Gorilla Goings-On

[Mighty_Emperor]

Gorillas go apeshit - now where is the "I'll get my coa

7 Gorillas Escape From Enclosure At Ohio Zoo

Door Accidentally Left Open

POSTED: 12:29 pm EDT July 4, 2004

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Seven gorillas escaped from their enclosure at the Columbus Zoo and spent a few hours wandering free in the ape house.

The zoo had closed for the day Saturday when keepers noticed a gorilla loose in the house outside of the gorilla enclosure.

A door had been accidentally left open, allowing the animals to roam areas usually off limits to them.

The gorillas weren't able to leave the ape house building, but zoo officials say the group managed to have a wild time scattering supplies.

About three hours after the escape, the gorillas were coaxed back into their outdoor habitat.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/3491910/detail.html

Emps

 

[KeyserXSoze]

Koko calls the dentist

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/08/08/koko.health.ap/index.html

WOODSIDE, California (AP) -- When Koko the gorilla used the American Sign Language gesture for pain and pointed to her mouth, 12 specialists, including three dentists, sprang into action.

The result? Her first full medical examination in about 20 years, an extracted tooth and a clean bill of health.

About a month ago, Koko, a 300-plus-pound ape who became famous for mastering more than 1,000 signs, began telling her handlers at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside she was in pain. They quickly constructed a pain chart, offering Koko a scale from one to 10.

When Koko started pointing to nine or 10 too often, a dental appointment was made. And because anesthesia would be involved, her handlers used the opportunity to give Koko a head-to-toe exam.

"She's quite articulate," volunteer Johnpaul Slater said. "She'll tell us how bad she's feeling, how bad the pain is. It looked like it was time to do something."

Twelve specialists -- a Stanford cardiologist, three anesthesiologists, three dentists, an ear and throat specialist, two veterinarians, a gastroenterologist and a gynecologist -- volunteered to help.

"It's not often that we get to work on a celebrity," said Dr. David Liang, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford. "Probably, Koko is less demanding."

The team came to Koko Saturday, bringing portable X-ray and ultrasound machines. They set up shop at her "apartment," which looks like a remodeled box car, complete with a makeshift toilet, television, DVD player and lots of toys.

After four hours of tests -- including a colonoscopy, gynecological exam, dental work, X-rays, and ultrasounds -- doctors pronounced her fit.

Koko, who celebrated her 33rd birthday July 4, was due for a checkup. While gorillas in captivity are known to live into their 50s, they are susceptible to heart disease and a thickening of the arteries.

Koko and Ndume, her partner of 11 years (he doesn't 'speak'), have been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby, and the doctors thought the checkup could let them know whether she had any biological problems preventing it. She doesn't.

Her teacher, Francine Patterson, was at her side when the anesthesiologist prepared to put her under in the morning, and apparently Koko asked to meet her specialists.

They crowded around her, and Koko, who plays favorites, asked one woman wearing red to come closer. The woman handed her a business card, which Koko promptly ate.

Otherwise, Koko was calm, Liang said.

The Gorilla Foundation has studied gorilla intelligence by teaching American Sign Language to Koko and another gorilla, Michael, who died in 2000.

 

[Kondoru]

Isnt this the same Koko who said that she preffered playing with her kitten to surfing the internet?

 

[MrRING]

Massa: Gorilla in the City

Ever heard of the movie Buddy, with Rene Russo? It's based on a true story, the tale of Gertrude Lintz who raised the gorilla Massa for four years in her apartment. From THIS REVIEW

Buddy is loosely based on a true story (although it takes considerable liberties with the facts). In 1931, a wealthy Brooklyn eccentric named Gertrude Lintz (played by Rene Russo) took a sick baby gorilla into her care, and, with the help of her husband, Bill (Robbie Coltrane), and her assistant, Dick Kroener (Alan Cumming), nursed him back to health. She kept the animal, named Massa in real life but changed to Buddy for the movie, for the next four years. Eventually, when he became too large and dangerous for a domestic environment, Gertrude donated him to the Philadelphia zoo, where he lived until 1984, setting a record for captive gorilla longevity.

And it turns out Massa is still famous for the captivity record. From FIND A GRAVE:

Famous Animal. Massa, at 54, was captivities longest living lowland gorilla. Born in West Africa he was shipped to the United States as an infant and raised by a wealthy Brooklyn eccentric named Gertrude Lintz. She raised and cared for Massa for the next four years. The 1997 movie "Buddy" was based on the real life Massa. In 1935 Massa was donated and moved to America's oldest zoo, the Philadelphia Zoological Garden, he had become too large and dangerous to remain in a domestic environment. In a show of his strength during the mid 1950s while being fed he ripped off an arm of his everyday handler. Well into the twentieth century a zoo exhibited many animals including gorillas in small, iron-barred, concrete-floored cells. In this solitary environment Massa lived for 50 years. In his prime he weighed 400 pounds (180 kilos) and had the strength of at least 16 men. On December 30, 1954, the Philadelphia Zoo helded a birthday party for the now balding, greying and weight losing Massa. He was fed a special diet (vitamins, vegetables and fruit) cake while a dixieland band played songs like 'Aba Dabba Honeymoon' at his party in the primate house. That night during his sleep Massa died of a stroke. A postmortem examination revealed that he had suffered two recent heart attacksm

But I do wonder if Gertrude made him wear clothes and treated him like a kid like the film portrays....

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Gorillas Pay Last Respects to Leader


Dec 8, 9:50 AM (ET)

BROOKFIELD, Ill. (AP) - After Babs the gorilla died at age 30, keepers at Brookfield Zoo decided to allow surviving gorillas to mourn the most influential female in their social family.

One by one Tuesday, the gorillas filed into the Tropic World building where Babs' body lay, arms outstretched. Curator Melinda Pruett Jones called it a "gorilla wake."

Babs' 9-year-old daughter, Bana, was the first to approach the body, followed by Babs' mother, Alpha, 43. Bana sat down, held Babs' hand and stroked her mother's stomach. Then she sat down and laid her head on Babs' arm.

"It was like they used to do in the exhibit, lying side by side on the mountain," keeper Betty Green said. "Then Bana rose up and looked at us and moved to Babs' other side, tucked her head under the other arm, and stroked Babs' stomach."

Other gorillas also approached Babs and gently sniffed the body. Only the silverback male leader, Ramar, 36, stayed away.

Keepers said the display wasn't surprising.

"She was the dominant female of the group, the peacekeeper, the disciplinarian, the one who kept things in a harmonious state," Pruett Jones said.

Koola, 9, brought her infant daughter, whom Babs had showered with attention since her birth in August.

"Koola inspected Babs' mouth for a while, then held her baby close to Babs, like she loved to do the last couple months, letting Babs admire her," Green said.

Babs had an incurable kidney condition and was euthanized Tuesday. Keepers had recently seen a videotape of a gorilla wake at the Columbus, Ohio, zoo and decided they would do the same for Babs. Gorillas in the wild have been known to pay respects to their dead, keepers said.

"I had a headache for the rest of the day after all the tears I cried watching them," Green said.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Lawsuit Claims Bizarre Ritual With Koko The Gorilla

POSTED: 10:51 am PST February 18, 2005
UPDATED: 1:19 pm PST February 18, 2005

SAN MATEO -- A legal battle has erupted at the San Mateo home of Koko, the sign-language talking ape, where two former employees of the gorilla's caretaker -- the Gorilla Foundation -- claim in a $1 million lawsuit that they were ordered to expose their breasts to the 33-year-old female simian in attempt to bond with her.

Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller, both of San Francisco, filed a lawsuit earlier this week in San Mateo County Superior Court claiming wrongful termination because they failed to obey the order. The pair had previously filed a claim for the same reason with California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

The two women were fired Aug. 6, 2004. In the suit, Alperin, 47, is seeking $719,830 in damages while Keller, 48, is asking for $366,192.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the suit includes numerous claims against Foundation president Francine Patterson.

"On at least two incidents in mid-to-late June 2004, Patterson intensely pressured Keller to expose herself to Koko while they were working outside where other employees could potentially view Keller's naked body," the paper quoted from the suit.

Todd Roberts, a partner in the Redwood City office of Ropers Majeski Kohn Bentley, which is representing the Gorilla Foundation, told the paper his firm was still reviewing the suit.

"But I can tell you that based on our review of the factual allegations and characterizations in the complaint, we deny those allegations," Roberts said.

Patterson has not issued a statement about the suit.

The Gorilla Foundation, which has existed since 1976 to promote the preservation and protection of gorillas, is best known for Koko, who was born at the San Francisco Zoo on July 4, 1971.

Since her early years, linguists have trained Koko to use sign language. The foundation claims she has a vocabulary of more than 1,000 words in American Sign Language, but many scientists dispute that claim.

--------------------
Copyright 2005 by KTVU.com.

Source

 

[TheQuixote]

This is extremely weird... even more fun with Koko:

Women say nono to Koko, sue for suggestions
By Tom Leupold - CORRESPONDENT

REDWOOD CITY — Two former employees of the Gorilla Foundation are suing because, they say, the foundation expected them to show their breasts to Koko — a famous gorilla who supposedly has a nipple fetish.
Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller are seeking more than $1 million from the foundation and its president, Francine "Penny" Patterson.

Koko, an adult female lowland gorilla who lives at the foundation's Woodside compound, has made international headlines over her handlers' claim that she can communicate with humans in sign language.

According to the lawsuit, Patterson told Alperin that exposing her breasts to the gorilla was a normal part of forming a personal bond with the animal. The suit claims Patterson said she regularly exposed herself to the gorilla and if Alperin and Keller "did not indulge Koko's nipple fetish, their employment would suffer."

Alperin and Keller's attorney, Stephen Sommers, said his clients question Patterson's interpretation of Koko's hand signals and believe the gorilla isn't really requesting a peek at human nipples.

"We believe that Koko is not asking that and, even if it was, there's no reason to indulge it," Sommers said.

According to Sommers, Keller, who is proficient in sign language, has doubts about whether Koko is communicating in American Sign Language at all.

The Gorilla Foundation claims the complaint is being sensationalized for publicity purposes.

"We unequivocally deny these allegations and are confident that this case lacks merit. We intend to try this case in the San Mateo County court and not in the press," the GorillaFoundation's attorney, Todd Roberts, said in a statement.

Alperin and Keller, who were friends before beginning work at the foundation, say the Gorilla Foundation provided a hostile work environment. Starting in May 2004 and on two other occasions thereafter, Alperin was asked to remove her clothing for the gorilla's enjoyment, the complaint said. During the visit with Koko, Patterson allegedly told the gorilla, "Oh, yes, Koko, Nancy has nipples. Nancy can show you her nipples."

Keller claims to have received similar treatment and that Patterson said, "Koko, you see my nipples all the time. You are probably bored with my nipples. You need to see new nipples. I will turn my back so Kendra can show you her nipples."

The complaint says the episodes illustrate that Alperin and Keller were pressured to perform "bizarre sexual acts" and bestiality with Koko.

The friends, who were employed as research assistants/gorilla caregivers, also claim they were forced to work in unhealthy conditions, had to regularly work through breaks and were not paid for overtime.

Among the allegations are that there were rats in the food preparation area, that gorilla urine was stored in the same refrigerator as employee food and that a compost heap was attracting vermin. Alperin and Keller complained to California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which cited the foundation for the compost heap, though at the time of the inspection, no gorilla urine was found in the refrigerator.

The two employees were fired Aug. 6, the day after the inspection, Sommers said.

Sommers said he had no plans to call for testimony from Koko to corroborate his clients' stories.

The lawyer said he was engaged in a dialogue with the Gorilla Foundation on this unusual complaint.

"It's a very strange case," Sommers said.

The Argus

 

[Mal_Adjusted]

Law suit over gorilla nipple fetish

Greets

Law suit over gorilla nipple fetish

AP in San Francisco
Monday February 21, 2005
The Guardian

Two women who worked as caretakers for a gorilla that can use sign language are suing their former employers because they claim they were pressured to expose their breasts as a way of bonding with Koko, their charge.

Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller say they were subjected to sexual discrimination and then wrongfully dismissed after reporting health and safety violations at Koko's home in Woodside, in the south San Francisco Bay area.

The lawsuit against the Gorilla Foundation and its president, Francine "Penny" Patterson, Koko's trainer, was filed this week. They want damages of more than $1m.

The foundation has denied the allegations.

Ms Alperin and Ms Keller were hired last year to help look after Koko, who has a vocabulary of more than 1,000 signs. The suit says Ms Patterson pressured them to expose their breasts to the 33-year-old female gorilla several times - sometimes where other employees could see them. They refused.

They were told that if they "did not indulge Koko's nipple fetish, their employment with the Gorilla Foundation would suffer", the lawsuit claims.

Once Ms Patterson allegedly said: "Koko, you see my nipples all the time. You are probably bored with my nipples. You need to see new nipples."

The two also said the Woodside facility had unsanitary and unsafe conditions, including rodents in the food preparation area.

They complained to the Californian health and safety authorities, and were fired a day after inspectors visited the site, they said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1418996,00.html

mal

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Ex-worker is third to sue over gorilla

Woman says she had to show her breasts to Koko

Patricia Yollin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, February 26, 2005


Another former employee of the Gorilla Foundation has filed a lawsuit saying that she was repeatedly forced to partially disrobe in front of Koko the "talking" ape.

Redwood City resident Iris Rivera, 39, revealed her breasts to Koko seven or eight times in a two-month period last summer, according to a suit filed in San Mateo County Superior Court this week -- seven days after a similar legal claim from two San Francisco women who also had worked for the internationally known Woodside nonprofit.

Unlike Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller, who ignored foundation President Francine Patterson's pressure to expose themselves, Rivera acquiesced.

"She took it as a disagreeable duty of her employment," said Rivera's lawyer, Michael Adams, in a phone interview.

Redwood City attorney Todd Roberts, representing the Gorilla Foundation, said, "We're confident there's no merit to either of these lawsuits. We are not going to dignify the allegations with a response."

He said the foundation's position was exactly the same as the statement posted on its Web site in regard to last week's lawsuit.

"We unequivocally deny the hurtful allegations of the lawsuit and intend to vigorously defend the case through trial, if necessary," the statement said in part.

Rivera was hired as an administrative assistant in February 2004 but wasn't introduced to Koko until June.

"To Rivera's shock and surprise, Patterson informed Rivera that Koko was communicating by sign language that 'she wants to see your nipples,' " the suit alleged. "When Rivera expressed her incredulity at the apparent request, Patterson pressured Rivera to comply, telling her, 'Everyone does it for her around here' and telling Koko to 'calm down' and 'just give her time.'

"Rivera then reluctantly raised her T-shirt briefly to reveal her bra, but Rivera admonished her that Koko 'wants to see the nipples (italicized in the suit).' Rivera grudgingly complied. Patterson then exclaimed, 'Oh look, Koko, she has big nipples.' "

The sessions ended in August, Adams said, after what he described as a particularly unsettling encounter.

One of Koko's handlers told Rivera that the loquacious primate -- best- known for her purported 1,000-word American Sign Language vocabulary -- indicated that she wanted to be alone with Rivera.

"My client was getting some rudimentary signing from Koko," he said by phone from his Redwood City office. " 'Let down your hair. Lie down on the floor. Show your breasts again. Close your eyes.' My client peeped out and saw Koko slowly kneel down and start squatting and breathing heavily. My client got spooked and ran out of the trailer."

Although Koko was confined to a wire cage, her behavior was suggestive to the point that Rivera didn't want to wait around and find out what might come next, Adams said.

And she refused to go near the 33-year-old lowland gorilla again, Adams added.

On previous occasions, Adams said, Patterson would watch Rivera expose herself to Koko. And the gorilla would take it all in, the lawyer said, "with wide-open, staring eyes."

Rivera quit on Jan. 13 and has found office work elsewhere, Adams said.

The suit alleges sexual and disability discrimination, invasion of privacy and Labor Code violations. It asks for unspecified general, special and punitive damages, and also names Patterson and Gary Stanley, director of educational technology at the foundation. Stanley, reached by phone, referred all questions to lawyer Roberts.

The suit says Rivera was treated for an ectopic pregnancy last fall, missed several weeks of work and returned in November under "medical limitations" that Stanley ignored.

Rivera developed panic attacks and an anxiety disorder, prompting Stanley to harass and ridicule her, the suit also claims.

In addition, it alleges unpaid overtime and refusal to allow meal and rest breaks.

Source

 

[ramonmercado]

Gorillas branch out into tool use

Gorillas branch out into tool use

Wild gorillas seen using walking sticks and plank bridges.
Michael Hopkin


Gorillas have been spotted using tools in the wild for the first time, after decades of observation.

Researchers in the Congolese jungle saw one of the great apes using a branch to test the depth of a pond, and another using the trunk of a small shrub as an improvised bridge.

Unlike chimpanzees, which use a range of tricks to get food, gorillas rely more on size and strength: they shell nuts with their teeth, or smash open termite mounds with their fists.

But not needing tools to get food does not mean that gorillas aren't smart enough to use them. Captive western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are known to use tools in captivity, for example. And mountain gorillas (G. beringei) use a variety of different techniques which, although not involving tools, are clever ways of stripping leaves from hard-to-reach plants.

The new observations show that western gorillas have the mental wherewithal to use tools to solve other problems too, such as navigating through an ominously deep-looking pond, says Thomas Breuer of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, and a member of the team that spotted the innovative behaviour.

Deep waters

From their vantage point in a clearing at Mbeli Bai in the northern Republic of Congo, Breuer and his colleagues spotted a female gorilla, called Leah, studying a pond before venturing a few steps into it. She then turned back and grabbed a handy metre-long branch from the bank, which she proceeded to use as a 'walking stick', repeatedly prodding the pond's bottom with it. After apparently assessing the depth of the pond with each prod, she eventually moved almost 10 metres from the shore.

"It was clear to us that she was testing the depth of the water," says Breuer. "The way she did it was incredible because it was so similar to the way that we humans solve the problem of deep water." And deep water probably is a danger to gorillas, Breuer adds. "I've never seen a gorilla swim; I would assume that they can't," he says.

The researchers saw another female, Efi, using the trunk of a dead shrub as a bridge to cross swampy ground. Efi ripped the 1.3-metre-long, 5-centimetre-wide section from the ground and leant on it like a crutch while she trawled the marshy ground for food. Then she laid it down like a plank and strode over it.

Two of a kind

So far, only two of the roughly 140 gorillas who visit the clearing have been spotted using these tricks, says Breuer, whose observations are reported in PLoS Biology1. "But it wouldn't surprise me if there are other cases," he says. "Gorillas are incredibly smart."

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"This is remarkable," comments Andrew Whiten, who studies animal tool use at the University of St Andrews, UK. "Most scientists had given up on seeing it. Gorillas had almost been written off as tool users in the wild."

But given that we have waited so long to see it, tool use might be the preserve of only the most quick-witted gorillas, Whiten speculates. "It is striking how innovative these behaviours are, and how intelligent they are in that sense. But most gorillas are probably not in the same category as chimpanzees."
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050926/ ... 26-14.html

References
Breuer, T., Ndoundou-Hockemba M., Fishlock V., PLoS Biology, 3. e380 (2005).

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

This is great - I saw the piccies on the news earlier and it looks impressive.

Another report:

Captured on film: wild gorilla using a walking stick

David Adam, environment correspondent
Friday September 30, 2005
The Guardian

It is an unnerving sensation that anyone who has waded into unfamiliar water will know well: the ground is slippy and uneven and before you know it you can be in up to your waist.

So when Leah the gorilla found herself in difficulty attempting to cross a swampy pool left by elephants in northern Congo, she grabbed a branch and used it as a walking stick. In doing so, she became the first wild gorilla seen using any kind of tool in decades of wildlife research.

Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society, who captured the incident on film and publishes the first pictures today in the journal Public Library of Science Biology, said: "This is a truly astounding discovery. Tool use in wild apes provides us with valuable insights into the evolution of our own species."

The scientists were watching a group of wild western gorillas last October from an observation platform near a forest clearing in the Nouabale-Ndoki national park. After staring intently at the pool from the water's edge Leah took a few tentative steps. The water quickly became waist deep so she grabbed the branch and used it to prod the water, as if testing its depth. She then moved further into the pool, leaned on the branch and used it as a walking stick.

All great apes use tools in captivity, but only chimpanzees and orang-utans had been seen with them in the wild. Biologists had suggested gorillas did not need to because they are strong enough to get food by force. While chimps use hammers to crack nuts and sticks to dig out termites, gorillas break nuts with their teeth and smash termite mounds with their fists.

The scientists also saw a second gorilla using a branch as a tool, this time laying it over swampy ground as a bridge and walking across.

www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1581392,00.html

-----------
See also these threads on non-human tool use and culture:

Chimps:
www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3689

Monkeys:
www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8372

Cetaceans:
www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12747

Crows:
www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4805

 

[ramonmercado]

Scientists Study Gorilla Who Uses Tools

Scientists Study Gorilla Who Uses Tools
By ANJAN SUNDARAM, Associated Press Writer
21 minutes ago



GOMA, Congo - An infant gorilla in a Congo sanctuary is smashing palm nuts between two rocks to extract oil, surprising and intriguing scientists who say they have much to learn about what gorillas can do — and about what that says about evolution.

It had been thought that the premeditated use of stones and sticks to accomplish a task like cracking nuts was restricted to humans and the smaller, more agile chimpanzees. Then in late September, keepers at a Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International sanctuary in this eastern Congo city saw 2 1/2-year-old female gorilla Itebero smashing palm nuts between rocks in the "hammer and anvil" technique, considered among the most complex tool use behaviors.

"This is a surprising finding, given what we know about tool use in gorillas," Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund primatologist Patrick Mehlman said earlier this month at his Goma office.

Mehlman said that the finding indicates that complex tool use may not be a trait developed only by humans and chimpanzees, and could have its origins earlier in the evolutionary chain, among ancestors common to both humans and our closest relatives the great apes.

Gottfried Hohmann, an expert on primates at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, told The Associated Press by phone that Itebero's behavior "means that gorillas have a higher level of understanding of their environment than we thought."

Itebero has been living in the sanctuary for a year, ever since she was confiscated by local authorities from poachers who had been trying to sell her. Mehlman said he believed Itebero, named for a place near where she was found, started cracking nuts spontaneously and had not been influenced by the time she has spent among humans.

Alecia Lilly, a primatologist in Rwanda who worked for over a decade with a colony of captive gorillas in South Carolina and has seen Itebero at work, said most learning among gorillas occurs through imitation. But Itebero had no instructor, alone in her sanctuary with her keeper.

"Itebero is remarkably proficient at cracking nuts," Lilly told The Associated Press by phone. "It takes most chimpanzees many years to reach similar levels of proficiency."

Itebero's actions led some scientists to believe that gorillas in the wild might exhibit complex tool use as well — though no one has ever reported such behavior. Earlier this year, researchers reported observing gorillas in the wild in the neighboring Republic of Congo's rain forests using simple tools, according to a team led by Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo.

In an e-mail message Monday from the Republic of Congo's Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Breuer said that in 10 years of observation, his team had seen only two instances of tool use among gorillas — in one a stick was used to test the depth of a pond and in another a small tree trunk was used for support and as a bridge.

Breuer said it was difficult to compare the behaviors his team had seen in the wild with the more complex behavior exhibited by Itebero, who had had contact with humans. But Breuer said Itebero's action "clearly shows that gorillas have the capability to use sophisticated tools even if they do not — or rarely — do this.

"Very often the use of tools is triggered by certain needs and it seems that gorillas have only little needs to use tools in the wild," Breuer said.

In Goma, Mehlman said scientists have not observed gorillas in wild settings for as long as they have chimpanzees.

Breuer said more research was important, but "what we really need to do is to better protect the gorillas and chimps in Central Africa."

"Everybody is excited about such spectacular observations but we should hurry up with our efforts to guarantee them a future," Breuer added. "Certainly many people are impressed by their intelligence and similarities with our own species but there are still a lot of people who eat the apes. We should do everything to stop this.

Scientists estimate that as few as 5,000 Grauer's gorillas, also called eastern lowland gorillas, may remain in the wild, although no comprehensive census of their population has been conducted since the end of Congo's civil war in 2002.

Conflict in Congo saw the decline of many wild species, as thousands of armed groups from Congo, Rwanda and Burundi ran amok in the forests and killed animals for food.

Gorillas Here

 

[ramonmercado]

New reality show with gorillas

New reality show with gorillas
Fri Nov 4, 8:27 AM ET

Big Brother is about to become monkey business.

Inspired by the television reality show, Czech public radio and television broadcasters have announced that on November 7, they will begin airing a new show that will follow the lives of four gorillas living together at the Prague Zoo.

The show, to be called Odhaleni (Discovery), will see the primates -- one male, two females and one baby -- battle it out for a grand prize of 12 melons, a delicacy for gorillas.

"What the gorillas do is up to them," said Prague Zoo gorilla trainer Marek Zdansky.

Czech Television will set up 15 cameras to monitor the gorillas, and viewers and listeners of the show will be able to vote via phone messages (SMS) for their favorite contestant.

Proceeds from the show will go to helping save the wild gorilla population in Africa, organizers said.

Gorilla TV

 

[ted_bloody_maul]

Women sacked 'for not baring breasts to gorilla'

Women sacked 'for not baring breasts to gorilla'

Two former caretakers who refused to bare their breasts to a 300lb (136kg) sign language-speaking gorilla named Koko have settled a lawsuit against the Gorilla Foundation. Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller said that they were dismissed after they refused to expose their bosoms and reported sanitary problems at Koko's home in Woodside, south of San Francisco. They were told that if they "did not indulge Koko's nipple fetish, their employment with the Gorilla Foundation would suffer", their claim alleged. Ms Alperin and Ms Keller said that Francine Patterson, Koko's caretaker and president of the Gorilla Foundation, pushed them to bare their breasts to bond with the 33-year-old female simian. The foundation has denied the allegations. The settlement's terms were not disclosed. (AP)

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/ ... 77,00.html

 

[Yithian]

If the 300lb primate wants breasts, then breasts she must have!

Politically Correct Zookeeping gone mad...

 

[ramonmercado]

Cool dudes.

Two gorillas have been photographed posing for a relaxed selfie with the rangers who rescued them as babies.

The image was taken at a gorilla orphanage in Virunga National Park, DR Congo, where the animals were raised after poachers killed their parents. The park's deputy director told BBC Newsday that they had learned to imitate their carers, who have looked after them since they were found. The gorillas, he added, think of the rangers as their parents. Innocent Mburanumwe, deputy director of Virunga, told the BBC that that the gorillas' mothers were both killed in July 2007. The gorillas were just two and four months old at the time.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48011113

 

[Min Bannister]

Amazing photo! Those rangers are heroic. Very dangerous job.

 

[Lord Lucan]

Cool dudes.

Two gorillas have been photographed posing for a relaxed selfie with the rangers who rescued them as babies.

The image was taken at a gorilla orphanage in Virunga National Park, DR Congo, where the animals were raised after poachers killed their parents. The park's deputy director told BBC Newsday that they had learned to imitate their carers, who have looked after them since they were found. The gorillas, he added, think of the rangers as their parents. Innocent Mburanumwe, deputy director of Virunga, told the BBC that that the gorillas' mothers were both killed in July 2007. The gorillas were just two and four months old at the time.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48011113

View attachment 16455

What a brilliant image but the sad fact that the job description of an anti poaching ranger even exists is a shame upon us all.

 

[ramonmercado]

Vid at link.

A clever gorilla has figured out how to climb through an electric fence at Burgers’ Zoo in the Netherlands without getting zapped.

Once on the other side, the young gorilla casually tapped on the glass separating the enclosure from the tourists as if to say “hey” to the visitors on the other side. After wandering around in what had previously been a forbidden zone, the gorilla used its ninja skills to slide back through the fence in the same way without getting zapped.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elec...cid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__042319

 

[ramonmercado]

Give them full rights now before a Simian Bolivar arises and enslaves us.

A bold claim about gorilla societies is drawing mixed reviews. Great apes, humans’ closest evolutionary relatives, were thought to lack our social complexity. Chimpanzees, for example, form only small bands that are aggressive toward strangers. But based on years of watching gorillas gather in food-rich forest clearings, a team of scientists has concluded the apes have hierarchical societies similar to those of humans, perhaps to help them exploit rich troves of food.

The finding, reported in the current issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, challenges the prevailing notion that such sophisticated societies evolved relatively recently, after humans split from chimpanzees. Instead, these researchers say, the origins of such social systems extend at least as far back as the common ancestor of humans and gorillas, but were lost in chimpanzees.

The group has presented “a pretty convincing case for a hierarchical social structure in gorillas,” says Richard Connor, a cetacean biologist and expert on dolphin society at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth. But because other primates that are not great apes—notably baboons, geladas, and colobine monkeys—show similar hierarchies, he’s not surprised they have turned up in gorillas, too.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/gorillas-have-developed-humanlike-social-structure-controversial-study-suggests?utm_campaign=news_daily_2019-07-17

 

[Xanatic*]

It's been 16 years. Do we know if the Aspinall daughter survived being sexed by a gorilla?

 

[Mouldy13]

It's been 16 years. Do we know if the Aspinall daughter survived being sexed by a gorilla?

Maybe she's still in there with them?

 

[ramonmercado]

Famed gorilla is killed, four held by police. Hmm, where's Max?

One of Uganda's best known mountain gorillas, Rafiki, has been killed.

Four men have been arrested, who face a life sentence or a fine of $5.4m (£4.3m) if found guilty of killing an endangered species. Investigations showed that Rafiki was killed by a sharp object that penetrated his internal organs. There are just over 1,000 mountain gorillas in existence and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) described Rafiki's death as a "very big blow". The silverback, believed to be around 25 years old when he died in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, was the leader of a group of 17 mountain gorillas.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53024073

 

[hunck]

Nigeria's gorillas: World's rarest great ape pictured with babies

Only 300 Cross River gorillas are known to live in the wild, making them the most endangered sub-species.

But the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) says this sighting raises hopes that the animals at risk of extinction are actually reproducing.

WCS in Nigeria, an international non-governmental organisation, said the pictures were captured by camera traps in the Mbe mountains.

Cross River gorillas are naturally wary of humans and have subtle distinctions from other species - such as smaller heads, longer arms and lighter-coloured hair.

They were known to live in some mountainous areas in Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon but are rarely seen.

The WCS says it is working closely with a community organisation, the Conservation Association of the Mbe Mountains, as well as authorities in Nigeria's Cross River state to protect the primates.

 

[ramonmercado]

Famed gorilla is killed, four held by police. Hmm, where's Max?

One of Uganda's best known mountain gorillas, Rafiki, has been killed.

Four men have been arrested, who face a life sentence or a fine of $5.4m (£4.3m) if found guilty of killing an endangered species. Investigations showed that Rafiki was killed by a sharp object that penetrated his internal organs. There are just over 1,000 mountain gorillas in existence and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) described Rafiki's death as a "very big blow". The silverback, believed to be around 25 years old when he died in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, was the leader of a group of 17 mountain gorillas.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53024073

Update.

Killer of Rafiki, Uganda's rare silverback mountain gorilla, jailed
3 hours ago

The killer of one of Uganda's best known mountain gorillas, Rafiki, has been jailed for 11 years. Felix Byamukama pleaded guilty to illegally entering a protected area and killing a gorilla. Byamukama had said the gorilla attacked him and he killed Rafiki in self defence, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

Mountain gorillas are endangered with just over 1,000 in existence and the UWA said "Rafiki has received justice".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53592216

 

[ramonmercado]

A gorilla not a guerrilla, it being Belfast it's important to clarify these things.

IMAGE SOURCE, BELFAST ZOO/PA MEDIA Image caption, Delilah was given a birthday box filled with vegetables to celebrate her 60th birthday

The UK's oldest gorilla has celebrated her 60th birthday at Belfast Zoo.

Delilah was part of the first gorilla troop at the zoo when it arrived in the city in 1992. For more than 30 years, she has been delighting visitors at Belfast Zoo, and even became a small-screen star in the 1970s as part of the BBC's Animal Magic with Johnny Morris.
Zoo keeper Simon Beasley said the western lowland gorilla still has a lot of character despite her age.

"Delilah is a dream animal to work with and will engage with the keepers and enjoys when you talk to her during her breakfast in the morning," he said.

As Europe's second oldest ape, she enjoys additional support from her keepers, like Demi Cummings.

"Delilah receives a special diet of root vegetables and a milky drink with added supplements to ease her aches and pains," she said. "She has also lost some of her teeth and, therefore, receives extra food which has been carefully steamed."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-66894807