Mogo Wildlife Park Mogo Zoo News

[Zoofan15]

Does this mean the baby will be permanently separated? Or will they attempt to reintroduce him to mum when he hopefully recovers? I assume the longer they are separated the chances of a successful reintroduction dwindles.

The longer the two are separated, the more challenging a reintroduction will be. At other zoos, it's been successful once the infant is around two years old - but that's been under docile silverbacks. There's no guarantee Kisane would be as tolerant.

If reintroduction is not possible, they should allow Kipenzi to conceive again. She could easily deliver a subsequent infant within 12 months - allowing this infant to be socialised one on one with a peer in the juvenile stages.

 

[Jambo]

Zookeeper Chad has posted again, with photos confirming that the baby is a male: Zookeeper Chad on Instagram: "…part 2 Come Sunday morning, our priority is to now bring mum and baby back together. So first light at sunrise, baby is hydrated down with the gorilla group prior to reintroducing him back in with mum. Baby was set up on bedding material and mum and grandma are given access. Unfortunately no interest was observed what so ever on the cameras. We left as long as possible before going back to check. When we made the decision to again retrieve the baby, then challenge number 3 presented itself as the demeanour was different and colour had changed on the new born. Over the next few hours things began to crash. Thankfully a very special group of people made of Doctors and nurses (definable guardian angels) all specialising in neonatal care, came to our rescue and proceeded to give baby every bit of care available. Over the next couple of days and nights we have had some horrible scary moments and real positive signs, and now thankfully it feels like baby is headed in the right direction even if it is a very long journey ahead. As in all serious situations like this you seem to take 5 steps forward then 2 steps back. It looks like we were dealing with a sepsis pneumonia time bomb, so the silver lining is at least we had access to baby so some real heroes could swoop in when crucially needed…"

Werid to see no interest from Kriba too. In captivity we've seen a lot of these cases before, with a first time mother not showing interest in her offspring, but usually the female's mother, or even another adult female within the troop will take over care for the offspring.

I assume the fact that Kipenzi's never witnessed a gorilla infant raised has contributed to this.

 

[Jambo]

The young male gorilla has been reunited with the troop.

From Socials:

The family is all back together and enjoying some sun and good weather out on display, Kipenzi is well, which of course was our primary concern. They are all feeling the stress of the last few days like the rest of us and we sure have to make some deposits back into their TRUST accounts now after such a big withdrawal.
And our beautiful little boy is making his own gradual steps forward. Still on his medications but looks so bright in his eyes which gives everyone hope.
Obviously this is just the start of a very long road ahead with the ultimate goal of a reunited family

 

[Abbey]

The young male gorilla has been reunited with the troop.

From Socials:

The family is all back together and enjoying some sun and good weather out on display, Kipenzi is well, which of course was our primary concern. They are all feeling the stress of the last few days like the rest of us and we sure have to make some deposits back into their TRUST accounts now after such a big withdrawal.
And our beautiful little boy is making his own gradual steps forward. Still on his medications but looks so bright in his eyes which gives everyone hope.
Obviously this is just the start of a very long road ahead with the ultimate goal of a reunited family

While this isn't meant as a criticism given that the team at Mogo must be under an incredible amount of pressure right now, I'm not so sure if the infant has been reunited with the troop, based on the last sentence. That said, I did draw the same inference as you from the first sentence, and I hope that is the case. To me, the first and last sentences contradict each other (but again, I'm sure that coherency on Instagram isn't their top priority right now).

 

[Zoofan15]

Werid to see no interest from Kriba too. In captivity we've seen a lot of these cases before, with a first time mother not showing interest in her offspring, but usually the female's mother, or even another adult female within the troop will take over care for the offspring.

I assume the fact that Kipenzi's never witnessed a gorilla infant raised has contributed to this.

The main contributing factor would be the trauma Kipenzi suffered during the birth - with an operation needed to remove the retained placenta. It’s common for apes that have just given birth (even experienced mothers) to reject their offspring due to the physical stress on their bodies and the disruption to the bonding process caused by Kipenzi being operated on (albeit an essential and life saving procedure).

 

[Pertinax]

The main contributing factor would be the trauma Kipenzi suffered during the birth - with an operation needed to remove the retained placenta. It’s common for apes that have just given birth (even experienced mothers) to reject their offspring due to the physical stress on their bodies and the disruption to the bonding process caused by Kipenzi being operated on (albeit an essential and life saving procedure).

A very difficult start for their first gorilla birth. I'm sure Kipenzi's failure to show maternal care was mainly due to her condition too. Perhaps why Kisane was able to take the baby also. That was 14 hours with no feeding. I'm sure they won't be putting him back with mother and baby for sometime yet to avoid repetition. Maybe they mean they are 'back together' visually but not actually.

 

[Zoofan15]

A very difficult start for their first gorilla birth. I'm sure Kipenzi's failure to show maternal care was mainly due to her condition too. Perhaps why Kisane was able to take the baby also. That was 14 hours with no feeding. I'm sure they won't be putting him back with mother and baby for sometime yet to avoid repetition. Maybe they mean they are 'back together' visually but not actually.

Additionally the article states that the gorillas were out on exhibit, which would be unlikely if Kipenzi was holding the infant they’d want to be closely monitoring.

There’s also mention of administering medication, which would require access a mother of a newborn wouldn’t otherwise allow.

I agree with @Abbey the post is somewhat incoherent but the final line implies they’re still working towards the end goal of a fully integrated troop.

 

[Zorro]

A very difficult start for their first gorilla birth. I'm sure Kipenzi's failure to show maternal care was mainly due to her condition too. Perhaps why Kisane was able to take the baby also. That was 14 hours with no feeding. I'm sure they won't be putting him back with mother and baby for sometime yet to avoid repetition. Maybe they mean they are 'back together' visually but not actually.

Exactly

 

[Pertinax]

Additionally the article states that the gorillas were out on exhibit, which would be unlikely if Kipenzi was holding the infant they’d want to be closely monitoring.

There’s also mention of administering medication, which would require access a mother of a newborn wouldn’t otherwise allow.

I agree with @Abbey the post is somewhat incoherent but the final line implies they’re still working towards the end goal of a fully integrated troop.

I've also now read the initial Instagram report- its clear Kipenzi showed full maternal care and it was only disrupted by 1. Kisane taking the baby, and 2. her necessary operation. The two factors may be related- or incidental to each other. Fortunately it seems she is bonded with it again now. I saw this kidnapping behaviour once before many years ago in a male Chimpanzee( the baby somehow transferred back to his mother without intervention during the night, this was before the days of tranquilisers etc), also a couple of examples with female gorillas stealing newborns, but not males. Though at Howletts young blackbacks in a group would sometimes take a baby from the female and keep it for sometime. That was a long time back but individual behaviours are often passed down over the years and maybe Kisane had done it there too... I'm sure Kisane is not back with them yet.

 

[Zoofan15]

I've also now read the initial Instagram report- its clear Kipenzi showed full maternal care and it was only disrupted by 1. Kisane taking the baby, and 2. her necessary operation. The two factors may be related- or incidental to each other. Fortunately it seems she is bonded with it again now. I saw this kidnapping behaviour once before many years ago in a male Chimpanzee( the baby somehow transferred back to his mother without intervention during the night, this was before the days of tranquilisers etc), also a couple of examples with female gorillas stealing newborns, but not males. Though at Howletts young blackbacks in a group would sometimes take a baby from the female and keep it for sometime. That was a long time back but individual behaviours are often passed down over the years and maybe Kisane had done it there too... I'm sure Kisane is not back with them yet.

I imagine it was merely curiosity from Kisane caused by the novelty of a newborn infant in the troop. Hopefully Kipenzi continues to show interest in her newborn and develop a bond with it.

There was an interesting case at Monarto a few years ago, where a female chimpanzee died giving birth. One of the adult males retrieved the infant from the dying mother and cared for it while the alpha female remained with the mother until she passed. She then approached the male that’d taken the baby and he handed it to her, upon which she attempted to feed it. Sadly the minimal milk the heavily pregnant female was producing wasn’t sufficient to sustain the baby.

 

[Jambo]

While this isn't meant as a criticism given that the team at Mogo must be under an incredible amount of pressure right now, I'm not so sure if the infant has been reunited with the troop, based on the last sentence. That said, I did draw the same inference as you from the first sentence, and I hope that is the case. To me, the first and last sentences contradict each other (but again, I'm sure that coherency on Instagram isn't their top priority right now).

Hm; 'family' might in fact just refer to Kriba, Kipenzi and Kisane, not the young male.

I've also now read the initial Instagram report- its clear Kipenzi showed full maternal care and it was only disrupted by 1. Kisane taking the baby, and 2. her necessary operation. The two factors may be related- or incidental to each other. Fortunately it seems she is bonded with it again now. I saw this kidnapping behaviour once before many years ago in a male Chimpanzee( the baby somehow transferred back to his mother without intervention during the night, this was before the days of tranquilisers etc), also a couple of examples with female gorillas stealing newborns, but not males. Though at Howletts young blackbacks in a group would sometimes take a baby from the female and keep it for sometime. That was a long time back but individual behaviours are often passed down over the years and maybe Kisane had done it there too... I'm sure Kisane is not back with them yet.

I've heard of this before with great apes, and as @Zoofan15 says it generally comes down to wide curiosity and interest. Chimps notably tend to do this; and it's usually adolescent males who are testing the boundaries and are extremely curious.

Over in Japan, Haoko (one of Mouila's other sons) is known to often kidnap his offspring; but i'm not sure he does so for an extended period of time like Kisane did.

 

[Pertinax]

Hm; 'family' might in fact just refer to Kriba, Kipenzi and Kisane, not the young male.

Yes its difficult to interpret it accurately. Reading it again, it may indeed mean this. 'our beautiful little boy is making his own steps forward' and 'still on his medications' might infer he is not reunited. Difficult to tell, wish it was less ambiguous.

 

[Zoofan15]

Gorilla Infant Update

The gorilla infant is making progress and is now off the supportive care he required following his birth. He remains in the care of staff, with a reintroduction to his family being the long term goal.

Director’s socials:

So today 7 days after he needed to come into care we have finished medications on our little man, nasal feeding tubes and oxygen lines have all been removed, which is such a huge relief.

We now watch and monitor closely of course but we are headed in the right direction. The rest of the family are all much more relaxed routines are getting back to regular and trust accounts are getting deposits again.

Long way to go, with plans upon plans depending on what the group is showing and telling us.

As always in everything we do our animals come first, their emotional, mental and physical needs are our primary concerns so we will just take this one day at a time.

 

[Zorro]

Gorilla Infant Update

The gorilla infant is making progress and is now off the supportive care he required following his birth. He remains in the care of staff, with a reintroduction to his family being the long term goal.

Director’s socials:

So today 7 days after he needed to come into care we have finished medications on our little man, nasal feeding tubes and oxygen lines have all been removed, which is such a huge relief.

We now watch and monitor closely of course but we are headed in the right direction. The rest of the family are all much more relaxed routines are getting back to regular and trust accounts are getting deposits again.

Long way to go, with plans upon plans depending on what the group is showing and telling us.

As always in everything we do our animals come first, their emotional, mental and physical needs are our primary concerns so we will just take this one day at a time.

Wonderful news

 

[Jambo]

Giraffe news- 0.1 Matilda (2021) has been sent to Altina Wildlife Park.

Source: Altina’s socials

 

[Jambo]

The male gorilla infant born to Kisane and Kipenzi has been named ‘Kaius’ meaning rejoice .

 

[Zoofan15]

The male gorilla infant born to Kisane and Kipenzi has been named ‘Kaius’ meaning rejoice .

Naming this infant with a K name in is a double tribute - as not only does it follow the Australasian tradition of naming great ape infants with their mother’s initial - but it follows an old Howletts tradition of naming the infant with their father’s initial - that’s why his Howletts bred maternal grandfather has a K name too. Howletts appear to have abandoned this tradition now, so Kisane is a K name by coincidence.

 

[Pertinax]

Howletts appear to have abandoned this tradition now, so Kisane is a K name by coincidence.

They certainly did do this in the very early days, their first babies all started with the initial 'K' also, which was the first initial of their father Kisoro. But as more and more babies were being produced, they concentrated more on names that just included a mix of both the parents. So many babies were being produced at one time they had to be quite resourceful finding new combinations reflecting the same parents., resulting in many similar sounding names- Boulas, Boumi, Timbou, Oumbi etc.

 

[Zoofan15]

Update on gorilla infant:

Kaius is progressing well. All his bottle feeds are being done in the presence of his family and his night blankets are left with his family in the morning. Staff are pleased with the progress that’s being made.

Long term, I hope a reintroduction is successful. It’s hard enough to place mother-raised male gorillas in zoos, let alone a handraised male.

 

[TNT]

Update on gorilla infant:

Kaius is progressing well. All his bottle feeds are being done in the presence of his family and his night blankets are left with his family in the morning. Staff are pleased with the progress that’s being made.

Long term, I hope a reintroduction is successful. It’s hard enough to place mother-raised male gorillas in zoos, let alone a handraised male.

Castration is an option that has and is being trailed successfully in the EEP population, allowing surplus non-breeding males to be maintained with their family group. Whilst I'm unsure on the success with older castrated males (as I don't think any of the trial individuals are old enough yet), I know it is a successful method for adolescents/blackbacks. I believe that the only castrated male that would have been old enough to be considered an adult has unfortunately passed away from non-castration related issues.

One fairly recent study (Letang et al., 2021) highlighted that castrated blackbacks were less socially isolated than those that were intact when still maintained in their family group, suggesting it has benefits even if the intent isn't to maintain the castrated male in it's family group in the long-term. Whilst they still have the very difficult job of integration to consider, depending on the infants importance to the population (I'm assuming he's not from a genetic perspective), castration could be a great option for them.

No trying to make any suggestions as to what they should do, just sharing some recent science