide.

gentle lemur said:

The orang is Azimat and I think the gorillas are Kumba and Kukee, although there was a third gorilla, Lomie, in the enclosure at the time.

Click to expand...

AFAIK, the female Kukee arrived some time after Kumba and Lomie and was I believe kept with a young Chimp for company (for several years?) before finally being introduced to the slightly older gorilla pair. From what you say maybe she was allowed contact with the other gorillas, under supervision, much earlier than I thought. She was very humanised, and used to make brushing motions on her hair, as if using a comb.

I took a number of photos at this time and they confirm my memory that there were 3 gorillas. One was larger than the other two and I presume that was Kumba: the studbook says that he was younger than Lomie, but the zoo's labels at the time said that he was older. Again according to the studbook, Kukee arrived a few months after the other two. There were 2 keepers with them. I don't recall the chimps and I don't think they are in any of the photos I have kept, they may have been indoors at the time as I don't think the indoor section was open to visitors - although my memory may be faulty after 42 years

Alan