ZSL London Zoo Sliverback Gorilla Now at London Zoo

New male Gorilla arrived at ZSL and is in holding out of view of the public.

 

And the lucky winner being (which silverback from where)?

IMO: the best news for ZSL gorilla exhibit yet.

 

Fantastic news! Pertinax will be pleased.

 

Great News! Yeboah has finally arrived and hopefully the group will now become stable once again.
Fantastic News.

 

It is yeboah from somewhere in France anyone know? He hasn't a silver back yet mind though that shouldn't take too long.

 

He is from La Boissière Du Doré zoo, near Nantes. Hopefully all we go well

 

Great news - hope it all works out well for them. I wonder when he'll be on display ?

 

Fantastic news to finally have him over here!

 

Just got back from the zoo, Yeboah arrived this morning from La Boissiere Du Dore Zoo and Mjukuu has been spending a lot of time with him. Apparently the girls were quite agitated this morning with the presence of a lot of visitors, so the 'indoor' viewing areas had mostly been roped off. There were cameras as well as a remotely-operated video system (rigged in the den) set up and being used by the BBC.
The girls have all taken well to him (especially Mjukuu) and it is apparently hoped that they will be let out together tomorrow. Today was thought to be a possibility, but as of closing time, they were still separated.

 

Indeed I am...

He will quickly become the UK's most famous Gorilla- simply because he is London's male...

 

Very True Pertinax! Wonder if he is big enough to fit Guys shoes
Hopefully the group will go on in leaps and bounds now.

 

Just a pity there wasn't a suitable male available who was completely unrelated to any of the females

 

He certainly will be, and to the dismay of some forum members here about all the attention he's getting.

Lets hope in a couple of years time we will have babies at Blackpool, Twycross and London!

And a couple more at Chessington.

 

It is unfortunate- it demonstrates the need for new bloodlines. e.g. from the American population. Maybe they will exchange 'Effie' in due course for another female(e.g.Blackpool?).

(Its worth noting that none of the Port Lympne males are related to any of London's three females- but ZSL and Howletts don't exchange...)

 

Yes, Yeboah completes the 'trio' of new males which have arrived this year.

Potentially Chessington could have bred from three or even four females, not just the one, but the others are currently on contraceptives.

 

I think I'll Have to pay a visit to London Zoo soon, I've been waiting for Yeboah to arrive. Last time I went Bobby was still there.
I suppose hopefully Boulas will complete the quartet !!
Actually wern't Belfast going to exchange Bikira? Maybe they could swap with London for Effie.

 

1. Its just a few days short of a year since Bobby died.

2. I'm wondering, now that 'Matadi' has been integrated with the two old females at Twycross, whether the Boulas transfer will still go ahead.

3. Bikira x Effie would be okay. So too would a swap with Blackpool- particularly Kena (Kena & Effie have similar histories, both have bred but not raised offspring, so both zoos would get a similar animal to the one they have now.)

 

I would be keen on this swap too.

Re PL gorillas: I do hope the current EEP coordinator can manage some transfers into the European population. Genetically, you are right they should exchange some SSP / EEP wise.

 

Genetically it would be good to exchange Effie with another female from a UK zoo - but not for Effie herself, I fear. She lived in Berlin for a long time, then she was moved to Leipzig, but that didn`t work out and it must have been a really stressful time for her there, because she fought with the silverback. Then she was moved to London and it worked ok with Bobby, but he died, and now she is exposed to ANOTHER silverback - no. 4 in just a few years. If she and Yeboah come along ok, I don`t think it would be in her best interest to be moved again; that`s very stressful and gorillas are sensitive animals that should not be moved around like furniture.

 

Good to hear that London now have their male. When I was there in September you could see just how directionless the girls were without a silverback. It shows how group structure is just as important as enclosure design and diet. Good te hear they are all getting on well. Very promising.