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Pertinax · 31-03-2007, 11:48 PM

yes, but it still seems very difficult to achieve successfully with Gorillas. Melbourne's Mzuri was the first ever in the World and I'm not sure there have been any successful since? Jersey Zoo also tried to use this procedure recently with Mzuri himself, and the female Bambuti(also from Melbourne) as they don't mate either, but it failed.

My guess is London will try this if natural mating doesn't happen with Bobby/Effi. A very experienced keeper once told me you can tell within a couple of months if two newly introduced gorillas have any potential as breeders or not- if not, after that its just so much wasted time. Bobby/Effi are well matched for age, he's 23, she's 14. The other London female is Zaire(33, born Jersey Zoo) they say she is infertile now though I'm not convinced...

Its a great pity AI isn't more reliable in Gorillas, there are still several old non-breeding wild caught males with no offspring dotted around European Zoos, their genes would be very valuable but can't be utilised.

31-03-2007, 11:48 PM	#13 (permalink)
Pertinax Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: england Posts: 4,353	yes, but it still seems very difficult to achieve successfully with Gorillas. Melbourne's Mzuri was the first ever in the World and I'm not sure there have been any successful since? Jersey Zoo also tried to use this procedure recently with Mzuri himself, and the female Bambuti(also from Melbourne) as they don't mate either, but it failed. My guess is London will try this if natural mating doesn't happen with Bobby/Effi. A very experienced keeper once told me you can tell within a couple of months if two newly introduced gorillas have any potential as breeders or not- if not, after that its just so much wasted time. Bobby/Effi are well matched for age, he's 23, she's 14. The other London female is Zaire(33, born Jersey Zoo) they say she is infertile now though I'm not convinced... Its a great pity AI isn't more reliable in Gorillas, there are still several old non-breeding wild caught males with no offspring dotted around European Zoos, their genes would be very valuable but can't be utilised.