Blackpool Zoo Gorilla pregnancy

Breeding of gorillas is highly depended on the social group. Social interactions are very important. A well-being cohesive group can result in some pregnancies.
Don't break up a well established group in order to send a female to an other group. It has to benefit both groups.
 
john said:
Don't break up a well established group in order to send a female to an other group. It has to benefit both groups.
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I agree in principal. However this is an unusual case where the main group(Chessington's) are currently being restricted by contraception in their breeding. The young female Mjuku will have a better chance of breeding (and at the correct age for a first baby) with London's new male than she would if she had stayed at Chessington (where she would probably not be allowed to breed until a new enclosure has been built))

The main Chessington group still comprises the adult females and the two daughters of one of them- i don't think any more will leave now.
 
I have heard that Maliki gave birth on the 7th of May. Good news ! If this is true
 
I have heard Word of mouth, I could be wrong ! I don't think anything has been publicized yet. Perhaps it's just a rumor ....;)
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Any info on further ado of pregnancies with Blackpool gorillas?
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The other two females, Njeema (half-sister of Miliki- both born in Apenheul) and Kena( who was a proven breeder but a bad mother at Barcelona zoo) should also be pregnant by now but I've heard nothing to confirm that they are. It would be strange if the new male Bukavu has only got one out of three pregnant so far- as none of them are 'oddballs' ;)
 
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Does anybody know the gender of the new baby gorilla?
Also, how is Maliki and the rest of the troop doing?

Thanks
Josh.
 
Just returned from a visit to Blackpool. Mother and baby are doing well and integrated with the rest of the troop.
Last night we were speculating in the Chat Room that the house might be closed, but it was not and it was reasonably easy to see the baby (although internal viewing at Blackpool is deliberately limited). All the gorillas had access to their outdoor yard after 11am, but not to the island.
Miliki stayed indoors, as far as I could see, except for a very short visit outside late in the afternoon - when I managed to get a couple of photos; I got a few record shots indoors too. The others seemed fine, N'Jema (Miliki's half sister) was the only one who approached her closely - but she (Njema) also seemed quite wary of Bukavu.
I didn't get a chance to speak to a keeper, so I have no idea about the baby's gender. Miliki is being very attentive and protective, so it's possible they are not certain yet. There are signs announcing the birth inside the house, but otherwise the Zoo are playing it cool.
Photos downloading as I type - I will process and post a couple tonight.

Alan
 
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Excellent news. Blackpool Zoo's first ever Gorilla birth, they certainly deserve it after nearly 40 years of keeping them without any breeding, they've had all the usual problems associated with Gorillas- platonic/sibling partnerships, males with lack of interest, sterility etc but now they have finally succeeded.:)
 
For Blackpool Zoo: a true watershed!

Here is hoping something is brewing too with both other female gorillas ... :D
 
Not sure that 'critically endangered' is a valid epithet for Lowland Gorillas anymore since the recent discovery of a new large population of an estimated 125,000 or so in the wild.

Blackpool have kept the following Gorillas in the past without being able to breed from them, partly due to a complete lack of 'proactive management' e.g. exchanges of non-breeders in the earlier years and latterly a further lack of success with both non-breeding and infertile males;

m Kumba.(died without issue)
f. Lomie ( " ")
f.Kukee ( " ")
m.SamSam(exchanged on breeding loan from Edinburgh)
m.Jitu (infertile, sent to Valencia)

This is not to belittle their first breeding achievement but perhaps its worth viewing it in the context of the 40 year period of gorilla keeping there before this birth. (Also, Miliki is already sixteen years old which is quite an advanced age for a primate that can breed from the age of about eight)
 
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Lynne said:
Yes it is true. Ivy gave birth on the 6th May a day before the gorilla, both mums and babies are doing well.
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I assume Ivy was the female gibbon born at Twycross in 1989 and this is her first baby at over 20 years of age . This is really good news considering there are so few breeding pairs of this species .

Does anyone know where the 2 male Pileated Gibbons that Blackpool received a while ago , one of which has been paired with Ivy , came from ?
 
Bele said:
This is really good news considering there are so few breeding pairs of this species .
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Blackpool must be the only other UK zoo which has(now) bred Pileated Gibbon in recent years- apart from Twycross. ISIS currently lists them as having 3.1. Is this another error- surely they don't know the sex of the baby yet...?

I believe though Twycross have bred them fairly regularly they have had a shortage of female births? They are currently listed with 5.3. There was one young there when I went recently.
 
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