Mzuri – Melbourne’s first ever IVF Gorilla to be born in captivity has passed away, just shy of his 33rd birthday.
Mzuri was born on 3rd June, 1984, a son to both Rigo and Yuska. His name meaning “beautiful” was chosen out of tens of thousands, after the zoo held a “Name our Gorilla” competition. To the public his media name was Mzuri, but in reality, his real name was Ya Kwanza (meaning ‘The First’).
Melbourne Zoo is one of 150 zoological institutions worldwide participating in a survival breeding program for Western Lowland Gorilla’s. The population within these participating zoos totals 856 Gorilla’s.
Melbourne’s Gorilla breeding program began in 1980 when a pair, “Buluman and Betsy” arrived from Taronga Zoo. Buluman proved to be sterile so an IVF project was started.
At the time when Yuska was selected to be artificially inseminated, the zoo had one male Silverback Gorilla, “Rigo” and five females “Yuska, G-Anne, Julia, MBeli and Johari”.
Father Rigo, was reintegrated into the gorilla group at the Melbourne Zoo in 2007, after spending 16 solitary years in his own enclosure. He had been kept away from the other gorillas as his aggressive tendencies made integration with others of his kind difficult. Rigo was considered to be one of the most genetically valuable gorillas in captivity in the world.
Due to being raised in captivity, some animals do not have the skills required to raise their young. Mzuri had to be hand-raised by zoo staff, a practice that is avoided, wherever possible, to avoid humanising the animals. Yuska needed help to look after her firstborn, so senior primate keeper Ulli Weiher took on a co-mothering role. It was vital that they perfected the balance between human care and natural life so that Mzuri was easily integrated back with the other gorillas.
Mzuri became a media sensation and a Melbourne Zoo crowd favourite.
Melbournians’ watched with pride as Mzuri passed infancy and matured into adulthood. All zookeepers who had the pleasure of working with Mzuri found him to be loveable, affectionate and highly intelligent and it was for this reason, he was the perfect choice to be shipped off in June 1993, to become the leader of his own gorilla group at the renowned Jersey Zoo. Melbourne Zoo received hundreds of letters of protest to the transfer, and many expressions of sorrow from the public.
Jersey Zoological Park has 25 acre’s of parkland on the island of Jersey in the English Channel. It is famous for its breeding group of Western Lowland Gorillas.
At around the same time Mzuri left for Jersey, we received in return a young male gorilla, who was only a few months older the Mzuri. Named Motaba, he is the sire of the current group of young gorillas at Melbourne Zoo.
During Mzuris’ time at Jersey, he fathered two gorillas. When his breeding years in Jersey ended, he was moved into a bachelor group of Gorillas in France.
It’s interesting to note, that whenever Melbourne Zoo Keeper’s traveled to Jersey to check on Mzuris’ progress, he recognised them immediately, so it was quite evident, he never forgot his past.
On 16 May, 2017, A Melbourne Zoo spokesperson confirmed Mzuri died from cardiac arrest under general anaesthetic.
Gorillas are native to Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The species is classed as ‘critically endangered’, with numbers in the wild rapidly falling.
Mzuri is survived by Yuska (his mother) who is seeing out her years at Melbourne Zoo. Father ‘Rigo’ sadly passed away in 18th July, 2013, of heart failure also.
