Port Lympne gorillas, ID help appreciated » Port Lympne Zoo

Port Lympne gorillas, ID help appreciated
30-10-2007

I have at last got round to processing some more photos from my trip to Port Lympne this summer. The highlights of my visits are always the scatter feeds for the gorillas: I shot the bachelors in the morning and the breeders in the afternoon.
I got a couple of nice shots of the older group of bachelors, in decent light. I don't know if anyone can recognise any of the individuals, I'd be very interested in IDs. It's always spectacular to watch this group of big males come out of their house for the feed: they appear to be unconcerned, but they are really watching each other all the time. You can sense the testosterone. This fellow seemed pretty relaxed: pity I didn't quite get the shot quite right.

I think this one is the smallest/youngest, but he was quite jaunty.

This guy was displaying a bit, but the others didn't seem too bothered.


It was rather too sunny in the afternoon, but I got a couple of nice shots of old Djala. It was interesting to watch him feeding on nettles after the handout. He stripped the leaves off the stems and then carefully rolled them into a ball and inserted them into the side of his mouth - presumably to crush them with his molars to avoid getting stung.


Alan

__________________
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

30-10-2007

beautiful shots m8 u must have an excellent camera as well as a good eye.

31-10-2007

I think the first two shots are 'Kush' and 'Djimu' but I don't know which is which...
The third shot is definately 'Mataki'(Bonz) who is the oldest in that group and frequently displays.

The others in that group are 'Ambam'(the biggest) and full brothers 'Boumi' and 'Timbou'.(sons of Mouila) These two are very similar to each other, but one is usually shut-off seperately as he won't live with the others. A few years one of these two(Timbou) had a fight with Ambam and his mouth was gashed open almost to the cheek. I think you can still see a big scar.

As you said, this group keep their distance from each other most of the time. I think only five are together nowadays.

31-10-2007

Thank you Pertinax (nice to get information straight from a bachelor group). I'd wondered which one was Bonz.
I admit that I do have nice gear - Nikon D200 and 300mm f/4 AFS Nikkor. They did cost a fair bit, so I feel I have to put them to good use. What could be a better use than taking gorilla portraits?

Alan

__________________
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

31-10-2007

The interesting thing about Mataki/Bonz is that when he was still only a juvenile living in one of the Howlett's groups (he was handreared) he would strut about and display far more than others in his group. This behaviour has persisted in maturity- just like the permanent 'innate' character in humans.

I'm not sure how happy these groups of batchelors at Port Lympne really are. Boulas (currently in Belfast but supposedlyreturning to PL as he hasn't bred with any females there- infertile?) was the biggest male in the other(smaller) group and was quite a bully- you often saw nasty cuts he'd inflicted on the others. If he does return, my guess is he will end up living on his own as it will be difficult to reintegrate him into a male group again...