![]() If you buy thru these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.Īfter I got an email from Lucie, someone I used to work with at the Gulf Breeze Zoo, I got all reminiscent and decided to The Zoo’s website to see what’s going on there these days. ![]() They don’t mate as frequently or as long as chimpanzees or orangutans.This post may contain affiliate links. “Of the great apes, they have the least interest in sexual behavior. “Gorillas, by nature, are not sexual animals,” he said. She may teach him.”Īnother problem, Jay Gould said, is that gorillas traditionally are not great lovers. “She is 31 years old and doesn’t get along with her peers,” Quinn said. “If he is a fertile male, he can be taught by an experienced female.” ZOO president Quinn said he has such a female in mind, an “older woman” from a Denver zoo. “The straw we have to clutch to is that he can learn on the fly,” Gould said. Ken Gould said the best method may be to expose Colossus to an experienced female. One idea, Gould said, is to use videos or project life-sized images on the wall to teach Colossus the facts of life. One big problem is that gorillas learn how to mate by watching other gorillas, a part of growing up that was denied to Colossus. He tested positive for fertility in 1982 and will be tested again before being moved. The true coup, however, would be to get Colossus to breed. If they get along, they eventually would be allowed to play together. They will be separated from Colossus by bars, allowing them to smell and touch each other. As time goes by, he should venture outside more often.Įventually, other gorillas will be brought in. Gould said Colossus probably will take time to adapt to his new environment, perhaps spending most of his time indoors after first arriving. “I am looking for a shield to take with me.” “When I go to observe him in New Hampshire, I plan to dress appropriately,” Gould said. The gorilla is supposed to be gentle, however. The gorilla is exhibiting abnormal behavior because of his isolation, Gould said, such as his tendency to throw feces at people. They also plan to go to New Hampshire and observe Colossus in his current home. Gould, who is no relation to Ken Gould, said he and some of his students already have gone to the New Orleans zoo to study gorilla behavior. That job will go to Jay Gould, an associate professor of psychology at the University of West Florida, and to about 15 of his students. When Colossus arrives, he will have to be closely monitored to see how he adapts to his new environment. That idea was axed, Quinn said, because Federal Express said it did not want to give the impression it was in the animal-moving business. Pat Quinn, the president of THE ZOO, said he approached Federal Express about the idea, thinking that the company could have a promotional field day by advertising that it could deliver anything overnight, even a 600-pound gorilla. The other possibility is tranquilizing Colossus and flying him to Florida, but finding a flight isn’t easy. Zoo officials want to avoid a long and stressful truck ride. His genetic input would be a valuable addition to the limited gene pool of gorillas bred in captivity.īefore there will be any little Colossuses, though, there is a lot of work to be done.įor starters, moving a 600-pound gorilla is no simple task. The lessons entail teaching Colossus how to mate, possibly using videos or an experienced female gorilla as teaching tools. There is a possibility that Colossus will turn into an eminently good gorilla.” “We know enough now to know that is not true in all cases. “Years ago people would say he is useless,” said Ken Gould, a primate specialist with the Yerkes Primate Research Center of Emory University in Atlanta. ![]() Zoo officials and primate experts also are excited about a unique challenge posed by Colossus: They want to see if it is possible to take a 21- year-old blank slate and teach him how to be a gorilla once again.
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