After our four new gorillas (The Taiping 4) were moved to the gorilla enclosure on the 24th of April, they first spent a little over a week to get used to the new environment and the proximity of 10 other gorillas. The two groups were watching each other a lot and they seemed eager to meet each other.

Last monday we started the introduction and in the past days we have tried different combinations of gorillas. So far this has gone really well. Arno was the first to be introduced to the Taiping 4 and he is already part of the group, his biggest friend being Tinu.

This morning we also let Nyango and Akiba meet with the new arrivals. Akiba was having a ball with all four new gorillas, climbing on their backs, wrestling with them and running around like crazy.

Nyango is not that playful and she was just sitting in a corner like nothing interesting was going on. After a while Tinu joined her, touching her every now and then. They were just sitting there like two old ladies, drinking tea. In the meantime Izan, the new male, was trying to get some attention from Nyango, poking her in the belly and than run away. Nyango just ignored him.

At some point Abby, one of the new females, became aggressive towards Nyango. Suddenly the group split up again in the ‘old’ gorillas and the ‘new’ gorillas. We had to separate them for a short while to bring back the peace. After that they were okay again and in the afternoon they were all just lazy.

We are very happy with the introduction so far. We are not there yet – the silverback Chella will have to be introduced to the new gorillas soon – but none of us expected it to go as smooth as it has gone until now. All together we have 16 gorillas now. They are by far our most expensive animals, because they have a very specific diet (see Felix’s blog on Afromomum). We are very greatful for all the support we get from our readers and more money is always very welcome!

Best wishes,
Simone de Vries
Assistant Project Manager

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