ZSL London Zoo Gorillas at London Zoo

[Pertinax]

Given the work ZSL has done so far with target training I am hopeful for some level of collaboration should effie not be able to nurse, rather than a full hand-rearing-in-isolation effort.

zaire- if its like the previous time, she may regrow her coat entirely which would be excellent.

I'm sure that any handraised baby would be given contact with the adults almost from the beginning, and reintegrated as soon as possible. Isolated handrearing or raising just with other infants is largely in the past now.

 

[Yassa]

Oh Pertinax I wish you were right... there are some encouraging examples right now (la Vallé des Singes, Barcelona, Kolmarden, Heidelberg...) but the gorilla kindergarden in Stuttgart ist still full of orphans with new babys coming in regularly. My biggest hope is that the breeding females of the main "producer" of babys for Stuttgart, Barcelona Zoo, have now finally started to raise their kids on their own (with keeper help).

 

[Pertinax]

Oh Pertinax I wish you were right... there are some encouraging examples right now (la Vallé des Singes, Barcelona, Kolmarden, Heidelberg...) but the gorilla kindergarden in Stuttgart ist still full of orphans with new babys coming in regularly.

I thought the Stuttgart nursery was going to be closed as it was agreed this method of handraising babies was outmoded? Weren't they planning to either close it completely or redesign things so that any handraised babies could have more contact with the adult gorillas there in future?

Interestingly to my knowledge Howletts, which still handraises rejected babies, rarely(if ever?) try to reintroduce them back into their natal groups. I suspect that's because these handraised babies are nowadays being sent back to Africa so they become seperated permanently from the breeding groups.

I still think London would probably make every attempt to reintegrate a handraised baby back into the group- at least I hope so...

 

[Pertinax]

Went today. The Gorillas look much better with the acquisition of Mjukuu- she seems to cement the group somehow. The fascinating thing is Zaire has COMPLETELY regrown her coat- no sign of plucking whatsoever and she looks as good as the others now. Why has Mjukuu's arrival apparently 'destressed' her I wonder? When they bring them inside they put Zaire seperate as if she causes some trouble(or is greedy?) in a more confined area. Otherwise they all seem to get along fine and Mjukuu even sits alongside Bobby/Bongo in the cave.

I noticed too that they are shut outside all day- probably because if allowed in the 'day room' they wouldn't use the large outdoor area at all.

Gorilla Kingdom looks better too with more trees and the grass longer. The gorillas really look(sometimes) as they might in their natural surroundings. But the fake tree is still a horrible eyesore... No sign the Colobus have been mixed in the enclosure either.

On the downside they say 'Bobby' has 'lazy' sperm- what does that mean- partial infertility? I hope not with all this mating going on...

 

[MARK]

Glad to hear things are going that well, I really hope babies do follow so at last they can end up a real troop

 

[taun]

Glad to hear things are going that well, I really hope babies do follow so at last they can end up a real troop

Exactly Mark, Just shows what a more natural group will do for majority of Gorillas.

 

[JamesB]

slowly following this thread has the colobus monkey been introduced yet and why the long wait for this to happen?

 

[Yassa]

A gorilla keeper told me some time ago that most captive silverbacks have low sperm counts and most sire a lot of babys anyway, so I wouldn`t be too concerned because of that as long as Bobby produces some live sperms.

Thanks for the update!

 

[CZJimmy]

slowly following this thread has the colobus monkey been introduced yet and why the long wait for this to happen?

July was the reply i got in an email a few months ago, so it should be anytime soon unless they're waiting for Mjukuu to become fully socialised.

I imagine that they've waited this long so that the gorillas could settle. If the gorillas were nervous (as Zaire was) then introducing a couple of lively monkeys would only make things worse...

 

[JamesB]

ok, well they were certainly not lively when i went lol, they were all asleep in thier enclosure!

have the colobus been allowed onto the island on thier own?

i remeber with bristol they had a big problem persuading the de brazzas onto the gorilla island!

 

[Pertinax]

A gorilla keeper told me some time ago that most captive silverbacks have low sperm counts and most sire a lot of babys anyway, so I wouldn`t be too concerned because of that as long as Bobby produces some live sperms.

Yes, I've heard it mentioned many times in the past. I actually wonder if they are making comparisons with Humans when in reality 'low' Gorilla sperm/motility may be the norm for this species compared with(say) humans. I really hope Bobby/Bongo passes this final hurdle and fathers offspring with Mjukuu & Effie.

 

[Pertinax]

ok, well they were certainly not lively when i went lol, they were all asleep in thier enclosure!

have the colobus been allowed onto the island on thier own?

i remeber with bristol they had a big problem persuading the de brazzas onto the gorilla island!

Most of these primates are very nervous about taking on new situations and extended enclosures- especially a Forest Monkey like the De Brazza would be nervous of using wide open spaces probably.

Some zoos have had trouble in the past getting Gorillas from small or indoor only enclosures to use new large outdoor areas, at least initially and especially if grass or open sky are unfamiliar for them ( examples;Jersey, new Apenheul male)

 

[CZJimmy]

Some zoos have had trouble in the past getting Gorillas from small or indoor only enclosures to use new large outdoor areas, at least initially and especially if grass or open sky are unfamiliar for them ( examples;Jersey, new Apenheul male)

Port Lympne is probably the best example of this...

 

[Pertinax]

July was the reply i got in an email a few months ago, so it should be anytime soon unless they're waiting for Mjukuu to become fully socialised.

'Mjukuu' has settled in so easily(because she came from a big group) that you could say she was fully socialised almost from the word go. She looks like she's lived there all her life...she even sits next to the male in his cave, something neither of the other females do.

I'm rethinking my initial views on Gorilla Kingdom- a year or so on and with more vegetation its now a much better exhibit- from the public perspective of seeing the animals its probably the best in the UK now (because the Gorillas are shut out onto it most of the day!! ). The Colobus should make it visually more interesting still.

 

[CZJimmy]

I'm rethinking my initial views on Gorilla Kingdom- a year or so on and with more vegetation its now a much better exhibit- from the public perspective of seeing the animals its probably the best in the UK now (because the Gorillas are shut out onto it most of the day!! ). The Colobus should make it visually more interesting still.

Same here. I was quite disappointed when I saw it about a month after opening. Effie hadn't been mixed yet and was off-show on the day I visited, so only two gorillas were there (and Zaire was still 'plucked'). The grass hadn't grown yet and there was very few trees on the island. However after seeing the photos from this year and reading the accounts of a settled group, I'm quite happy with GK's progression

 

[JamesB]

'Mjukuu' has settled in so easily(because she came from a big group) that you could say she was fully socialised almost from the word go. She looks like she's lived there all her life...she even sits next to the male in his cave, something neither of the other females do.

I'm rethinking my initial views on Gorilla Kingdom- a year or so on and with more vegetation its now a much better exhibit- from the public perspective of seeing the animals its probably the best in the UK now (because the Gorillas are shut out onto it most of the day!! ). The Colobus should make it visually more interesting still.

i agree, sadly i went a few weeks after it opened and did not have any of those wooden trees up (the ones that like vines!) but it had defintely improved (seeing as most of the people on here didnt originally like it) including me!

 

[johnstoni]

Colobus have been using the island in the mornings for a while before the gorillas are let out so they know the island....but to my knowledge have not yet been mixed.

 

[MARK]

I really hope the Gorilla group can make a good go of it now, London zoo need this to work, most of the big city zoos around the world have a good Gorilla troop it just seems London was always left out of it

 

[Pertinax]

I really hope the Gorilla group can make a good go of it now, London zoo need this to work, most of the big city zoos around the world have a good Gorilla troop it just seems London was always left out of it

you're exactly right with that statement. London is the only 'national' collection that has had such a poor setup with gorillas over the years. Now its changing rapidly but they still need a successful breeding to make it a complete group. I was told this enclosure was designed for five gorillas- presumably that means adults and doesn't include any offspring- so they may get yet another female in the future if one becomes available. With young animals too it could probably hold 8 or 9.

I must admit I actually like this exhibit now- a few more living trees(e.g quick growing eucalypts or acacia) planted in the outdoor exhibit and protected from the animals would give them more shelter from the open but otherwise its very effective now. Visually speaking, it probably works better than the other moated Gorilla enclosures in the UK.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

you're exactly right with that statement. London is the only 'national' collection that has had such a poor setup with gorillas over the years. Now its changing rapidly but they still need a successful breeding to make it a complete group. I was told this enclosure was designed for five gorillas- presumably that means adults and doesn't include any offspring- so they may get yet another female in the future if one becomes available. With young animals too it could probably hold 8 or 9.

I must admit I actually like this exhibit now- a few more living trees(e.g quick growing eucalypts or acacia) planted in the outdoor exhibit and protected from the animals would give them more shelter from the open but otherwise its very effective now. Visually speaking, it probably works better than the other moated Gorilla enclosures in the UK.

Guys,

Do NOT forget the entire immersion around the exhibit and the usage of new media to interpret the in situ conservation work with gorillas ZSL is doing inside deepest central Africa. If you are going to mention the exhibit, then be fair and also talk about the immediate surroundings of that exhibit.

The real fight with the bushmeat crisis is on the ground and the Mikongo project is one element in that fight to change local peoples' attitudes to wildlife and the tropical rainforest and provide them with alternative sources of income.

And if anyone is to blame, it is us the consumers who continue to buy cheapish too low priced hardwoods for use in refurbishing our houses and plywoods and not PAY OUR WAY when it comes to replanting what we TAKE OUT.

Just thought I should mention that!