Greetings Zoochat!

Many thanks!

Well i dont really know about blackpool, but at howletts we had two births in the past year and the breeding has stopped after that.

My experience in working with L. africana was very interesting and gave me a lot of knowlegde, but it was physically exhausting

 

Thanks a lot!

I were lucky enough to almost choose myself what i did for the two months i spend there.
As i am very interested in primates i wanted to do zookeeping with their most interesting species (siamang, patas, orangs etc.) But i also spend quite a lot of the time following and observing the woman responsible for the training - mostly with the gorillas. Furthermore i had the extremely satisfying oportunity to be a research assistant for 10 days in a small wildlife reserve in Yucatan where i observed howlers and spider monkeys among other things.

My time in mexico is definitely very valuable to me.

 

That is really interesting to hear and I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your time there and that it was both valuable and formative too.

Considering that you worked with the primate section of the zoo you must have learned quite a lot about the animals being kept there and particularly the gorillas Faustina and Chencha.

 

I'm happy to share my stories with anyone interested.

I did learn a little bit about the last gorillas of Mexico yes, unfortunately i did not go too much into their back story, as i had so many different things to focus on while there.
I did take a liking to the young Faustina though, a very intelligent and personable animal

 

They are an interesting pair aren't they ?

What are your thoughts on Faustina being part of a breeding programe ?

 

Indeed they are.

Considering the restrictions about importing any apes to Mexico i would say it is a tricky one.
For the welfare of the individual i would say that its very important for her to experience childcare and a traditional band of gorillas with a silverback.
Also it would be good for the species, as she hasnt bred yet.
However if they take out Faustina, Chencha would be solitary and this would probably lead to having no more gorillas in Mexico, which would be a shame. Not only for Zoologico Guadalajara, but also for the ability of communicating the issues around it as well as conservation to the public.

Forgive me if there is something i have gotten wrong, but this is my view on it from the information i have.

 

No , I totally agree with what you've written here Nicolai.

It is quite a catch-22 situation really and I really have no idea what Guadalajara plan to do about it but it is complex and any decision that they make will have a lot of trade-offs.