G
Guest
Guest
Yep, I plan to see this bloke after his quarantine. It'll give me a reason to leave Yorkshire in January 
. - Perdita
Unlucky in love, a gorilla returns home to S.F. - Patricia Yollin, SF Chronicle, Dec. 18, 2004
A 23-year-old ape from Buffalo has returned to the San Francisco Zoo, his boyhood home, as the new king of Gorilla World. In early January, he'll be liberated from quarantine and become the exhibit's top dog, filling a vacancy created in May when Kubi, its longtime patriarch, died. Since then, the four females have been left to their own devices. Anything, or nothing, could happen. "They've been on their own without a male for a while," said gorilla keeper Mary Kerr. "They might have gotten the independent gene and not want to be dominated anymore. We'll see when he comes over whether his animal magnetism overcomes their independent streak."
The gorilla from upstate New York, who answers to OJ, was born in July 1981 at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, moved to San Francisco in November 1982 and shuffled off to Buffalo in March 1987, where he was officially renamed "Rich" because the city's Rich Products Corp. sponsored him. Gerry Aquilina, general curator of the Buffalo Zoo, said the staff still kept calling him OJ -- and it had nothing to do with citrus products or O.J. Simpson, the onetime Buffalo Bill running back acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife after a lengthy trial in Los Angeles. As it happens, the beast is the son of Oscar and Jonesy II. The ape will acquire yet another moniker at some point, said Dr. Freeland Dunker, head vet at the San Francisco Zoo. "OJ is kind of a problematic name in California," Aquilina said.
Dunker said the Western lowland gorilla had arrived at the zoo Dec. 6 after a three-day journey by truck and must complete a 30-day quarantine before he is anesthetized and moved into Gorilla World. "When he wakes up, he'll be back to where he was 17 years ago," Kerr said. "Zura and Bwang and Pogo were all here. They all look the same. OJ, however, will not look the same." That's because he's silver now -- an adult male silverback, to be precise. "He's a great gorilla," Aquilina said. "And we've known a lot of gorillas here. He's an extremely personable animal. He's a showman. He's not overweight. He's muscular. He has a stance that's unbelievable. He stands proud."
In Buffalo, Aquilina said, OJ was everyone's favorite gorilla -- everyone, that is, except for the zoo's four female apes, all of whom preferred Omega, a silverback in his late 40s. "He's kind of a short, dumpy old guy, but they love him," Aquilina said. "I don't know why, but they do." As a result, OJ has never had sex.
In San Francisco, his half-sibling Zura, also 23, and Bwang, 24, will be put on the pill, although not 46-year-old Pogo, who is too old to care. However, 6-year-old Nneka is likely to become a mate -- though her mother, Bwang, might help raise any grandchildren and could herself breed with OJ someday. "We're hoping there won't be the sexual frustration he had in Buffalo," Kerr said. "Seventeen years of frustration -- sometimes they give up."
Kerr, who has worked at the zoo since 1978, knew OJ when he was young. "He was so full of energy and brave and bold and playful," she said. "And Kubi was his favorite." Now, he's Kubi's heir apparent, thanks to a nationwide search conducted by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, according to the matchmaking rules of its Species Survival Plan. The association offered the San Francisco Zoo a choice of three gorillas. OJ won easily: one rival was a wife beater, and the other was over the hill.
OJ weighs 550 pounds and is in excellent health, Aquilina said. He is missing a section of bowel, however, which was removed years ago after he developed a common intestinal infection. Dunker said OJ had been selected partly for his temperament. "He seemed like a good animal when he was here before," Dunker said. "He wasn't aggressive with the girls."
Hand-raised in Columbus, OJ likes to interact with people. "He seeks public attention," Aquilina said. "He was a personality here." Like most zoo animals, OJ could choose whether to be on display or out of the limelight. "He was the kind of gorilla who was always on exhibit," Aquilina said. "He always wanted to know what was going on and who was doing what." Besides having females who might actually be interested in him, OJ also will get to explore the outdoors, a major lifestyle upgrade from Buffalo's inside enclosure.
Gorillas typically live anywhere from 30 to 40 years in captivity, with males on the lower end. Kubi was 29 when he died May 18 after lung surgery 11 days earlier. The four females went through a grieving period, Kerr said. They vocalized their distress, became inactive and kept looking for him. "Then things got calmer," she said. "Without a silverback, there's not a stimulus. There's not a center of the group. You find them sitting. For female gorillas, most of their life is about strategizing to get the attention of a male."
Introductions will be gradual, not unlike an arranged marriage, and are expected to begin on Jan. 6, when OJ's quarantine ends. As far as sex, OJ might be unclear on the concept, though he used to watch Kubi and Bwang copulate. "He appears to have all the equipment for it," Dunker said.
What a face!
. - Perdita Unlucky in love, a gorilla returns home to S.F. - Patricia Yollin, SF Chronicle, Dec. 18, 2004
A 23-year-old ape from Buffalo has returned to the San Francisco Zoo, his boyhood home, as the new king of Gorilla World. In early January, he'll be liberated from quarantine and become the exhibit's top dog, filling a vacancy created in May when Kubi, its longtime patriarch, died. Since then, the four females have been left to their own devices. Anything, or nothing, could happen. "They've been on their own without a male for a while," said gorilla keeper Mary Kerr. "They might have gotten the independent gene and not want to be dominated anymore. We'll see when he comes over whether his animal magnetism overcomes their independent streak."
The gorilla from upstate New York, who answers to OJ, was born in July 1981 at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, moved to San Francisco in November 1982 and shuffled off to Buffalo in March 1987, where he was officially renamed "Rich" because the city's Rich Products Corp. sponsored him. Gerry Aquilina, general curator of the Buffalo Zoo, said the staff still kept calling him OJ -- and it had nothing to do with citrus products or O.J. Simpson, the onetime Buffalo Bill running back acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife after a lengthy trial in Los Angeles. As it happens, the beast is the son of Oscar and Jonesy II. The ape will acquire yet another moniker at some point, said Dr. Freeland Dunker, head vet at the San Francisco Zoo. "OJ is kind of a problematic name in California," Aquilina said.
Dunker said the Western lowland gorilla had arrived at the zoo Dec. 6 after a three-day journey by truck and must complete a 30-day quarantine before he is anesthetized and moved into Gorilla World. "When he wakes up, he'll be back to where he was 17 years ago," Kerr said. "Zura and Bwang and Pogo were all here. They all look the same. OJ, however, will not look the same." That's because he's silver now -- an adult male silverback, to be precise. "He's a great gorilla," Aquilina said. "And we've known a lot of gorillas here. He's an extremely personable animal. He's a showman. He's not overweight. He's muscular. He has a stance that's unbelievable. He stands proud."
In Buffalo, Aquilina said, OJ was everyone's favorite gorilla -- everyone, that is, except for the zoo's four female apes, all of whom preferred Omega, a silverback in his late 40s. "He's kind of a short, dumpy old guy, but they love him," Aquilina said. "I don't know why, but they do." As a result, OJ has never had sex.
In San Francisco, his half-sibling Zura, also 23, and Bwang, 24, will be put on the pill, although not 46-year-old Pogo, who is too old to care. However, 6-year-old Nneka is likely to become a mate -- though her mother, Bwang, might help raise any grandchildren and could herself breed with OJ someday. "We're hoping there won't be the sexual frustration he had in Buffalo," Kerr said. "Seventeen years of frustration -- sometimes they give up."
Kerr, who has worked at the zoo since 1978, knew OJ when he was young. "He was so full of energy and brave and bold and playful," she said. "And Kubi was his favorite." Now, he's Kubi's heir apparent, thanks to a nationwide search conducted by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, according to the matchmaking rules of its Species Survival Plan. The association offered the San Francisco Zoo a choice of three gorillas. OJ won easily: one rival was a wife beater, and the other was over the hill.
OJ weighs 550 pounds and is in excellent health, Aquilina said. He is missing a section of bowel, however, which was removed years ago after he developed a common intestinal infection. Dunker said OJ had been selected partly for his temperament. "He seemed like a good animal when he was here before," Dunker said. "He wasn't aggressive with the girls."
Hand-raised in Columbus, OJ likes to interact with people. "He seeks public attention," Aquilina said. "He was a personality here." Like most zoo animals, OJ could choose whether to be on display or out of the limelight. "He was the kind of gorilla who was always on exhibit," Aquilina said. "He always wanted to know what was going on and who was doing what." Besides having females who might actually be interested in him, OJ also will get to explore the outdoors, a major lifestyle upgrade from Buffalo's inside enclosure.
Gorillas typically live anywhere from 30 to 40 years in captivity, with males on the lower end. Kubi was 29 when he died May 18 after lung surgery 11 days earlier. The four females went through a grieving period, Kerr said. They vocalized their distress, became inactive and kept looking for him. "Then things got calmer," she said. "Without a silverback, there's not a stimulus. There's not a center of the group. You find them sitting. For female gorillas, most of their life is about strategizing to get the attention of a male."
Introductions will be gradual, not unlike an arranged marriage, and are expected to begin on Jan. 6, when OJ's quarantine ends. As far as sex, OJ might be unclear on the concept, though he used to watch Kubi and Bwang copulate. "He appears to have all the equipment for it," Dunker said.
What a face!
