Successful integration of new silverback gorilla at Basel Zoo

Successful integration of new silverback gorilla at Basel Zoo Keystone-SDA

A new silverback gorilla named Yeba has moved into Basel Zoo. The integration with the existing gorilla group in the ape house has so far been successful, the zoo announced.

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The 13-year-old Yeba comes from Thoiry Zoo in France. He left the bachelor group there on October 17 and was brought to Basel. He succeeds the silverback M’Tongé, who died in June this year as a result of a fox tapeworm infection.

The group has been united since October 25 and accepts Yeba as the dominant male. On the day he arrived, the female gorilla Makala took an interest in him and they later mated, as curator Adrian Baumeyer told the media.

In the days that followed, Yeba also got to know the other members of the group. It took several attempts before he was accepted by all the females. There was teasing, squabbling and biting at the beginning, but these were harmless, explained Baumeyer. Human intervention is counterproductive in these situations, as the process of the apes getting to know each other would then have to start all over again.

Group cohesion

Yeba is leading a group for the first time. In addition to Makala, his new family in Basel also includes the female gorillas Joas, Adira and Qaziba as well as the neutered male Mobali. Yeba also gets on well with the latter. He did not allow himself to be provoked by Mobali when he splashed water at him, said Baumeyer.

It will be some time before the new silverback definitely establishes himself as the leader. Yeba has long since got used to the public behind the glass panes. Nevertheless, there is still a safety distance with a barrier in the ape house so that onlookers do not stick to the panes and distract the gorilla group too much during the integration process, as the curator went on to say.

A silverback is responsible for the cohesion of the gorilla group. If the leader dies, the group disintegrates within two days.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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