Johnny Morris.
Well-Known Member
Ok, maybe my original post was not the clearest.
Biggest Gorilla in UK.
- Thread starter Johnny Morris.
- Start date
Ok, maybe my original post was not the clearest.
taun
Well-Known Member
Certainly was not meant in the way everyone as has took it.......just wanted to know what we were measuring by as this means people can post a reply to your question.
mazfc
Well-Known Member
Glad to see Boulas on the list - he and Oumbie are such different shapes I find them hard to compare, but I think Boulas has the edge.
I haven't seen the big silverback at Durrell (sorry his name escapes me - why can't they be calked Bob or Fred?
), but a friend of mine says he compares favourably to Boulas and Jock.
I am, of course, going purely on the subjective here, as I have no clue as to their actual size/weight etc.
I haven't seen the big silverback at Durrell (sorry his name escapes me - why can't they be calked Bob or Fred?
), but a friend of mine says he compares favourably to Boulas and Jock. I am, of course, going purely on the subjective here, as I have no clue as to their actual size/weight etc.
mazfc
Well-Known Member
Thanks for clarifying taun, it can be hard to get the exact meaning from a post, it sometimes 'sounds' different to the reader than it does to the poster. I always end up reading mine again as I'm a monkey for getting the tone of my posts wrong
I have met a few fellow zoochatterz and they were great people who were more than happy to share their knowledge.
Last edited:
taun
Well-Known Member
Thanks for clarifying taun, it can be hard to get the exact meaning from a post, it sometimes 'sounds' different to the reader than it does to the poster. I always end up reading mine again as I'm a monkey for getting the tone of my posts wrong
I have met a few fellow zoochatterz and they were great people who were more than happy to share their knowledge.
I certainly agree there and most of my post are quick and straight to the point which sometimes comes across that am being rude....which I am not.
I suppose it comes from needing all the facts to do my job and one little thing missing may mean hours of re-work.....hence I try and discover everything behind it to ensure that I deliever just what is needed!
I haven't seen the big silverback at Durrell (sorry his name escapes me - why can't they be calked Bob or Fred?
The Silverback at Durrell is called Ya Kwanza the first and one of very few Gorillas born using AI
The smallest silverback I have seen I think would be Kouillou at Howletts, when compared to the other Silverbacks there anyway. He is still quite stocky and muscular though - This is going off topic but still relative I think
Personally my favourite Silverback is Djala at Port Lympne.
I cant say I've noticed any particularly huge silverbacks really, like Pertinax says it depends on where you view them from etc. Though I remember Londons old male 'Bobby' being particularly small.
I cant say I've noticed any particularly huge silverbacks really, like Pertinax says it depends on where you view them from etc. Though I remember Londons old male 'Bobby' being particularly small.
I find it very hard to compare my mental images of these gorillas. It does depend so much on how close you can get to them and how they carry themselves. I reckon Djala thinks he's enormous and so he acts that way, while Kifu at Howletts is probably just as big, but most people realise he is a big softie at heart.
I certainly can't disagree with Pertinax (people who disagree with him about gorillas are usually wrong). Ambam gets my vote, with Jock second.
Alan
I certainly can't disagree with Pertinax (people who disagree with him about gorillas are usually wrong). Ambam gets my vote, with Jock second.
Alan
Another silverback who certainly looked very big and impressive when I last saw him was Damisi, the leader of the second group at Chessington. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any details about his overall weight. Does anybody else here know how much he weighs overall, and where that would put him in the rankings of male gorilla sizes?
Boulas has a larger frame and is leaner and longer legged. Oumbie is smaller though stockier. I imagine Boulas weighs more because of his larger size but only scales would prove that..
No and No. Damisi is an average to large-sized male but still only quite young (13 years)- males tend to gain more weight as they get older so the biggest/heaviest males are likely to be from the older age classes.
Perhaps the largest Western Lowland Gorilla in a UK collection was Howletts 'Djoum'
But the largest overall was probably the Eastern Lowland male 'Mukisi' at Chester, as Eastern Lowlands are regarded as the largest of all the Gorilla species.
The prize for smallest male has to go to the unfortunate ex Rome/Bristol/London male 'Bobby' (originally Bongo 2nd) whose growth was evidently stunted from his early background (reared in a circus abroad)- he was definately the smallest male I've ever seen-anywhere, and his body was no larger than a big female(Bristol Romina) though he was heavier. Howlett's Koulliou is not large either, but he's normally proportioned.
Last edited:
Did they have a big gorilla called Jumbo or is this Jambo - I only saw him laid down asleep so can't vouch for his size.
Jambo (pronounced Yambo) was very famous because he was the first gorilla to be mother-reared in a zoo (by Goma at Basle).
At Jersey he was a very successful sire although he had to work hard to win the respect of their elder female N'Pongo. He made all the news bulletins when a boy fell into the gorilla enclosure and he kept the other gorillas away and sat beside the boy, gently touching him - all of which was caught on video and was the best PR gorillas ever had. It's still available on YouTube and on DVD. His keeper, Richard Johnstone Scott wrote a book about him called 'Jambo, The Gentle Giant'.
He was good sized male, but not enormous.
Alan
I visited not long before the boy fell in and Jambo was asleep right under the wall where the child fell, maybe it was a regular resting spot of his.
They were a lovely group at the time, that was when I really fell for gorillas, couldn't tear myself away but since then I've found them depressing in zoos - London Zoo in the 70s/80s - two sad looking animals just sitting looking out from a cage and however frequently people tell me they are improving things at Twycross I find the gorillas accommodation depressing, at Paignton I wasn't really there long enough.
Maybe I'm just too easily won over by cute youngsters - I did enjoy Bristol this summer.
Note to self: must visit Howletts/Port L before the end of this year.
They were a lovely group at the time, that was when I really fell for gorillas, couldn't tear myself away but since then I've found them depressing in zoos - London Zoo in the 70s/80s - two sad looking animals just sitting looking out from a cage and however frequently people tell me they are improving things at Twycross I find the gorillas accommodation depressing, at Paignton I wasn't really there long enough.
Maybe I'm just too easily won over by cute youngsters - I did enjoy Bristol this summer.
Note to self: must visit Howletts/Port L before the end of this year.
Last edited:
spot the (non-deliberate) error......
!!Its interesting how since Jambo's death, Jersey's gorilla group has dwindled to virtually non-breeding status, with currently just Ya Kwanza and four adult females, only one ( H. Kahilli) of which he has bred with, though to my knowledge(?) she has not been pregnant since giving birth to female Ya Pili (who died aged 4) several years ago. I believe there may be plans to split the group to try and rectify this situation.
MARK
Well-Known Member
spot the (non-deliberate) error......
Its interesting how since Jambo's death, Jersey's gorilla group has dwindled to virtually non-breeding status, with currently just Ya Kwanza and four adult females, only one ( H. Kahilli) of which he has bred with, though to my knowledge(?) she has not been pregnant since giving birth to female Ya Pili (who died aged 4) several years ago. I believe there may be plans to split the group to try and rectify this situation.
I am surprised they let things get to this level as Jersey zoo is known world wide for it's Gorillas
I'd forgotten about Bobby, he was an unusual shape and small too.
I am surprised they let things get to this level as Jersey zoo is known world wide for it's Gorillas
As you know, there are Jersey-born Gorillas in the zoo population wordwide, in Europe, Australia and the USA. But I think they are living on a past reputation nowadays.
You're right, Guy wasn't a large male (by Gorilla standards) but living in that little barred cage with no other Gorilla in sight, most people thought he looked enormous. When he moved into the Sobell cages he didn't look quite as big somehow.
But the more recent 'Bobby' was smaller than Guy.