Japanese Gorilla Problem

[DanielR]

I’ve been following and supporting a few Japanese Gorilla YouTube channels and they’ve got a substantial problem with some young male gorillas (Western Lowland). Both these young males are still with their natal troop and both are approx 14 years old. Some of you may know that in the wild males are usually gone from their natal troop at this age. They’re either with other bachelor gorillas looking for a female or already have a female of their own. Both are showing combative signs with their fathers which is normal at their age and both the zoos their housed in seemingly have no place to put them. One of the Zoo’s, Kyoto Zoo, is housing a 4 family member troop in well below average conditions that look more like a jail with no outside habitat. Its heartbreaking.

Several channel owners and some of their supporters have been reaching out to various zoos all over the world and thats what im doing here. Trying to spread the word of these gorillas plight in hopes of raising awareness and seeing if some one, any one, can find help for these innocent gorillas.

It’s no secret that Japan have been poor stewards with their wildlife. They didnt plan properly and/or build suitable habitats. It’s probably well known among the zoo community but that shouldn’t be at the expense of these gorillas. Iv’e been told Japanese zoos are not members of the AZA and zoo’s that are members will not work with them due to this condition. After researching it myself I saw where Japan was kicked out of the AZA due to their fishing policies which is a shame.

At the Kyoto City Zoo they have a 38 year old female suffering from extensive dental problems and she’s currently in heat and mating with the Silverback. A pregnancy would be a disaster due to her health and their extremely small housing. On top of that the oldest son is 14 and naturally having conflicts with his father. It’s a sad situation.

I hope I am posting this is the proper forum? I was thinking it was the most widely used forum and would reach the maximum number of people. The YouTube channel owners are at these zoos almost daily filming the gorillas. They are advocates but the zoos give them very little information. What they do get is not encouraging and it’s clear the zoos have planned poorly.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Cheers…
Daniel

 

[PossumRoach]

Welcome to zoochat. I do think that it is appropriate to discuss this topic on the forum.

While some gorillas in Japan (Shou from Hamamatsu and Taro from Japan Monkey Center) are unfortunately a bit too old to get transferred to a better zoo JAZA does need to come up with a plan for Kiyomasa, Riki, Kintarou, and Gentarou.

Iv’e been told Japanese zoos are not members of the AZA and zoo’s that are members will not work with them due to this condition. After researching it myself I saw where Japan was kicked out of the AZA due to their fishing policies which is a shame.

AZA for the most part is the accreditation body for North American zoos and never had a Japanese member. I believe you are referring to WAZA kicking out JAZA over the dolphin drives. I believe JAZA is back on WAZA after member zoos and aquariums stopped taking animals from the Taiji.

I am willing to get corrected from people well versed with AZA’s gorilla population, but I don’t think that the AZA is in the position to give up space to accommodate surplus animals from another region. Otherwise I believe they could have helped the EAZA deal with their surplus gorilla problem in addition to Japan’s gorilla problem.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

I’ve been following and supporting a few Japanese Gorilla YouTube channels and they’ve got a substantial problem with some young male gorillas (Western Lowland). Both these young males are still with their natal troop and both are approx 14 years old. Some of you may know that in the wild males are usually gone from their natal troop at this age. They’re either with other bachelor gorillas looking for a female or already have a female of their own. Both are showing combative signs with their fathers which is normal at their age and both the zoos their housed in seemingly have no place to put them. One of the Zoo’s, Kyoto Zoo, is housing a 4 family member troop in well below average conditions that look more like a jail with no outside habitat. Its heartbreaking.
Daniel

As @PossumRoach already echoed that it is an appropriate subject to discuss here. Having said that I do think there is several issues that need underlining here:
1. All regional zoo associations work towards several common objectives like good animal husbandry, improving animal welfare and exhibitry and animal collection management with ex situ conservation breeding and support for in situ conservation. Hence, both JAZA in Japan and AZA in North America are part of the WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquaria organisation).
2. JAZA is not AZA, while both perhaps have a similar framework or organisational style they are hugely different in zoo traditions and past and current course of development. You cannot compare one with the other.... Japanese zoos have traditionally been municipality operated and have a strong focus on what chain of command and zoo fashionables' wish for animal collection and zoo presentation.
3.Consequently, exclosures in Japanese zoos are far removed from the AZA or even EAZA zoogeographical habitat zoo designs nor the immersive experience themed zoo exhibits you are likely to see in AZA / North American zoos or European zoos within EAZA. Some of the Japanese zoo exhibitry we would probably consider somewhat outdated - but this is largely in the eye of us the Northern beholders - and does not fully reflect realities on the ground nor how Japanese zoo management / curators or keeping and general staff perceive the animal they care for to the best of their abilities.
4. Another thing is ... I don't think a confrontational approach will work and claiming that the gorillas currently should be better off in AZA zoos - which I seem to read between your lines - is hardly the best way to improve conditions for gorillas in Japanese zoos and for part even bordering on being most disrespectful to any Japanese audience...and what they regard to be fit or not in terms of animal husbandry, welfare, zoo animal exhibits and presentation to the general zoo visiting public in Japan.
5. The western lowland gorillas in Japan are part of a separate ex situ conservation breeding program and thus any transfers or animal exchanges are governed as in AZA by a species committee. Currently, 6 zoos in Japan are part of their western lowland gorilla breeding program (Chiba Zoological Park, Hamamatsu Municipal Zoo, Japan Monkey Centre & Primate Zoo, Kyoto City Zoo, Tokyo Ueno Zoological Gardens and Yagiyama Zoological Park). Out of these only Kyoto and Tokyo Ueno zoos have a breeding group!


Now, I agree that it would be beneficial for both Kyoto born males (Gentaro - born 2011 and Kintaro - born 2018) would be removed from the current Kyoto Zoo gorilla habitat and that both parents Momotaro (actually captive-born at Tokyo Ueno Zoo in 2000) and female Genki (captive-born at Kyoto Zoo with unrelated parentage) having co-existed for a long time are best off as just them as an established pairing.

Whereas I do not know if and when Kyoto Zoo is in the process of designing a new gorilla habitat and which zoos in Japan outside the 4 optional ones (Tokyo Ueno is out of the question as the animals are somewhat related to the Kyoto 2MM).


MY TAKE ON THIS:
It would be most helpful if a 3rd Japanese zoo would be able to create a bachelor group for some of the surplus males like the Kyoto 2MM. As for the captive-born FF's in Tokyo Ueno Zoo (as all of these are also by a different breeding pair Haoko x Momoko) it would be beneficial if a new zoo in Japan would create a breeding group with these and an unrelated male from either the ageing group of males at the other 4 zoos or a new import from overseas.

 

[PossumRoach]

(Chiba Zoological Park, Hamamatsu Municipal Zoo, Japan Monkey Centre & Primate Zoo, Kyoto City Zoo, Tokyo Ueno Zoological Gardens and Yagiyama Zoological Park). Out of these only Kyoto and Tokyo Ueno zoos have a breeding group!

Correction: Yagiyama’s 1.0 Don passed on and Nagoya Higashiyama has a troop that has bred. Nagoya’s Kiyomasa (born 2012) should be old enough to leave his troop.

On another note, most JAZAzoos are municipality-owned, getting treated like a second banana with regard to their respective government’s priorities. What doesn’t help is the cheap ticket prices which doesn’t help the zoos with raising money for upgrading facilities and funding in-situ projects. For example Kyoto city zoo charges 750 yen for entry which is around 4.95 USD. There are zoos with fewer species in Europe and NA that charge more than that. Such a price tag is counter intuitive for the zoo to raise funds for improving animals husbandry and contributing to conservation.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Correction: Yagiyama’s 1.0 Don passed on and Nagoya Higashiyama has a troop that has bred. Nagoya’s Kiyomasa (born 2012) should be old enough to leave his troop.

On another note, most JAZAzoos are municipality-owned, getting treated like a second banana with regard to their respective government’s priorities. What doesn’t help is the cheap ticket prices which doesn’t help the zoos with raising money for upgrading facilities and funding in-situ projects. For example Kyoto city zoo charges 750 yen for entry which is around 4.95 USD. There are zoos with fewer species in Europe and NA that charge more than that. Such a price tag is counter intuitive for the zoo to raise funds for improving animals husbandry and contributing to conservation.

@PossumRoach, fully in agreement here! The funding base and the fact that Municipalities neglect their responsibilities towards the zoo facility and communities they administer ... and the fact they play last fiddle amongst their priorities while keeping entrance fees so ridiculously low ... progress goes at snails' pace! What does not help either is the fact that Municipalities then often also define what species come in, should stay and should go ... and that is also counter productive to establishing well structured and forward-thinking conservation breeding management plans and inter zoo cooperation (within JAZA zoos ... and TAG's).


Thanks for your comments on Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo ... I was unaware they held a breeding group and that the Sendai Yagiyama elderly silverback has also passed on. Thanks for your feedback and passing this information on.

BTW: I wish we also had some more Japanese Zoochat posters ... and contributors on this forum!
@PossumRoach, will PM/DM some time soon.

 

[DanielR]

Excellent feedback and it's appreciated very much. Couple of further comments to clarify:

- Please do not misunderstand (reading between the lines) any hostility or confrontation. There is absolutely none and what you might sense is more frustration than anything else. I have not ever made a derogatory comment to zoo officials either online or direct to them. Whenever I used the word "poor" it was a direct quote from a boots on the ground advocate (Japanese) who is also frustrated with the predicament the gorillas are in. The frustration is based on conversations he's had with zoo employees who are somewhat vague or appearing unconcerned.

- I'm completely new to the inner workings of zoos and what accreditation is associated within the industry. I dont even know enough to be dangerous and just recently became aware of the AZA, WAZA and JAZA. Up until a couple weeks ago I had no idea the organizations existed. However, I did read where Japan was removed from the AZA(?), maybe it was WAZA, in a bulletin from some years back. Was that information outdated and did I miss more recent developments? It mentioned the reason was due to Japans fisheries. The reason I know about the organizations is due to the Cleveland Zoo's response to another advocate when they reached out like Im doing here. Their written response mentioned the AZA and a breeding program insinuating a zoo needed to be a member to initiate trading programs. Does anyone know if that is correct information?

- There seems to be a shortage of eligible female gorillas in Japan. I was wondering if that is a challenge in other geographical areas? The one available female I know of is Annie, daughter of Shabani and Ai at Higashiyama Zoo. The person I communicate with in Japan said Higashiyama is concerned about Shabani if Annie is moved. Annie would be a perfect candidate for Gentaro and could resolve two problems at once. Shabani and Ai dont appear as close as other Gorilla families I follow but it seems Ai might get closer to Shabani if it was just them. Kiyomassa is still there and like Gentaro he needs a female or to be grouped with other bachelors.

- Regarding more Japanese posters, it's possible my contact will show up here. He is aware of this topic and would be a great addition. He is at Kyoto with the gorillas on an almost daily basis and would give first hand observations and feedback. Gentaro is quit fond of him too. We dont agree on every issues like Genki becoming pregnant, he wants another baby gorilla, but thats fine he's still a friend and there is nothing wrong with disagreements.

Again, thank you for the comments and feedback. Im really only here to help spread the word in hopes that it might lead to promising futures for all the gorillas involved. After traveling the world over. including Japan, I am keenly aware of different customs, traditions and values. Even so, if the local population is anything like the person I communicate with the Kyoto Gorillas habitat is acknowledged as dated and inadequate.

Cheers...