Good news and I'm hoping she will do better than with 'Okanda' last time, now she has Asante and Biddy both in the group with her. This is the most stable situation she has been in since she reared her first baby, 'Matadi'. Ozala's breeding record to date; Ist birth. m. 'Matadi' mother-reared and now at Paignton. 2nd birth. f. 'N'Doki' died approx 5 months old. Possibly from malnutrition.(father Sekondi died around her birth time which obviously stressed Ozala.) 3rd birth. m. 'Okanda' removed in failing health after several months and then handraised after recovery. Sent to Stuttgart nursery. Ozala was living in a '1 to 1' situation with just the father 'Oumbi' Her plucked appearance on arms and shoulders at the time would indicate high levels of stress. 4th birth. The latest arrival. Question- is Ozala plucked this time?
So glad its true! So last time she gave birth the group was literally her in a stressd state and oumbie, ending in her rejecting okanda. Now shes in a much more stable group, with asante and biddy alongside. Ive not been to twycross recently so don't know whether asante and ozala still exhibit signs of stress but there have been no comments on here saying anything. So, dare I say it, are we finally heading towards a function gorilla group at twycross?
Pretty sure that is 'Biddy' ..., I've seen a couple of recent ones of 'Ozala' and she did look okay then. I'm sure she's a lot more secure than when 'Okanda' was born. Of course only time will tell though.
Ozala didn't reject 'Okanda,' he was taken away because of failing health (he nearly died)- I think they indicated this was due to something being wrong with her milk. My personal opinion (only that) is that this was connected with her stress levels, as indicated by her rather bald appearance at the time, something I have never seen with her before. IMO they currently have potentially the best arrangement for the Gorillas they have ever had probably- a single small group with a decent sex ratio and a mother-raised male. The only downside is that Ozala may continue to be the only breeding female.
An article on the birth with photos - Keep your paws off my baby! Zoo keepers are unable to get close to newborn gorilla because of its 16-stone protective mother | Mail Online
I was hoping someone could tell me that tbh... I'm going off pictures on Twycross's facebook which show construction of the new waterfall in that exhibit. This is the waterfall being built from recycled matierals..... such as wooden pallets.... car tyres... and other recycled bits and pieces
Someone on Facebook is saying "This is the old chimp block so is guess either the langurs or the lemur walk through." Although she was proved wrong on the guess!
Hee hee - that was me When we went last weekend they were revamping/rebuilding the green mile cages - bark, soil, sandy areas being laid, middle cage walls being removed etc. never occurred to me it could be for the leopards.
She doesn't seem to look the same as she used to anymore- greyer with shorter hair and bald patches- but not as bad as when Okanda was born- maybe she is like that all the time now. She looks like she has plenty of milk though!
Personally, ideally I would have liked to see the old green mile cages demolished, considering their great age, however, if they are being refurbished to house the leopards then I will reserve my judgement until I have seen it, the exterior of the green mile didn't actually look to bad as it had glass viewing added in more recent times, also I suppose having the leopards in there will be better than just having a grass lawn if they have no immediate plans to do anything else with this area. Regarding the relocation of the chimps into the three houses, I am of coarse pleased that this has happened, better late than never, although this task has been, in a way, been made easier doing this now than in previous years, I estimate that there are ten to twelve chimps less currently living at Twycross than what there were ten to twelve years ago.
