Longleat Safari & Adventure Park New Gorilla at Longleat?

QUOTE=CZJimmy;165942]
r analogy of an elderly widower isn't quite right, because Nico has only ever known one other adult Gorilla and probably lacks the "social skills" to become friendly with a new gorilla.
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he has met at least one other female in the past as he spent some months at Bristol Zoo one winter (as did the female Samba) in a belated attempt to get them both to breed with unfamiliar gorillas. I remember being told Nico turned out to be very aggressive and he was soon returned to Longleat. So for that reason alone I don't think there would be much point in supplying another companion for him.
 
when i went to longleat in 2008 there was only 1 gorilla and that was nico the silverback
the chances are the photo is an old photo

yours sincerley GorillaBoy
 
That is a pretty good summary of the Gorillas which have been at Longleat. Just a couple of comments; Monty was a lot younger than the two females Tessy & Flossy, but females being at a premium, Gordon Mills would have had to accept whatever females he could obtain for his collection. So those two females were unlikely to breed either at Weybridge or Longleat and they didn't.

Nico and Samba went to Bristol in a belated attempt to breed from them, by giving them fresh partners. However they were already quite advanced in age and not well socialised so it was pretty doomed really and not surprisingly, a failure. I think in the female Samba's case, it might just have worked if she had been allowed to stay on longer at Bristol than she did, but she was returned to Longleat as Nico was thought to be 'lonely'.

The new Gorillas at Longleat will have a new seperate area across the water from Nico, though possibly within sight of him. It seems most likely they will be a group of adolescent males from Port Lympne.
 
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