Lowland gorillas in Europe 2012

Status
Not open for further replies.
Munich > Barcelona

A friend from Munich who was in the zoo today told me that Makena (born in 2004) has moved to Barcelona earlier this month. I don't know though to which of the two groups (Xebo's or Ebobo's) - both have two females each plus one infant.
 
My guess is that she is going to be introduced (if she wasn't yet) to Xebo's group. At the end, N'tua is his daughter and I am pretty sure she is going to be move to another zoo soon. That would mean Xebo with only Machinda to breed.
 
Last edited:
Port Lympne: Djala's group

In October 2012, The Aspinall Foundation announced their plans "to release record numbers of animals safely back into the wild over the next year as part of founder Damian Aspinall’s long term mission to redefine the purpose of zoos and wildlife parks. Among the scores of animals to be released is an entire family of eleven western lowland gorillas to the charity’s flagship project in Congo and Gabon. No other conservation organisation in the world has ever attempted the release of a family group. The release is planned for early in 2013. The gorilla family now being prepared for release from Port Lympne Wildlife Park in Kent is headed by Djala".
Source: The Aspinall Foundation Announces Further Plans To Send Animals Back To The Wild

What do you think of that?

Here is some info on the reintroduction programme I've compiled:
Gorillas: Batéké Plateau / Lésio-Louna | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
 
I actually think its a good idea, but success will depend on how sound the planning is. i.e. how much protection they will receive initially in an unstable area. Plus there's always the danger it might not work well with these partly humanised animals-unless they are given very stringent protection from hunting etc.

But either way I think the risk is worth taking and it will prove if it can be done with adult Gorillas which have lived a long time in captivity, or not. Howletts/PL between them now have five large breeding groups and continued successful breeding means they are nowadays at saturation point with Gorillas, as its fairly evident they don't propose to build yet more expensive accomodation for more groups. Coupled with that is the continual problem of what do with all the surplus males these groups produce. A number of males at Port Lympne(and others that have gone elsewhere) are already consigned to a permanent life living in all-male groups which I don't think is very natural or satisfactory for them. Djala himself has never liked the visiting public so attempting to rewild both him and his group might be a fairer option for him.

Without them trying to do this, I can't see the point of Howletts/PL continuing to keep breeding from all those Gorillas and it was always John Aspinall's aim from the start to 'breed then reintroduce' them so this outcome is the perpetuation/culmination of that ideal really.

Whether it will be successful, either entirely or partially, remains to be seen, and if so whether some other groups from Howletts might follow suit in due course. I am also sure the vacated 'Palace of the Apes' where this group lives will soon be filled again- either by a new breeding group, or more surplus males.
 
Last edited:
I think Kijos Group might be going over there and then they will get a new male and then i think the enclosure at the front which houses kijos group now will be used to form a group around Ebeki.

GB
 
GorillaBoy said:
I think Kijos Group might be going over there and then they will get a new male and then i think the enclosure at the front which houses kijos group now will be used to form a group around Ebeki.

GB
Click to expand...

That sounds very logical. They have so many Gorillas nowadays they can easily fill the empty space. It will be interesting to see where a new male for the Kijo group comes from- one of their own, or outside of the Parks perhaps?
 
"Family Trees"

For those of you who are interested, I've made a homepage with directories of my genealogical charts ("family trees") for zoo groups that I've posted on Flickr. If you follow a link be sure to also read the comments below as they may contain additional information not yet reflected in the chart.

In the Africa section you'll also find maps and charts for the rescue, rehabilitation and reintroduction centres in Central Africa, including the projects of The Aspinall Foundation in Gabon and the Republic of Congo (a little bit off-topic, I know).

Gorilla Genealogy
 
Willard personally l thank you for your efforts ths is really very impressive.
 
Extraversion predicts longer survival in gorillas: an 18-year longitudinal study

Abstract

"Personality plays an important role in determining human health and risk of earlier death. However, the mechanisms underlying those associations remain unknown. We moved away from testing hypotheses rooted in the activities of modern humans, by testing whether these associations are ancestral and one side of a trade-off between fitness costs and benefits. We examined personality predictors of survival in 283 captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) followed for 18 years. We found that of four gorilla personality dimensions—dominance, extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness—extraversion was associated with longer survival. This effect could not be explained by demographic information or husbandry practices. These findings suggest that understanding how extraversion and other personality domains influence longevity requires investigating the evolutionary bases of this association in nonhuman primates and other species."
 
Birth.

Birth; 8th November 2012; Blackpool Zoo; Njema x Bukavu. This brings the Blackpool group's total number to six.

Great news considering there was questions asked as to why 'Njema' hadn't bred with 'Bukavu' yet as he arrived four years ago. I think 'Kena' will breed but I would be rather surprised (and thrilled!) if she raised the baby herself. Her past offspring have all (?) been hand-reared.
 
Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
I think 'Kena' will breed but I would be rather surprised (and thrilled!) if she raised the baby herself. Her past offspring have all (?) been hand-reared.
Click to expand...

N'dowe, born in September 2003at Barcelona Zoo to Kena and Xebo, was parent reared. After that, she gave birth to twins Kiri and Kera, but they were hand reared.
 
Gorillas Land said:
N'dowe, born in September 2003at Barcelona Zoo to Kena and Xebo, was parent reared. After that, she gave birth to twins Kiri and Kera, but they were hand reared.
Click to expand...

'Kena' had six babies while at Barcelona, averaging one every year from 1999-2004 including the twins which were her last birth(s) in 2004. They are all listed in the JimDavis studbook as being handraised apart from 'N'Dowe'( her fourth birth) which is listed as parent-reared. N'Dowe was born in 2003 and his older brother Kiondo(born 2002) arrived together at Paignton from the Stuttgart nursery, where they were handraised. Also as the twins were born in 2004, just the year after N'dowe, that is further proof he was handraised like the others. The JD studbook is often innaccurate in this sort of detail.
 
Last edited:
Chessington-Leipzig transfer.

From the Leipzig thread;

8 year old female Kumili (Kumba x Asili) has moved from Chessington to Leipzig. No exact date given.
 
Lobo (Apenheul Primate Park) gave birth on December 22nd 2012 a baby sired by Jambo.

Kijivu (Prague Zoo) gave birth 30 minutes ago (December 22nd 2012) a baby sired by Richard.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top