ZSL London Zoo Sliverback Gorilla Now at London Zoo
- Thread starter Muggins
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I too would prefer to see Effie stay at London, but ONLY if she is allowed to breed. If the Studbook keepers are prepared to let Yeboah and Effie breed, despite their distant relatedness, that is fine- and better for her, as you said, than yet another transfer. BUT if they put her on contraceptives, its not so good. Then only Mjuku is likely to breed (and possibly also Zaire- though less likely as she has not bred for so many years now) and they will not be able to produce the several infants they so badly need to make this a fully functioning social group.
Female Gorillas without a male to watch over them are like lost souls. No cohesion, no focal point. Sometimes prolonged fighting as there is no male to stop it- though these three females seem to have been quite harmonious during their long wait for a new spouse, probably because of their staggered age range.
The youngest female, Mjuku, will almost certainly be the first (& only one?) to breed and with her perfect social background at Chessington, where she would often carry younger siblings around, is almost 100% guaranteed to be a good mother.
I'd agree that the welfare of the animal has to come first. It's a bit of a catch 22 situation, not so great for the overall captive gorilla population if Effie stays but stressful for her and the already socially bonded group if she is exchanged. Maybe they could find a fourth female to breed with (very doubtful) and have Effie on contraception.
For the moment Im just happy that London have a new male even if he isn't 100% perfect Im still looking forward to meeting him
devilfish
Well-Known Member
He's not yet a silverback, I was lucky to catch a glimpse of him on a little monitor they were using to film/check up on him.
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bit off topic but last time I went to Howletts I noticed one of Bitam's old Females, I think Juju looking over at Kouillou very intently. I think they must miss the attentions of a silverback. But saying that I suppose they wouldn't be able to have one even if they could as like Kijo's old group they still have youngsters, ShaSha, Imbi and Bitanu - he's very boisterous probably because he hasn't had a Dad to give him the odd clip round the ear!
I expect she wanted to breed with him. Despite the fact these old females are 'pensioned off', I believe they would probably still benefit from being kept with a silverback. At least in this case they can see/smell/hear two adult males closeby, so probably still feel more secure as part of an 'extended' group.
I guess Effie will be alowed to breed with Yeboah, there is a similar situation in Duisburg, one of their females and the silverback are cousins and she was allowed to breed with him and now has a (female) baby from him. But with Effie, there is another problem - she did not nurse her offspring in Berlin and both had to be removed for handrearing. She was caring well, just didn`t allowed them to suckle. She might be put on the pill now so that Mjuku breeds first so that Effie can learn from her before allowing her to have another infant.
The female 'Nandi' at Jersey(mother of Zaire and Melbourne's Motaba) did the same with her first three babies- good maternal instinct, but would pull them away from the nipple. She succeeded okay with baby No 4 and thereafter.
I hope they allow Effie to breed anyway- even if they have to handrear and then reintroduce any babies- that is quite commonplace nowadays.
Yes, Yeboah completes the 'trio' of new males which have arrived this year.
Potentially Chessington could have bred from three or even four females, not just the one, but the others are currently on contraceptives.
That may be down to the fact that exhibit at Chessington is getting full. There were plans to move the gorillas to a new exhibit the other side the zoo where the childrens zoo was moved along with new cat exhibits but that has come to nothing so far.
That is the main reason AFAIK.
They are now planning a new 'cage' type enclosure- I don't know whereabouts it will be situated.
The original plan in 2005 was to move “Trail of the Kings” to the 22 ache site; Chessington has had many plans to use this site for animals over the years. This was to complement the “Safari” hotel. Unfortunately it was decided to build the hotel first which meant the demolition of the “Monkey Walk” and, therefore, animals had to be relocated to other areas of the zoo. The only part of the original “Safari Trail” concept that was built was the children’s zoo area on the 22 ache site.
The conditions in the gorilla at the time had caused some concern to the Zoo Inspectors and in their report in 2005, which did compliment the zoos success in breeding these animals, but also recommended that the gorillas must be moved the new planned exhibit on the 22 ache site by no later than December 2009. Moreover, they also asked for an extension to the existing accommodation to house the old male gorilla. The council granted planning permission for this extension which was eventually constructed some months after planning permission had been given; this extension has temporary planning permission of three years – which runs out at the end of the year.
However, all this appears to academic as the Merlin Group have taken over the park and plans change. None the less, it is a bit puzzling that the gorilla have not been relocated to the new planned exhibit as these were recommendation laid down in the November 2005 Zoo Inspection Report. But in fairness I have not been back to Chessington since spring 2006 and have not seen a contemporary Zoo Inspection Report(s) of the intervening years.
In case anyone says this is not about London's new Gorilla, there is a definite connection here as female 'Mjuku' was moved to ZSL from Chessington, possibly(or partially) this was requested by the studbook keeper to help alleviate their(Chessington's) overcrowding as well as giving LOndon a much needed additional female.
There were indeed plans to relocate the Gorillas to the large new 'zoo' site. The first plan was for a large moated enclosure, but more recently it seems to have changed to another 'cage' format. But whether this is still to be on the new site or located adjacent to the existing cage, I don't know. It certainly won't happen by December 2009 as that is tomorrow....
The only recent change to the Gorilla enclosure in the last few years has been the addition of the green breezeblock 'bedroom' area on the park entrance side of the enclosure. From what you say it seems this building only has temporary planning permission? The longterm plans, both for the new 22 acre zoosite and the Gorilla enclosure(s) itself, remain unclear, it seems.
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Indeed, the move of the animal from Chessington to ZSL was at the request of the stud book keeper.
As I said, it is a puzzle as to why nothing seems to have been done regarding a new gorilla enclosure as the zoo inspectors were most insistent in their 2005 inspection report that the wanted action taken and even time tabled it.
Moreover, in their 2006 report they stated:
The existing gorilla collection should be relocated to a suitable enclosure within the 22 acre field by December 2009.
As I do not have copies of the 2007 and 2008 reports I can not say what circumstances made the inspectors review their previous recommendations.
I note CWoA are building a new area in the park which includes a walk-through bird area. One would have thought that the needs of the gorillas were more pressing than building yet another Lorikeet walk-through.
Chessington World of Adventures unveils plans for new land (From Your Local Guardian)
Interestingly also that this new animal exhibit is outside the zoo ‘foot-print’ which was another area those previous zoo inspections have stated they were very much against; they felt that the zoo and “the rides” must remain clearly separate. Although, of course, ride like the ‘Sky Way’ do cross over animal exhibits and from my experience the animals generally are blasé to this ride although something like ‘Vampire’ near an animal exhibit would be a rather different question.
devilfish
Well-Known Member
I visited yesterday and spent over an hour with the gorillas. Got a few glimpses of Yeboah, who's still kept on his own. Apparently he was successfully let out with Mjukuu in the indoor enclosure and they are planning several more meets in the near future (including with the other girls). They are very happy with his temperament and say he seems to be very calm and getting on well. He'd run along his tunnel quite frequently to watch the girls.
I got several poor-quality shots of him which I've put in the gallery, but the order has been mixed up so you may need to hunt around.
Apologies for the excessive gorilla photos with poor IDs, but rest assured that this is just a fraction of what I was going to upload.
I got several poor-quality shots of him which I've put in the gallery, but the order has been mixed up so you may need to hunt around.
Apologies for the excessive gorilla photos with poor IDs, but rest assured that this is just a fraction of what I was going to upload.
From your photos, for a male who is just one month short of his thirteenth birthday, Yeboah still looks very undeveloped (blackback, no crest) but now that he is with females the old testosterone levels will probably kick in and he may transform quite rapidly. It will also be interesting to see his real size when they 'unveil' him officially.
Your female ID's are all correct. I noticed shots where 'Zaire' is looking in from outside- no doubt the new arrival is the source of her interest...
devilfish
Well-Known Member
Your female ID's are all correct. I noticed shots where 'Zaire' is looking in from outside- no doubt the new arrival is the source of her interest...
Thanks very much Pertinax. Much as I'd like to think she was pleased to see me, Yeboah was certainly getting her attention. He'd go to the end of his tunnel to watch the ladies while they were inside, or sit in the middle to watch them when they were outside.