Zebra birth: A zebra foal was born to first time mother Poppy (2020) three weeks ago. This is Mogo’s second foal born within the last year, sired by new stallion Melako. Confirmed via email.
African lion cub update: The lion cubs have been sexed as two males. A naming competition is now in progress via The Daily Telegraph website. Reported on socials.
Mogo Willdife Park update: Thandiwe the Spotted hyena was not pregnant as previously announced. It was a false positive. A Slender-tailed meerkat pup has been born. Reported on socials.
Western lowland gorilla introductions: An unexpected update from Mogo’s director that after successfully integrating Kaius with G-Ann, the plan is for the two of them to be integrated with the other three gorillas (Kaius’ parents and grandmother). It may not be an easy road, but if successful, it’ll be fantastic for Kaius to continue his growth within a fully functional troop and learn silverback behaviour from his father. From socials: Kaius will meet his grandma first as she has always been the most interested and hopefully protective when dad and mum come in shortly after. Getting Kaius to live with gorillas was always the goal from the very beginning and we are so thankful that happened but the progress didn’t stop there with getting the family hopefully all together.
That’s fantastic news. I was concerned for Kaius’ future, being integrated with a human raised gorilla and what it would look like for him one G-Ann passed away. Hopefully the team at Mogo will take it slow and steady and it’ll be a positive outcome for all.
Same here. Due to her background, G-Ann was always going to be a limited (and ultimately insufficient) role model of gorilla behaviour. Though the reintroduction to his natal troop isn’t without risk, it is in my opinion the best option within the region for giving him the social grounding he needs to lead a fulfilling adult life. That’s clearly the goal here and it’s commendable Mogo are taking this step. I wish them all the best.
Western Lowland Gorillas now fully integrated As posted on Zookeeper Chad’s Instagram, all the Gorillas at Mogo Zoo have all been integrated. There’s a video that shows Kriba and Kaius, and the post noted how protective she’s been of him during the integration.
That’s really good news. Congratulations to Mogo Zoo on achieving a full introduction 18 months on from Kaius’ birth in October 2022. It’s really encouraging to see how interactive Kriba is with him, compared to G-Ann, who was rarely shown interacting with him in the footage shared. Kriba was an excellent mother to her five daughters.
The announcement seemed very sudden! As you'd know there was a lot of critisism about 'humanisation' and publicity videos etc. While they always talked about reintegration into the group being the aim, it seems to have happened with no fanfare at all, though I think more video may be forthcoming. Very rewarding, as you said, to see Kaius with a female who wants him. I guess GAnne will play no further role now as she showed little interest in him previously. I wonder if she can remain with the group full time though...
Yeah, it came as a surprise to me as six days ago we had an update saying the next step of introducing Kaius to his parents/grandmother was about to begin (noting it would be a process of many steps); followed by a post today saying they’ve been together for almost a week. Hopefully G-Ann can remain with the troop going forward as her living alongside the troop was never ideal. I guess it will depend on how tolerant Kisane is of her lack of social skills. She appeared to coexist well with the majority of silverbacks she’s been housed with in the last (Kibabu, Motaba etc) and while he’s young, Kisane was noted to have matured in today’s update.
Yes, it might have gone better, quicker than they expected. Unexpected things happen sometimes- I won't speculate further on how it might have developed as I really have no idea but its had a good outcome. I think Kriba may have taken him immediately she could though. Hopefully Kisane will ignore Ganne as he has more of a family to focus on now, though antipathy from the male toward a 'non-social'group member sometimes builds up over time. We will see.
I had been following each and every posting and videos for some time on socials and one can see the exhausting amount of effort that the manager had put into his raising and integration, He did an outstanding job so full kudos to him with excellent results in the end!
Video of Kriba carrying Kaius: Exciting News: Baby Gorilla Kaius Thrives in New Gorilla Family at Mogo Wildlife Park! Our baby Western Lowlands gorilla Kaius and Auntie G-Anne... | By Mogo Wildlife ParkFacebook Following the successful introduction of Kaius to the gorilla troop, Mogo have released a video showing Kriba carrying him. It’s a stark contrast to the videos I’ve seen of G-Ann and Kaius, where she showed little to no interest in him. Kaius is now truly where he needs to be. It was reported on here that the original plan was for Kriba to breed with Kisane. Due to her age, this was unsuccessful, so it’s great to see Kriba have this opportunity to rear another infant via caring for her grandson. She was an excellent mother in her younger years. In time, I’m sure Kipenzi will have the opportunity to breed again and hopefully things will go smoother.
