Paignton Zoo Gorillas. » Paignton Zoo

06-11-2007

I've just been told that Chessington have forged ahead with their building work and so Damisi will be leaving in 4 weeks.

06-11-2007

That is great news. Have you any plans on the envisaged gorilla housing? Will they refurbish the existing house and provide an extension or is it a whole new set up elsewhere in the park?

06-11-2007

Oh,wow, so the dream was at least partly true... Do you know what they have done to the existing cage- is it extra dens, or splitting the outside cage, or adding more space etc?

I would contact Chessington but its very difficult to get any response from them- especially now they're closed for the season.

06-11-2007

I think you'll find it is the former...(provide an extension of some sort)

The plan at Chessington is to build a completely new Gorilla exhibit when(if) they start to build their 'zoo safari' area on a large vacant area of land, but that's longer term.

Short term they were asked to improve the existing enclosure(or lose their license!) but they've faced this request before and not done very much. But with Damisi now being added to the main group, and Kumba/Baffia being permanently split off, they've probably had to do something. The outside is modelled on a Howletts cage and is fairly spacious -even for 10 animals, but the indoor dens are small and insufficient now for the size of this successful group..

06-11-2007

I'm afraid I have to plead ignorance. Even when I was speaking to the keeper I didn't really know what I was asking about! I went to Chessington several years ago and all I can remember of the gorillas is feeling terribly sorry for them being in that environment, and in a small enclosure with a moron trying to throw a lighted cigarette onto their bedding. I hope things have improved since then. Maybe when the keeper returns from delivering Damisi he'll have more information. Mapema has settled well, by the way, and is surrounded by beautiful females!

07-11-2007

Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later. If you do get any more titbits of info I'm sure you'd post them. It sounds as if they HAVE made some sort of changes to the enclosure. The main 'cage' is okay but the dens were only built for a very small group... The irony is this(Chessington) is the most successful group in UK outside Aspinall's parks in Kent.

Did you mean Mapema has already been introduced, or is surrounded 'at a distance'...(don't worry if you can't answer that either.. )

07-11-2007

I did get the impression that Mapema was actually in with the females. Apparently Duisberg is a lovely zoo, well worth a visit.

07-11-2007

There's no reason to waste anytime time with a well socialised male. It would actually help him to settle more quickly.

I went to Duisburg Zoo once but long before the current Gorilla enclosure was built. I've seen a number of photos though- the outside looks very good and I think the indoors has been upgraded recently. Hopefully they'll have their very first baby gorilla soon...

new gorillas?
23-06-2008

Now that Mapema and Damisi have both left, do you know when any new 'small boys' may be arriving to join the group- or do you think they are staying with four for the time being?

I guess there could also be plans for 'Kumbuka' to move on in due course but probably not yet awhile.

23-06-2008

I heard fairly recently that two would arrive 'later this year'. Then, of course, there would be the 6 months quarantine.......... The plan originally was for Kumbuka to stay with the others, and for Pertinax to have a few challenge-free years, but he does seem to be growing quite fast now. That said, they all get on well. The dates for changes are always very vague.

24-06-2008

Its always been so with animal movements... usually they take months or years- but occassionally more quickly- just depending on circumstances.

I guess Kumbuka will stay on until somewhere else needs him. Its a pity he is (distantly) related to Twycross's younger animals(his grandmother is Zaire, a halfsister of Mamfe) otherwise he would a good replacement for Sekondi...

10-07-2008

I saw some interesting gorilla behaviour today. Kumbuka, Kivu and Kiondo were in the lower part of the show den - I think a keeper was down there - and Pertinax was on the upper level. He seemed curious as to what was going on and started to go down, inadvertently cornering the others who had begun to climb up. There was a lot of shouting and rushing about with Pertinax charging at them. Suddenly, they all advanced on him and he backed away! Then things calmed down. Normally, if Pertinax is moving about, they will keep at a distance from him.

04-09-2008

BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Silverback's 'brush' with dentist

Just seen this on the bbc.

Pertinax had a dentist appointment

04-09-2008

That is typical behaviour, usually seen with females. A silverback can dominate or bully one female but several together can see him off. If a male acts aggressively toward one female, the others in the group will usually come to her rescue, often screaming etc and forming a 'front' to drive the male away and he'll always back off. Even a really angry single female seems able to drive a male off the same way if her temper is really up.. a bored male in captivity will sometimes tease a female just to get this reaction as a sort of game.

My guess is Pertinax came down and surprised the younger ones by invading their 'safety' distance, causing the aggressive reaction on their part which made him back off.

04-09-2008

Glad to see that Pertinax has recovered okay. Chessington Zoo lost a silverback gorilla when he underwent an almost identical operation- he died under the anaethsetic- there's always a slight element of risk..

A year or so ago Pertinax also had to be temporarily isolated to have treatment for badly cracked feet. Maybe he doesn't move about enough. Whenever I visit Paignton there's a 90% chance I'll find him in one place- lying down on his little shelf indoors!