Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Gorillas

{Note from mods - this thread split from here: Longleat Safari Park News 2022 [Longleat Safari & Adventure Park]}

@Keelan I wonder where Evindi has gone. I hope he’s moved to become a Breeding Silverback. None of Harry’s (Evindi’s Dads) children have had offspring.

 

That would be good then the gorilla's all seemed settled and happy

 

More likely Evindi is still there but seperated due to fighting perhaps.

Harry was a son of Matz in Frankfurt, one of the most heavily represented males in Europe. So breeding from Harry's sons is not important.

 

The tour guides on the cruise said that they only have the 4 gorillas

 

In which case a death may be more likely than a move perhaps? Usually it quickly becomes obvious from zoo/gorilla news-related websites if a gorilla changes location and I've heard nothing about Longleat recently.

 

@Keelan which Gorilla was missing? Do you know it was Evindi,or are you assuming due to the problems featured on Animal Park

 

I'm not assuming anything here. The tour guide specifically said that the gorilla's that were there were called Kesho, Alfie, Suvedi and Yuba. Evindi was never mentioned. If they hadn't have mentioned names I would vever of assumed that it was Evindi just because of animal park because anything can happen in animal care.

 

It is also possible they say they have 4 gorillas because there are now only the named 4 on show. So Evindi could either be offshow, or he could have died, or been moved, though I think the last is the least likely.

 

Evindi was highlighted today on Animal Park, most notably that he’d significantly bulked out and was now challenging Kesho. Obviously these episodes were likely filmed a few months ago (April was mentioned in one episode) so anything could have happened between then and now.

 

@Pertinax we are singing from the same hym sheet. Because Evindi wasn’t mentioned it doesn’t mean he’s passed away. I think it’s more than likely that he’s being held in the enclosure at the rear. This happened with Boulas a Gorilla that Longleat had when the enclosure first opened. It wouldn’t be a bad situation if Evindi has left. Europe urgently needs new Breeding Silverbacks.A lot of the current ones have been retired from the breeding programe,due to over repression. If Evindi has left I think he’s gone to London Zoo,Prague Zoo or Chessington World Of Adventures. The first mentioned Zoo has needed a Silverback for 6/7 years. The latter two have paused breeding due to being over represented. I listed London Zoo as he has very similar genetics to Kesho. As you know Kesho was London’s Silverback for a while before his infertility was discovered. The next best option would be for Alf or Evindi to move to London. Not only are they full Brother’s too Kesho but they have experience of Baby Gorillas. My only concern is that having very similar genetics to Kesho could mean they are also infertile.

Finally Alf and Evindi would have witnessed their Dad copulating and have learned how the deed is done. @Pertinax what are you thoughts on the points I’ve raised?

 

I was waiting for the park to confirm, but Evindi passed away around 2 weeks ago because of a hereditary disease. I didn’t ask the keeper anything else because he was clearly very upset. A magnificent animal.

 

That's tragic news. He was only 16 years of age. It'll be interesting to see what his cause of death was, and what side of his family he got his hereditary disease from. His grandmother died from breastcancer (via his maternal side) whereas his father also died from a stroke.

 

Was he the one who had the chromosome thing?

 

You’re thinking of Kesho (born 16/02/1999). He has Klinefelter syndrome, which means he has an extra X chromosome and is unable to sire offspring.

Kesho was the male who fatally injured London Zoo’s gorilla infant (Tiny) upon his introduction to their troop in 2011. It was even more devastating when it was revealed he was infertile.

 

Ah yes sorry, it was Kesho I was thinking of. Im only just learning all the animals and rheir names

 

I didn't know that Klinefelter syndrome existed among non-human species.

 

Evindi was one of Kesho's younger full-brothers living with him at Longleat.

 

Sad news indeed. I was sure he was either seperated or had died, as there was no news of a transfer to anywhere else.

 

It’s also been identified in cats, dogs, pigs, horses and mice among other species.

When it was announced Kesho had Klinefelter syndrome, it was mentioned it had occurred in one gorilla previously. Considering it’s becoming increasingly common for captive born male gorillas to live their lives in bachelor troops, it’s possible a number of future cases will go undetected.

 

@zoosafari123 did Evindi have Klinefelter Syndrome? Apparently this syndrome has a shorter life expectancy.