Gorillas at the Sydney zoo

[tony manttan]

more pics from my day at the zoo
the big male will be replaced soon as he is the father of most of the others

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[Asher Kelman]

more pics from my day at the zoo
the big male will be replaced soon as he is the father of most of the others

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Hi Tony,

I love these primates. Your pictures show great respect for them and some investment in time. Kudos to you! What's the weather like there? Do they have anything for them to climb on?

They're pretty docile but can actually be ferocious if pissed off! In the wild, the young adult silverback males will separate off at an increasing distance from the parental troop until he's recruited some females over time and becomes the boss and has mating rights. The original male is naturally attached to his females and the second lot of female offspring migrate away after about 8 years too as they merit no close guarding by the top silverback and that way they become important and protected by a strong male of their choice. It seems really un-natural to remove the original male from his world.

Instead, they need to have a habitat large enough for new troops to form around new males.

Asher

 

[tony manttan]

it be good to keep him but they are replacing him to bring new blood to the group and he to be sent to another zoo to join their breeding program the group is about 10 in number with fairly large area there are things to climb on too