Twycross Zoo Okanda moves on

[Nisha]

Gorilla, Okanda is being transfered to the Ape Nursery at Stuttgart today. Apparently he's been rejected by Ozala? (he was initially removed after she failed to produce enough milk but they were hoping to re-unite them around now?? )
Okanda set for a new life in Germany | This is Leicestershire

 

[OrangePerson]

Oh dear, I'm really sorry to hear this, not sure how many gorilla manners they learn in this setting

 

[Pertinax]

The Zoo itself doesn't seem to have released any statement about this yet.

I would be surprised if Ozala wouldn't accept him back, though Oumbi could be a different matter, or how to continue giving him enough extra food artificially once back with his parents may have proved a major problem too. And if Ozala has another baby quite soon, I will be counting back to see when it was conceived.

Either way I think at Stuttgart nowadays they give the nursery babies there some contact with their own adult Gorillas, to try and counteract the longerterm harmful effects of handraising. I hope so anyway otherwise its yet another humanised male coming up..

 

[mazfc]

I got the impression that ozala might be cycling again when I visited at the weekend. I didn't see any mating, and I'm only speculating, but oumbie was very possessive - charging at the glass and patrolling a lot. Asante was keeping out of the way but ozala wasn't the slightest bit fazed by him.

 

[Pertinax]

I got the impression that ozala might be cycling again when I visited at the weekend. I didn't see any mating, and I'm only speculating, but oumbie was very possessive - charging at the glass and patrolling a lot. Asante was keeping out of the way but ozala wasn't the slightest bit fazed by him.

Their facebook page now carries an announcement about Okanda- the key words being 'after intense efforts were made to reintroduce him' but no further details are given.

Oumbi's patrolling and hitting the glass may be a response to recent attempts to reintroduce the baby, or now his disappearance again from the GorillaHouse- all that can make a male very 'edgy'. Ozala tends to follow Oumbi about anyway, whereas Asante(being humanised and so not properly socialised) avoids him. I'm not saying you are wrong but when a female is in oestrus you can usually detect it by some characteristic behaviour-there's a feeling of tension and she typically sits or stands nearby and stares fixedly at the male with 'compressed lips' face -though various females do have their own individual behaviours at this time. Mating occurs fairly frequently during this 2-3 day period but you wouldn't necessarily see it if not there at the right moment.

 

[Willard]

says, the keepers provided daily visits by Okanda to his mother while he was being hand-reared, but the rather instable group (Oumbie, Ozala and Asante) reacted increasingly nervously so there seemed to be no chance for a successful reintroduction. That's why the EEP recommended his transfer to Stuttgart nursery.


Sorry, Willard, I edited your post instead of quoting, by mistake...

Very interesting news, that's a much clearer explanation; better to be safe than sorry no doubt.

I think if/when Ozala has another baby she will be in a more settled environment if she again has the company/support of a 2nd female (probably two) and so more relaxed.(she reared her first baby Matadi perfectly, under these conditions) On her own just with Oumbi, she plucked herself heavily around the time of this baby's birth, indicating high stress levels, so the later problems weren't too unexpected I feel.