Devastating news about Julia, and no doubt a very difficult time for her keepers. I'm guessing, if no signs of aggression have been witnessed between Otana and the other females, than a reintroduction is inevitable, although of course priority needs to be given to new mother Kimya, and her daughter Kanzi. Like others on this thread have pointed out, Julia's lack of socialisation, and hence inappropriate responses to domiance displays by the silverback may have contributed to what was hopefully an isolated incident, rather than an indication of an aggressive nature from Otana.
My understanding of Johari's name, is that Johari was her inhouse name at Melbourne; Jumatano was her media name. Tano is swahili for five (she was the fifth gorilla born at MZ) Juma/Jumah means born on a Friday, so I'm guessing she was born on a Friday?? Taronga obviously prefer the name Johari (perhaps because she responds to it), and obviously don't feel the need for media names, as they don't impliment this with their other animals. Imagine if they decided to do it with their chimps!!!
Jumatano was born on 26th April, 2000. It was a Wednesday. Someone told me once that Jumatano could signify Friday or Wednesday....I just tried a 'swahili/english' dictionary and it came up with Wednesday for the translation. And yes, Johari was her inhouse name and Jumatano was her media name. Ganyeka was born three days later on 29th April. His in house name is Gobari (aka Goober). Ganyeka however had massive problems with taking in food and was on special formula. He was allergic to just about everything. Not sure if he's grown out of it but I'm guessing most of the food given to adult gorillas would low or non allergy anyway.
And yes, Julia will be greatly missed. I am distressed by the article from PETA calling Otana an 'agressive, bored, psychopath'. How horrible. He is no such thing.
Is that the same article in which PETA said something to the tune of 'we take comfort in knowing that she will not have to endure more years of misery'? It's disgusting. From what has been said on the Zoos Vic Facebook page, it seems that Otana has been reintroduced to the group.
All the Gorillas born at Melbourne seem to have these double names. It is all rather confusing. I know of no other zoo anywhere that adopts this policy with their gorillas. They just have a name...
PETA will take any opportunity to make uninformed statements to the media... and I thought they were way out of line in this instance too. T.
That is just tripe. He's a perfectly normal male, group-reared and with a good social background. I feel the fault may well have been with Julia, who isn't a normally socialised Gorilla. Although the press release talks up the positive aspects of his introduction into the group overall, its possible there have been individual difficulties they don't mention. For example, if Julia was in oestrus but wouldn't let him mate her, that would lead to a build-up of frustration and in a young male, it could easily spill over into aggression. Just speculation of course. I would not have any worry about him with the mother and baby- the fact she already has his offspring proves they have a normal relationship.
Pertinax, it's so good to see your reponse. I know Otana isn't a psychopath Does any one seriously believe MZ would introduce an angry psychopath to the group? (Other than PETA) Or that Howlett's would offer MZ a male with such qualities. He has been doing well with the group and he and Kimye, being the most recent additions and the youngest of the group, have a special bond. He is very interested in the baby. I am surprised and shocked with what happened with Julia. We can't ask for Otana's version of events can we? We can only speculate. Hopefully this will all blow over soon. I just hate to think he's being branded as some sort of killer because of all this. I haven't heard anything about any autopsy result....it would be interesting to know what injuries she sustained and whether they actually were due to a blow from him or from her hitting herself on something inside the enclosure. PETA are anti zoos (from the article I've seen here). I too would love all animals to be allowed to roam in their natural habitat but it isn't possible. I also would like domestic and farm animals to be treated better. I would like to see an end to the 200,000 plus unwanted pets that are euthanased in Australia alone simply because no one wants them. And not just animals....I would like to see the 50M or so refugees around the planet to be able to return to their homes safely. In the meantime, I'll do my best with my three critters.....or should I release from the confines of my property and let them roam and be free?
PETA are anti any animals in what they deem to be an "unnatural setting" - be that zoos or pet homes... apparently they should all be allowed to roam free and try to fend for themselves... or if they can't do that, PETA will happily kill them for you, as a life in captivity (where their every need is taken care of) is worse than death apparently. T.
IMO Peta have little knowledge(or interest in)of true animal behaviour so what they put out is just rubbish. As I said above, in their publicity Zoos do often 'talk-up' the positive aspects of introductions or groupings, presenting the main situation while leaving out or glossing over any smaller negatives. More speculation here but it may well be that Otana and Julia did not really get along.
The pygmy hippo calf has been named "Obi" meaning heart: Baby Pygmy Hippo makes a splash! | Zoos Victoria
With the recent loss of Julia, the Gorilla group is currently only 1.3+ the recent baby. I'm wondering if G.Anne will be allowed/encouraged to breed with new male Otana, or whether there are problems there too, given her background.
The Zoo's Siamang pair has bee moved from the Orang Utan exhibit to the island vacated by the Ring-tailed Lemurs over a year ago (but which used to be the Siamangs home in the less recent past). No word on why the move was required, I wonder if there were issues with the mix? Story here: Morning Concerts | Zoos Victoria
Herald Sun article about the escape No Cookies | Herald Sun MELBOURNE Zoo went into lockdown this afternoon after an orang-utan escaped his enclosure. Menyaru — also known as Malu — escaped about 3.30pm, forcing staff to restrict the movements of visitors while they recaptured him. The 11-year-old juvenile animal escaped through a hole in his enclosure’s roof, apparently using a blanket to help in the breakout. That was where he was spotted by a member of the public who alerted zoo staff. But it was not before Malu made his way to the public viewing area, where he would have had a reverse view of his enclosure - seeing his world from the point of view of zoo visitors. By about 4.30pm the orang-utan had been tranquillised. A zoo spokeswoman said Malu had been trained to hold out his arm to received needle jabs. A trainer was able to put this to good use, tranquillising him, and returning him to his usual sleeping area, where he was expected to have a long rest recovering from his adventure. It was possible he may not be on display tomorrow while his roof is repaired, the zoo said. “Eleven year-old Sumatran Orang-utan, Malu managed to exit from his exhibit and enter the public area of Melbourne Zoo this afternoon,” a Zoo spokesman said in a statement. “Melbourne Zoo staff acted quickly to lockdown the Zoo and all visitors have been safely ushered into secure areas. “Malu has been secured in an undercover area of the Zoo with Keepers and Vets on hand to assist.” Witness Justine Cowling told the Bendigo Advertiser Malu escaped by “using the blanket as leverage to break the top wire of its enclosure”. “It pulled itself up and out and walked along the roof of the enclosure,” she told the website. WHEN Menyaru the orangutan decided he’d had enough of his Melbourne Zoo enclosure yesterday, he joined an impressive lineup of simian escapologists. Menyaru, also known as Malu, apparently worked his way through a hole in the enclosure roof, showing yet again that orangutans have a special talent for escaping. One of his more celebrated predecessors was San Diego Zoo’s ‘hairy houdini’, Ken Allen, whose skills saw him earn a spot in Time Magazine’s Top 11 Zoo Escapes list. Time noted: “He never seemed to mind being led back into his enclosure - he just seemed to enjoy the challenge of finding a new way out!” Ken was the subject of a song, The Ballad of Ken Allen, which still exists on YouTube as proof that songs about orangutans don’t win Grammys. Another orangutan who made the pages of Time was Omaha Zoo’s escape artist Fu Manchu, whose skills were simply remarkable. According to Time, the orangutan staged a series of escapes using a piece of wire to pop open a door, hiding the wire between breakouts. In Adelaide in 2009, another orangutan called Karta showed amazing skills when she engineered a breakout. Karta - described by the zoo as both mischievous and inquisitive, used a stick to short-circuit an electric fence.
