Melbourne Zoo Rigo the gorilla.....

A bit of sad news from the UK, one of Rigo's two grandchildren- 4 yearold female 'Ya Pili' at Jersey has died. With 'Ya Kwanza' having had a testicle removed, and only breeding with the one female Kahilli, the continuance of Rigo's line currently depends on his grandson, 11 year old 'Mapema'. This male is due to arrive at Duisburg Zoo in Germany in a few weeks where there will be three females waitring for him- they include Safiri from Taronga Park...

 

That's terrible. She's so young. Do you know the details of what happened?

 

Apparently they think she contracted a virus- she became progressivly sick over a few days then died. Exact details not known yet. Jersey have never lost a gorilla in a situation like that before...

I have high hopes for Mapema though- provided he transports to Duisburg safely- he's probably a better bet for breeding now than either his father or grandfather, though I still don't discount either of them at this stage...

 

I've had a look on the web and there's a fair bit of info.
Thanks for that.

 

Sad news in Melbourne today. Betsy, who recently turned 50, was euthanased yesterday (6th Nov). She's been a real fighter over the last years.

 

There's a thread for her on the general forum too. I was sorry to hear about her death but she had a very long life.

 

Ozzonians,

Any news with regard to how Rigo is holding up? Is he interacting favourably with the females? Any breeding behaviour of note?

 

sorry, Jelle....nothing new on the romantic front for Rigo....he's just cruising.

 

This isn't specifically about Rigo, more about the females, to try and clarify why there's nothing much happening at present.

1. Do you know which females were selected for mating (hopefully)with him?

2. As I believe the females apart from Jumatano, have been on contraceptives in recent years, how long have the selected 'partners' been taken off contraceptives and are they are showing normal oestrus cycles again yet? (it can take a very long while in some instances)

3. If there's no mating it might be either because the females haven't re-established their Oestrus cycles or because they are experiencing oestrus but he's not showing any interest in them.

4 Any information might help explain why there's been no mating activity yet.
.

 

1. G- Anne and Julia (ex Jersey) were supposed to have their implants removed and I'm pretty sure this has been done. Jumatano (7yo) was supposed to go to Jersey but I think she's staying on a bit longer to hopefully mate with Rigo.

Yuska is being kept on an implant. When she Yakini (caesarian) the walls of her uterus were very thin apparently and it was decided back then not to risk another pregnancy. Also, she's in her 30's now and the risk it high.

2, 3 & 4. Not sure about this but I'll try and find out and i'll let you know.


Not sure how the loss of Betsy affects the group. I don't know if they just move on or if they grieve for a while.

 

melbourne certainly seems to have bred their fair share of gorillas for the EEP, but according to one primate keeper melbourne"can't get any more female gorillas from europe". what thats supposed to mean i don't know.

but if it is difficult for australia to aquire new female gorillas then it probably wise that melboune (and taronga) hang on to a couple of younger females for the time being. especially since they have unrelated mates here.

 

I've heard a variation on your information and that is that we're going to have to rely on animals in the region in the future which is possibly why there was push to get Rigo in with the girls....I haven't actually heard we can't any animals for overseas but it ties in.

I'm not sure how much is fact, or speculation or just Chinese whispers but there are no short term plans to bring in any more gorillas.

I've also heard that after all the dramas with elephants there's a fear that

a. we won't get government permission to bring another animal in
b. there will protesters and animal liberationists making a fuss.

It seems increasingly that it's more about politics than actual animal welfare or breeding or preservation.

Also, things are always changing depending on who is in charge. Melbourne Zoo's CEO has recently resigned so depending on who takes over we may be hearing different 'whispers' in future.

 

Did you realise that 'Safira'- one of the young females sent from Taronga/Adelaide is now at Duisburg Zoo in Germany, where her potential partner now is 'Mapema' who is Rigo's grandson! So hypothetically at least, she could have joined the Melbourne group for mating with Rigo as the genetic outcome of that mating would be virtually the same.

HOWEVER, given the current question marks hanging over Rigo at present, it is probably a good thing she did go to Europe, at least in Duisburg she will almost certainly breed with Mapema, as he is the best socialised (being mother-reared) of the three males in Rigo's line (Rigo'- Ya Kwanza- Mapema) so at present he's the best bet to carry Rigo's line further..

 

Thanks Zookiah.

I didn't know that Jumatano was supposed to go to Jersey. That would be because Melbourne received two females from Jersey, and only one(Bambuti) has been sent in return. However, I'm very anti- this! At Jersey Ya Kwanza has THREE non-breeding females in his group and has already showed-with Bambuti- that even a much younger female doesn't seem to elicit his interest. So while YK is group leader at Jersey, Jumatano's breeding potential would almost certainly be wasted there too.

So I'm glad she will stay in the Melbourne group for the while. I think she and Julia represent the best chances for breeding with Rigo. Even if that fails it would be better if Jumatano didn't go to Jersey, and with their existing Gorilla situation Jersey would be wrong to accept her. It would be okay though if they DO something about changing males....

 

I'm sure the keepers would tell you they do get over it.....

 

i wonder why we would be getting shafted for gorillas here in australia if it really is the case. we have only two zoos and both are pretty good at breeding them (one maybe more so than the other ). both have sent plenty of gorillas (plenty of males AND females) back into the EEP.

and i wonder why melbourne seems to have such an exclusive deal with jersey, mixing their bloodlines so much, yet taronga and melbourne do not exchange gorillas at all?!!

all quite confusing really.

 

My guess is that the australian zoos aren`t getting any new gorilla females at the moment because there is no need for new females. Taronga has 3 breeding females who all have infants at the moments and the blood line of the silverback is well represented, so why introducing any new females? Same for Melbourne, they have 4 females of whom 3 are ready for breeding with Rigo. Introducing more females can cause social problems in both well-established groups and I see no need for that. And the EEP guidelines recommand not to keep more then 3 adult females in one group to keep the number of surplus males as small as possible. No shafting of Australian zoos here if you ask me.

 

I think that's because a connection was initially made when Mzuri/YK went to Jersey in exchange for Motaba, which continued when Jersey sent G,Anne & Julia to Melbourne, and later Bambuti was sent in exchange to Jersey (and a big waste of time that's been so far....)

I too would prefer to see Jumatano stay in Australia. Jersey do NOT need her, either now or in the future... There isn't any need for her to go to Europe at all really... If the projected matings with Rigo fail to materialise, then I would prefer to see her join Taronga's group, perhaps in a straight exchange for a Taronga-bred female.

 

actually they have 3 breeding age females, the youngest of which was apparently originally suposed to go to europe. hopefully that puts things in a slightly different context.

also, not being able to secure female gorillas from europe in the future are rumours a few of us have heard so we are questioning why that would be the case. and i said if true, it certainly sounds like someone is giving us a shafting! becuse of course the time will arise when its going to be desireable for us to exchange females with european zoos, since we are both a part and valuable contributors to the EEP gorilla program.

 

I think that is quite a sensible idea, but presumably the recommendation is directed toward the formation of new groups, or to prevent existing groups adding yet more females. For example, Apenheul have about eight females in their group and I can't see them reducing them much further- the size of their group(formerly up to 20 animals) has always been its biggest attraction.

Still, that could be good news for Melbourne's 'Jumatano'. As Jersey already have FOUR breeding age females in their group (its not their fault three of them don't breed, its YK's ) they shouldn't be adding any more if they follow these guidelines.