{Note from mods - this thread split from here: Durrell news [Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust]} Bahasha gave birth to a female infant prematurely 08/04/2013. The infant died after six days. I like how the original group is still represented at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust with Hlala Kahili being a daughter of N'Pongo; and Bahasha being a granddaughter of Nandi (via Nandi's son, Motaba). Of course Kishka is still there from the original group; though at 41 years of age, its unlikely she'll ever produce another infant.
I think Bahasha may also have had an earlier failed birth before the one in 2013. Kishka isn't really part of Jersey's original foundation group which was Jambo/Npongo & Nandi. She came from Howletts and was exchanged for a Durrell- born female Bamenda, but she's been at Jersey a very long time now.
I‘ve always thought of Kishka as part of the original troop as my first experience of Jersey’s gorillas was reading a story about the boy that fell into their exhibit in 1986. The story mentioned Jambo’s wives - Npongo, Nandi and Kishka; and their respective offspring. Of course this story was just a snapshot of time in the lives of the gorillas; but since both the founding of the troop and the 1986 incident were way before my time, reading that story was indeed my earliest memory of them. I was amazed to discover a few years ago that Kishka was in fact years younger than the other two females; and consequently only had time to produce two offspring, before Jambo passed away in 1992.
Yes, she was born at Howletts(Bitam x Shamba) and exchanged for Bamenda, who was one of Nandi's early handraised babies. Bamenda did not live that long at Howletts but has a daughter 'Emba' still in one of the groups. Sadly Kishka's grown up daughter Sakina didn't breed at Jersey and was sent to somewhere in Europe where she later died.
From what I've heard, the silverback that replaced Jambo was quite ineffective (and only bred with one female). Badongo has worked much better, with all three females conceiving to him (Kishka has a miscarriage a few years ago).
Haha not to mention your 20 children; and the fact your actions in 1986 revolutionise the public’s perception of your species.
Mzuri (Ya Kwanza) was quite an ineffective breeder, at Jersey, most likely due to his hand-raising background. At Melbourne, he never lived with an older male that would teach him how to mate (his father Rigo, never mated with his females which is why they had to resort to AI to conceive Mzuri). He was quite an impressive male though, much like his father, Rigo.
Ya Kwanza's main problem was he was brought to Jersey too young- nine years old- and unable to dominate a group of much older females who rejected him because of his age. That situation then existed longterm. He certainly knew how to mate, as he bred okay with Kahilli as she was much younger and his playmate. He would probably have bred with other females younger than him, if anymore had been added.
Wouldn’t that have been the same for Motoba (a well socialised male) who went to Melbourne Zoo at the age of six and sired an offspring the following year? I understand he was kept seperate from the females and his offspring (with Buluman heading up the troop); but this was more due to keepers fearing an exhuberent adolescent would harm the infant. Sakina at Jersey was also younger than Mzuri (by two years), but never bred/successfully bred.
I think perhaps the difference there was between the mother-raised Motaba and the less socialised/handraised Ya Kwanza. Mother-raised males are always a sure-fire bet for breeding, however young they are. Hand-raised males often don't have the same drive and ability to relate fully with companions. As to Sakina, that's a mystery. Perhaps she shunned him because her mother did, I don't know. Ya Kwanza's problematic relationships with the Jersey females is something I could never fathom- was it him or was it them- or both? I could never find out the root cause. He physically rejected G.Anne and Julia- hence their move to Melbourne- but seemed to be able to co-exist with the others even if there was no breeding apart from with Kahilli. I suspect a mother-raised male would not have had the same result.
