Eastern lowland gorilla Kisubi

Father of Victoria, the current female at Antwerp. Born approx November 1955. Photograph 5th September 1973.

Good shot of Kisubi. I believe he fathered several offspring with both the females(Quivu & Pega) but only 'Victoria' survived. While the males both looked in good condition, both females had very plucked/scuffed coats, similar to the differences between Mukisi & Noel at Chester.

In the 1960/70's this house was very overcrowded. As well as four adult Eastern Lowland Gorillas, it also contained 2-3 female Bonobos, an adult pair of Orangutan, and an adult pair of Western Lowland Gorillas. With Kaisi, Kisubi and the Bonobos using the three(?) outside enclosures, its not surprising the Orangs, Western Gorillas and Eastern Females didn't see the outdoors much (if ever?).

The female Western Gorilla 'Kora' was eventually moved to Toroparc Romaneche after her mate 'Gust' died- after about 25 years living indoors she finally had a little grassy outside enclosure and got some fresh air and sunshine.

Striking colour he has,

Is it the photo or is he that dark?

I may have been a little too heavy-handed in processing the scan; but as Pertinax said in a previous thread, the males of this race do have a very distinct contrast between the very dark forequarters and the back, which really is silvery.
You can see the same pattern in my photos of old Mukisi, the Eastern male from Chester Zoo, who eventually went to Antwerp as a mate for Victoria - unfortunately unsuccessfully. I admit that I am biassed, but Mukisi was the handsomest gorilla that I have ever seen.
I have a photo of Pega (I think) outside, looking overweight and badly plucked (almost motheaten) - far worse than Noelle usually looked. The old Ape House in Antwerp did have quite nice grassy yards (for their time) and I remember the bonobos very clearly - standing bipedally at the edge of their moat. I have no recollection of the interior - was it on public view, or is my memory failing after 37 years?

Alan

I think the colour in this photo is pretty accurate- jet black coat and contrasting silver saddle- like 'true' Mountain gorillas also. Also compare Kisubi's longer legs to Kaisi who was quite squat-looking.

Whereas Western Gorillas are often very individualistic facially, the few Eastern Lowland males I've seen- 4 (or photos of- 6/7) all look alike to me though I'm sure they aren't really.

I have a postcard of 'Quivu' holding the baby Victoria up in the air(before she was removed) and Quivu is very bald apart from her head/shoulder region.

The inside ape house was accessible to public view- typical 'too-small' glass fronted cages raised off the floor(like Dudley's old Ape House) and with a herringbone-style wooden (?) flooring, but there must have been dens behind as there weren't enough exhibit cages for the number of animals. The outdoor yards were okay for the era, but again, too many animals (the house was overstocked like Bristol was at the same time!)

One of the Pygmy chimp females from Antwerp(Linda) became the breeding female at San Diego.

What an impressive looking animal.