Ken and Irene Wenlock emailed the following, so now I'm even MORE confused!!
Hi To You All. Hope this info will sort out the ????s
Our records show that the following gorillas are at Twycross,
1. Biddy
2. Ozala
3. Oumbie
4. Boulas
5. Asante
Plus the original Female Bongo-Bongo wild born 1964,
who was with the male Joe-Lumumba wild born 1964 and
died on the 21st September 2008.
Up to today we have not heard any news as to Matadi moving
to Paignton but will try to find out
Matadi was moved briefly from the "breeding" group in with Bongo & Biddy before Boulas arrived and then moved to paignton before Boulas had arrived at Twycross.
Plus the original Female Bongo-Bongo wild born 1964,
who was with the male Joe-Lumumba wild born 1964 and
died on the 21st September 2008.
Up to today we have not heard any news as to Matadi moving
to Paignton but will try to find out
The section about Bongo refers to Joe's death, not hers.
Matadi is very definately at Paignton and has been for about three months now. He has settled in very well and is an active and enthusiastic member of their male group.(sounds like school progress report... )
Ok, I'm soooooooooooo confused, but trying to get caught up! Now I know:
1. Matadi is in Paignton.
2. Bongo is alive and it was JOE who died 21Sep08.
The confusion is in Jim Davis' studbook, which lists Bongo (studbook #242) died in 2005 ... that's an error, right? Here's from that studbook:
Updated on: 05-30-2010
BONGO
Stud #: 0242 Sex: Female
Parent reared
Date of birth: 01-Jan-1965
Born in the wild
Date of death: 29-Jun-2005
Place of death: TWYCROSS ZOO
Cause of death:
Owner: TWYCROSS ZOO
Total Births: 0.0.0
Surviving Births: 0.0.0
at Twycross since 29-Oct-65
1. Correct.
2. Correct.
3. Correct. I think I've noticed that erroneous 'death' in the JD studbook too. I was at Twycross about a month ago and saw her then....
Took long enough! All boils down to Jim Davis having an error in his studbook, creating the confusion. I remember the silverbacks dying (Mamfe, Joe, SamSam, etc) and thought the older ladies (Biddy, Bongo) were still there, but it's hard to keep up with all the changes.
If ANY of you see errors in Jim's studbook, please let me know. It's on the Gorilla Haven website and we can/do update/fix things as quickly as we can, so please email me at jdewar@gorilla-haven.org and let me know ...
Thanks!
Now, back to Asante: Hopefully she'll figure things out soon. I just heard Vimoto's group is doing well in Wuppertal, but Grace (another hand-reared gal) isn't as enthralled with him as the other ladies, so this isn't a unique situation, of course. Jane
Look on this Forum- Europe- Lowland Gorillas in Europe#2- Page 19, third post down- I listed a few errors I have seen in the JD studbook.
Some of them have been updated since then but apart from Bongo, one or two others e.g. 'Kaja' at Chessington are still incorrect. Also Boulas is included under Warsaw not Twycross(he was supposed to go to Warsaw but it didn't happen).
Is there any chance you could update the 'World's Fifty Oldest Gorillas'? A good number on your original list are no longer with us now.
Now, back to Asante: Hopefully she'll figure things out soon. I just heard Vimoto's group is doing well in Wuppertal, but Grace (another hand-reared gal) isn't as enthralled with him as the other ladies, so this isn't a unique situation, of course.
I am now far more pessimistic about Asante's breeding prospects than I was previously. At 23 she's a fully mature female and if she doesn't like 'new' male Gorillas now I don't think she's going to change her ways. Having seen her recently and the way she had drastically lost weight but still relates(positively) to people I think the chances are very slim though I'd like her to prove me wrong. My guess is its the same for Grace. They just didn't have the necessary formative early socialisation..
If you refer to the list of 49 gorillas listed in the GORILLA GAZETTE of April 2007, today there are 37 gorillas still alive (I'm not 100% sure, so please let me know if I forgot or included someone by mistake). First column number is the # of gorillas, the 2nd column number refers to the 1st, 2nd thru 10th oldest, followed by name, etc.
1 1 Oki 1956 wild female Higashiyama, Japan
2 1 Colo 1956 CMH female Columbus, OH, USA
3 2 Fatou 1957 wild female Berlin, Germany
4 2 Trudy 1957 wild female Little Rock, AR, USA
5 3 Helen 1958 wild female Louisville, KY, USA
6 3 Vila 1958 wild female San Diego, CA, USA
7 4 Timmy 1959 wild male Louisville, KY, USA
8 4 Goma 1959 wild female Basel, Switzerland
9 4 Shamba 1959 wild female Atlanta, GA, USA
10 5 Mouila 1960 wild female Howletts, England
11 6 Ozoum 1961 wild male Atlanta, GA, USA
12 7 Baby Doll 1961 wild female Howletts, England
13 7 Sanga 1961 wild female Rostock, Germany
14 7 Beta 1961 wild female Brookfield, IL, USA
15 7 Kati 1961 wild female Basel, Switzerland
16 8 Nico 1962 wild male Longleat, England
17 8 Juju 1962 wild female Howletts, England
18 8 Femelle 1962 wild female Milwaukee, WI, USA
19 8 Timbo 1962 wild female Dallas, TX, USA
20 9 Lamydoc 1963 wild male Brownsville, TX, USA
21 9 Joe (Kabako) 1963 wild male Gorilla Haven, GA, USA
22 9 Fritz 1963 wild male Nurnberg, Germany
23 9 Pongi 1963 wild female Columbus, OH, USA
24 9 Delilah 1963 wild female Belfast, N. Ireland
25 9 Samantha 1963 wild female Erie, PA, USA
26 9 Choomba 1963 wild female Atlanta, GA, USA
27 9 Kathryn 1963 wild female Oklahoma City, OK, USA
28 10 Ivan 1964 wild male Atlanta, GA, USA
29 10 Willie 1964 wild male Fukuoka, Japan
30 10 Josephine 1964 wild female Miami, FL, USA
31 10 Katanga 1964 wild female Brownsville, TX, USA
32 10 Lulu 1964 wild female Columbus, OH, USA
33 10 Nille 1964 wild female Givskud, Denmark
34 10 Jule 1964 wild female Frankfurt, Germany
35 10 Yehudit 1964 wild female Lesna, Czech Republic
36 10 Mimi 1964 wild female Stuttgart, Germany
37 10 Linda 1964 wild female Milwaukee, WI, USA
I am now far more pessimistic about Asante's breeding prospects than I was previously. At 23 she's a fully mature female and if she doesn't like 'new' male Gorillas now I don't think she's going to change her ways. Having seen her recently and the way she had drastically lost weight but still relates(positively) to people I think the chances are very slim though I'd like her to prove me wrong. My guess is its the same for Grace. They just didn't have the necessary formative early socialisation..
Never give up on gorillas!! They thought Ramar and Abe would never breed and they managed in their twilight years!! I just heard Arila in Mexico City may not be able to have babies, so it would be nice if these girls could have someplace to go to be aunties or at least an integral part of a group.
