His "real" name is Nasibu, Fritz is the name given too him by a donor. His father Matze died in 2008 and although the new male Viatu isn`t a full grown silverback yet, he`s apparently agressive against him and his mother, a very dminant female, is apparently doing her best to defend him, with the result that the group in Frankfurt is split in 2 since some months (Viatu and the young pregnant female Ruby on the one hand, and the main female group wit Jule, Dian, Rebecca and her 2 sons from Matze on the other hand). That can`t go on indefinately so they seem to have decided to send the infant which causes the problems to another group. I am glad that he goes to Blijdorp and not to the Stuttgart nursey - although he`s probably too old for the Stuttgart nursery anyway, having grown up with gorillas and not with humans..
Thank you Yassa for the info! I really hope Bokito will accept him without any problems, luckely he accepted another male (Thomas) some years ago from the first day.
I've heard Frits (his new Dutch name ) already arrived in Rotterdam and is doing fine. I hope the situation in Frankfurt will improve with this move and Viatu will accept the older brother.
There's another female from Germany (I'm not sure Stuttgart, Heidelberg) coming to Rotterdam too, so Bokito is the leader of an extending family!
although the new male Viatu isn`t a full grown silverback yet, he`s apparently agressive against him and his mother, a very dminant female, is apparently doing her best to defend him
A typical example of normal behaviour of a new male(even if not mature) trying to harass or kill the youngest members of his new group, as he didn't father them. The older Matz son(Kabuli) in the group is already five years old and probably old and strong enough to defend himself safely from such attacks and Viatu will probably not pick on him as he recognises that.
Possibly Bokito at Rotterdam has a more tolerant nature or is less 'normal' in his behaviour as he was handraised, so he may accept the newcomer and the move will work okay. Its certainly better this way than going into a 'nursery group.'
Viatu was a good choice for Frankfurt genetically though really he is way too young to be expected to make a smooth transition to being a group leader. But I guess his availability outweighed that disadvantage.
Your words Pertinax about Viatu being too young are so true. Yesterday female Ruby in Frankfurt gave birth to a baby from Viatu, and in a matter of seconds he killed the newborn.
Also a little update about Nasibu/Fritz in Rotterdam. The introduction of this 2 year old isn't going easy. Bokito is not the problem, he's in fact quite nice to him, but the 7 year old Thomas is. Poor Nasibu has been bitten quite bad by Thomas and is separated again. The latest news is: they want to remove Thomas to another zoo.
Thomas has now gone to Valencia, along with the older Frankfurt offspring (Kabuli). Males like Viatu & Thomas between the ages of about 7-10 are often at their 'worst' stage and can be real bullies to weaker/smaller gorillas.
I heard recently that 'Viatu', who has quickly developed into a fine-looking silverback, is now much better settled and mates all three remaining females, which indicates they have all fully accepted him. Though probably only Rebecca is likely to produce a baby as Jule is most likely too old and Diane appears not to breed (sterile?). A new female or two is probably on the cards in the future.
