ALL THAT GLITTERS ISN’T…..GORILLA POO?!
Primate keepers at Blackpool Zoo came up with a sparkling idea to help them measure reproductive hormone levels in one of their female gorillas.
Njema, who is 18 and came to Blackpool in 2002, has never had any babies despite being young and healthy and mating with resident silverback Bukavu several times.
Specialist zoo staff are using child friendly glitter mixed with her favourite yogurt as a means of being able to identify her poo in order to be able to send it off to specialist labs for analysis.
It is part of the Blackpool Zoo’s policy to have as little human contact with the animals as possible and not to remove them from the group for veterinary checks unless it is absolutely necessary.
Peter Dillingham, Animal Manager at Blackpool Zoo, said: “Njema is the youngest of the two females that are yet to give birth at Blackpool and as we have seen her mating with Bukavu on numerous occasions. She is also displaying the behaviours you would expect from a gorilla that is cycling normally and we would have hoped to have had a positive pregnancy test by now.
“We know that Bukavu is fertile as he fathered the first baby Western Lowland Gorilla ever to be born at Blackpool Zoo, who will turn two in May.
“After consulting with the European Endangered Species Programme we decided to commence investigations.
“Surprisingly, you can get a lot of information about hormone levels from a gorilla’s faeces but we needed to be able to tell which was Njema’s.
“Our first idea was sweet corn, which worked until our gorillas realised it is just as edible the second time round!
“We spoke to our onsite pre-school Nursery – the A-Zoo Nursery – to see if they had any child friendly glitter and, after agreeing with our vet and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums that this would be a safe method to use, we started to mix it with Njema’s daily yogurt.
“It proved a success and we are currently collecting all the glittery faeces to send off to labs for testing. We are very much looking forward to finding out the results!”
Blackpool Zoo is home to five Western Lowland Gorillas. Bukavi the silverback is 15 and Miliki, aged 17 is the mother of Meisie, who will turn two in May. Njema is Miliki’s half-sister and is a year older at 18. Kena, the remaining female is 31 years old and the daughter of Snowflake, the world’s first and only ever albino Western Lowland Gorilla.
ENDS
Pictures show: Glitter girl Njema
More information about Blackpool Zoo
Blackpool Zoo’s visitor numbers continue to hit record highs in 2011, with the year to date being hailed as the busiest in the zoo’s 39 year history.
Blackpool Zoo is owned by ParquesReunidos, the second largest European leisure parks operator and a leading world-wide player. The zoo is home to over 1,500 mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates set amidst thirty-two acres of mature woodland and lakes.
The zoo’s signature animals include elephants, giraffes, big cats, gorillas, orang-utans, sea lions, primates, zebras and kangaroos. It is open every day of the year, apart from Christmas Day, from 10am.
For further information please contact:
Paula Holden, Julie Hackett or Denise Dawson at ICG on 01772 679383 paula@icgonline.co.ukjulie@icgonline.co.uk or denise@icgonline.co.uk
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