Rigo the gorilla..... » Melbourne Zoo

15-04-2007

I saw Ringo on Friday and he is huge. I took a few photos through the bamboo where you can just see him. Unfortunatly the photos are on the start of a film and probobly wont get developed for a while. When I get them I will post them if they are any good. It was interesting the number of people who know all about Ringo and where trying to get a peak at him. He seem to have a lot of fans.

16-04-2007

hey monty its RIGO not ringo..

he is a big fella and he does have a lot of fans. i can't stress how dissapointed i am with his treatment by melbourne zoo. i really can only explain his years of isolation at melbourne as a result of his situation being a low priority, not because of other factors.

the orangutans have been moved now, so the least they can do is do a cheapo refurb on his enclosure. cut the walls down between the grottoes and open it up.

gorillas are what melbourne is famous for and for good reason.
the zoo should build a second exhibit.

16-04-2007

Oops I did get his name wrong. The gorilas are not as popular as the zoos newer attractions. There was no waiting even to see in the den viewing window at feeding time.

update....
30-04-2007

hey guys thought you might be glad to hear what the FOTZ volunteers at the zoo are telling vistors...

motaba has moved with his sons to the ape grottoes, the home of the zoos new batchelor group.

rigo will be introduced to the females in the rainforest in the next week...

incidently the male gorillas are ot the only exhibit inhabitants to be permanantly moved on.. th eremaining two guenons are back in the arboral primates exhbit after motaba beat one of the males so badly he had to be euthanized! in motabas defence, apparently the guenons never learnt to be submissive to the gorillas and particuarly took a shine to taunting poor motaba who received a bite on the shoulder from the now deceased monkey.

the zoo hopes to get funding to fix up or rebuild the ape grottoes into a better gorilla exhibit.

30-04-2007

Pat
that's gorilla movements and pigmy hippo rumours. Could you start a new thread with other news?

01-05-2007

[quote=patrick;12287]hey guys thought you might be glad to hear what the FOTZ volunteers at the zoo are telling vistors...

motaba has moved with his sons to the ape grottoes, the home of the zoos new batchelor group. rigo will be introduced to the females in the rainforest in the next week...

So its finally happening... I hope Rigo's story has a good ending. Its almost as good a story as that of Willie B, the gorilla who lived for 27 years completely alone at Altanta Zoo USA -where they had no other gorillas. After never having any contact with another gorilla since leaving Africa as a baby, he was finally introduced to one of the several groups which came from the RPC- not only did he settle in okay , proving he still knew he was a gorilla after all that time- he even fathered several babies before he died. A terribly sad story but with a happy ending.

So there's hope for Rigo, who's not quite so disadvantaged as Willie B. was.

01-05-2007

I think he sired five babies,

02-05-2007

Yes, it was something like that- very successful. Atlanta tried to repeat this success with another male gorilla Ivan, who had lived alone in a shopping mall for many years. But though they got him in with females and mating occurred(I think) there haven't been any offspring. Can't remember if Ivan is still alive, I think so...

It will be interesting in due course to see whether 1. Rigo mates naturally. 2. proves to be still fertile...

13-05-2007

Rigo was last seen on display in Melbourne around 1990. Only remember him being alone in a pit enclosure. Rigo is much loved in Melbourne (even though we haven't seen him for a while). Not only is he the father of Muzuri (YA KWANZA) he is magnificent and a sight to behold. At 40 we can only hope that he can integrate with the group. One thing I do know is that if he goes on display again the zoo will make a lot of money. This could all be pure fantasy but I believe alot of the appeal in Rigo was that he was so interactive when on display. Admittedly not all positive, but to see Rigo was not like watching other gorillas who seem to be oblivious to our presence. Rigo would sit and plot his revenge, gathering clumps of dirt and grass behind his back and then tossing his weapons at the crowds oggling him. Fences slowly got higher and the mesh smaller but this didn't stop my kids from getting down on their hands and knees to crawl past the gorilla who threw things at them.

I adore Rigo and have followed his demise through rumour. Not alot of info. from the zoo on Rigo, an annual update would be great. We all know he was born wild and parent reared and this only adds to his allure and pathetic situation. To hope that Rigo will live out his years "happy" is all that we can wish for but in the meantime Melbourne Zoo should acknowledge the love we have for him and keep us informed as to his health and mental wellbing. I don't know that he will cope with being "on display" and I for one would donate to his future upkeep whether on display or not as long as people keep working hard towards his contentedness. Wasn't it Michael the gorilla who recounted the story of his horrific abduction via sign language. They remember and they know and my intuition tells me that Rigo remembers alot too. Maybe it is kinder to not have him on display. My dream is that Damien Aspinall will rescue him with lots of money and a clan and home of his own away from prying eyes.

13-05-2007

[quote=gretak25;130 This could all be pure fantasy but I believe alot of the appeal in Rigo was that he was so interactive when on display. Admittedly not all positive, to see Rigo was not like watching other gorillas who seem to be oblivious to our presence. Rigo would sit and plot his revenge, gathering clumps of dirt and grass behind his back and then tossing his weapons at the crowds oggling him.I adore Rigo and have followed his demise through rumour. Not alot of info. from the zoo on Rigo, an annual update would be great. We all know he was born wild and parent reared and this only adds to his allure and pathetic situation. /QUOTE]

I live on the other side of the World but have followed Rigo's situation for several decades now(and seen him three or four times over the years) It seems now that finally he will,(like the USA Atlanta Gorilla Willie B), get a chance to live a more normal life with other gorillas. The habit of male gorillas throwing stuff at visitors is almost universal but is also often a sign of anger/stress and also varies individually from male to male. Some aren't 'throwers' at all. But in Rigo's case this trait definately seems to have been inherited by his son Ya Kwanza at Jersey who also hurls sods of grass at his admiring public, often very accurate too.

Rigo has always been something of an unusual case, partly because of the small gorilla population in Australia and the problem of sending him elsewhere,e.g. abroad- so he's stayed at Melbourne all those years. But you should see a happy outcome for him now.

14-05-2007

yes and no - i certainly think rigo IS potentially a big star, i think he has a sort of cult following of sorts. certainly, he was (apart from mzuri) the only gorilla in which my family knew the name of and it was all thanks to some bad publicity in the herald that branded him a bad gorilla in a gracious front page article. it must have been the only time my mother ever bought the herald, but for years my fridge was graced with a large front page photo of rigo, the big buff angry gorilla under the title "rigo the wife beater".

however, i can't help believe apart my anaomaly family, outside of zoofans rigos not really well known and potentially no more "a star" than motaba or any other impressive silverback (okay so apparently rigo is the george cloony of gorillas though....in fact if he does fail to integrate with the troop, judging from the way those FOTZ volunteers talk their are quite a few 60 something year old women who would be more than happy to take him out!). anyhow, i guess hwta i'mm trying to say is that to most people a gorilla is a gorilla, unless the zoo tells them otherwise. so far they haven't really made a big fuss of advertising rigo, the zoos original poster bad boy and i doubt they ever will...

[quote=gretak25;13054]At 40 we can only hope that he can integrate with the group....QUOTE]

absolutely. lets hope so. in fact they would have trialled some introductions by now. unfortunately the old ape grottoes in which he has spent most of his life are totally unsuitable for introductions as they are tiny and have dangerous deep moats in which a gorilla can easily fall and injure (potentially fatally) itself. i don't think that ever helped rigo's cause...

the enclosure is no real issue in my opinion. its is equally well designed for the animals that live within it as the people that visit. in fact i would dare say its potentially the best animal exhibit in australia - and surely one of the best gorilla exhibits in the world. there is plenty of space to get away from eachother and out of the public eye.

14-05-2007

Its fascinating to study the cultural aspect of Gorillas in captivity and how they impinge on the publics' psyche. Virtually all zoos worldwide which have ever exhibited fullygrown silverbacks have just the one 'famous' gorilla that zoo/city's public identify with, and ONLY that one sticks in their minds. There have been many famous ones- 'Massa' at Philadelphia, 'Phil' at St Louis, 'Bushman' at Chicago( who impressed Hitler who supposedly donated a lorry tyre as a present for his amusement) Willie B at Atlanta(a parallel male to Rigo who also joined a group late in life..) Bobby at Berlin etc etc.

In London there was the famous 'Guy' and despite having been dead nearly 30 years he is the ONE Gorilla whose name Londoners know- there have been a succession of about five silverbacks at London Zoo since, but people STILL say "look, its Guy the Gorilla"- its part of their culture. Ya Kwanza/Mzuri is famous in Melbourne but at Jersey where he now lives, he's nothing like as well known as his predessor 'Jambo' (Motaba's dad) who lived there a long time, had many offspring and became world- famous when he 'rescued' the child who fell into the enclosure. So people who visit the zoo look at Mzuri but still talk about Jambo!

So, like these other males, past and present, around the world, Rigo is definately Melbourne's 'star' gorilla and always will be. I'll bet people will flock in to see him again if he is integrated successfully in the troop, and the gate receipts will rocket...

15-05-2007

yes your very spot on about the public generally identifying with just one gorilla - and what you say makes perfect sense except for the unfortunate fact that rigo has never truly been melbournes star gorilla - that honer was bestowed apon his son mzuri.

when i said rigo was the zoos "poster boy" i literally meant just that - he is the silverback on the poster of one of the most heavily used promotional photographs at the zoo.

he does have a cult following of sorts with zoo fans no doubt. and being mzuri's father and having such a charismatic personality there is potential for some good publicity there. but i wonder if the zoo will ever make the most of it.

i think they could drum up a story out of his history, but would that reflect well apon the zoo?

no i think they will quietly pull a switcheroo with motaba for rigo and be done with it... but i do hope your right. i want melbourne to continue to be famous as one of the worlds best gorilla zoos - regardless of their elephants.

15-05-2007

Yes, I think I know the poster photo you mean... I have a fridge magnet on my fridge of him too, bought on one of my MElbourne visits- so I guess subconsciously I get reminded of him every day!

There are regular visitors to many zoos who are avid Gorilla fans- often middle aged ladies... Some of the german/swiss zoos have whole cohorts of them. These people aren't like the general public in that they often DO know all the individual members of a group, almost as well as the keepers! When it was announced that the homebred Bokito(young male) at Berlin Zoo was going to be sent to China, the Berlin 'fans' rose up in protest to stop it happening.(ghe is now at another European zoo- Rotterdam)

I'm sure its much the same at Melbourne as it happens everywhere. Yes, Mzuri was really the star there because of his famous conception and handrearing. Like Bokito in Germany, I know there was a huge fuss when he left the zoo.

16-05-2007

yeah - then the zoo reminded the public that he cant have sex with his mother or sister and everyone went "eww - yeah send him away!"

your spot on about the middle-aged female gorilla fanatics. theres always one or two, at the glass quietly correcting parents point that point to one of their beloved female gorillas and shout "look at the monkey - isn't he big!"..