I personally think its great when zoos do that with naming an animal according to the culture of the geographic location where its from, I think it is so much more creative than something like "Johnny" or "Princess". It is impressive that they are doing this, but I don't know if I like the idea of BH naming the gorillas with indigenous Brazilian names. Don't you think it might be far better to name them with Afro-Brazilian names from Afro Brazilian folklore or Candomblé for example given that the gorilla is an African species and that African culture is really sort of one of the main cultural influences on this country? Yes, I think the Aspinall parks do name their gorillas with African names from African cultures though "Lou Lou" sounds a bit more Western / Anglo to me, lol.
Oh yes, naming them something like "Exu" or "Ogum" (afrobrazilian names) would be also very creative too, but I think it's equally representative to alternate the origin of the names as they already are. One of the purposes of representing Brazil in these gorillas is exactly because of the possibility of some of them to be transfered to somewhere else in the future, so they reapresent the country they were born in. Quite nice IMO... "Lu Lu" would be more western like, but "Lou Lou" maybe wouldn't be that much... It always seemed a little african to me, but now I'm in doubt .
Yes, I actually really like the idea of naming animals after the Orixas. I suppose you are right though that if they are transferred elsewhere they will represent Brazil and it is quite a nice idea I agree. But I'll admit that I still prefer culturally African names for zoo animals that are African species .
Oh yes, I agree a bit. I also don't like that much when I see, for example, brazilian animals with unitedstathan/european names being kept in other countries... And I really apreciate when I see one of these with a slightly brazilian name being kept in other parts of the world. At least, as I said, they alternate the origin of the names, so many of them will still receive african names... Curiously, now that you mentioned the issue of the afrobrazilian culture, I associated it to the female african elephant that was born here in BH and is called "Axé", ironically. Nice that they had this idea at the time.
I think "Axé" is a superb name for an African elephant and kudos to her keeper for giving her that name. I also think that "Exu" would make an excellent name for a mandrill, guenon or baboon, "Ogun" for an African lion or chimp, "Erinle" for an African painted dog and "Yemoja" / "Yemenga" for a hippo.
Yes, "Axé" is a great name, and such a coincidence that you were suggesting afrobrazilian names. At the time she was born (1987), the city's public schools searched for nice names they could give for the first elephant to be ever born in the continent, so they sent it to the zoo, wich added a ballot box in front of the exhibit so that visitors could vote, and after all, "Axé" was the winner. My father remembers having voted at the time (he voted for "Axé" too). He was already an adult, but still apreciated a lot visiting the zoo. Yeah, I really like these suggestions you mentioned. "Exu" for a mandrill is my favourite. They are really majestic animals that fit with majestic names. A fun fact is that BH's last mandrill was named "Palawan". Absolutely no idea why, once it's the name of an island on the philippines...
I think its great to give visitors the chance to vote for the name of the animal and very cool that "Axé" was chosen. By the way where is "Axé" today ? Yes, I think "Exu" for a mandrill or guenon would be a good name but to indulge in a bit of nerdiness considering that mainly Hamydryas baboons are kept here in Brazil / Latin America and that these are from North Africa and from a different cultural region I don't think that name would fit for that species (Ancient Egyptian or Ethiopian names would though). That is such an odd name for a mandrill, I don't know why anyone would call it that, lol.
"Axé" is still living at BH zoo, in the same exhibit with her mother "Beré". Check them out on this picture I've posted: Female african-elephants "Beré"(mother) and "Axé"(daughter) - Belo Horizonte zoo - ZooChat The zoo also keeps a male african elephant called "Jamba", in a separated exhibit: "Jamba", the elephant, at Belo Horizonte zoo - ZooChat Yeah, mandrills seem to be facing a phase out from the country's zoos. I don't know any institution that breeds them here... For hamadryas baboons, indeed the egyptian/ethiopian names would be great. The mythologies would give us awesome options.
Great to hear that they are still alive ! Yes, I think thats true when it comes to mandrills but with the hamadryas baboons they are going to be around for a long time. To go back to the subject of the pampas cat, do you know anything about the pampas cats kept at Brasilia zoo ?
Yes, it's great that they are alive. Holding three healthy specimens of african elephant, I think it would be worth it for BH to return to breed them. Yeah, the hamadryas will probably be around. Brasília still breeds a group of them if I'm not wrong. About the pampas cats at Brasília, I saw two of them when I went there. Not sure if they still breed the animals or bred them in the past, but probably did, once I know they have published studies about the reproductive behaviour of the species, as well as included it in their storage of genetic material.
I didn't take great pictures of them during my visit as I was in a hurry, but their exhibit is quite nice.
Thanks for sharing these shots @David Matos Mendes ! It looks like quite a decent enclosure ! I'm pretty sure that they have bred them in the past (maybe in the late 2000's or early 2010's ?), but will have to see if I can find out online.
Here is an old video news story of the birth / successful breeding of the pampas cat at BH zoo : and a more recent arrival of a cub at an IBAMA center in Goiânia state : Importance of ex-situ programmes for species (in Portuguese) :
Great videos! The first from BH zoo is noticing the birth of the first pampas cat born here in BH (at least from the recent lineage) this way it is "Aré", right? Also, "Instituto onça pintada" is a great institution. I've watched some of their other videos too.
Yes, it is. The zoo is called bioparque M'bopicuá, and is ruled by zoochat user @Juancho , if I'm not wrong. Great information, but this thread is mostly for brazilian zoos, actually (although it would be nice to create one to talk about the breeding and keeping of this species in institutions in other countries in the future).
Yes, that is definitely "Aré" in the video . Totally agree, a great institute and very good with outreach and raising awareness of Brazilian biodiversity and conservation.
Yes, as @David Matos Mendes points out Bioparque M'Bopicuá is a zoo / wildlife park owned by @Juancho. This is a thread about pampas cats in Brazilian zoos but I'm glad you mentioned the work being done with the ex-situ conservation of the species at Bioparque as I find it quite inspiring
