Canarian Weekly
11-01-2013, 13:20
LORO PARQUE has been celebrating the birthdays of Pole Pole and Noel, two of the six gorillas living there since 1992.
Pole Pole is now 23 and comes fromMunich’s Tierpark Zoo inMunich, as does its cohabitant, Noel, who is three years older.
And they celebrated their birthdays in style, thanks to their keepers, who prepared two special cakes, made with fruit and vegetables.
In addition, various wooden objects and surprises were introduced to their exhibition to enable them experience a new adventure.
It’s all part of the enrichment activities for the mammals to enrich the development of the different animal species.
Both Pole Pole and Noel are westernMidlandgorillas. who arrived at Loro Parque in the Nineties as part of the European Programme (EEP).
This protects animals in danger of extinction, such as the Midland gorillas, which live in the jungles and forests of equatorialAfrica.
The worsening state of conservation of this species has made captive breeding efforts become much more important now.
Fortunately the population, managed in a co-ordinated way by European zoos (EEP), has a good number of examples (420 in 2008), of which three-quarters were born in captivity.
The singles group of Loro Parque is a key player in the captive breeding programme inEurope. That’s because it allows greater genetic exchange and helps to manage family groups in other zoos better.
Gorillas are the largest living primates, and the animal species with which humans have, after chimpanzees, a closer relationship.
In fact, the percentage difference between the DNA of gorilla and human is only 1.6%.
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/gorillas-enjoy-birthday-feast/)
Pole Pole is now 23 and comes fromMunich’s Tierpark Zoo inMunich, as does its cohabitant, Noel, who is three years older.
And they celebrated their birthdays in style, thanks to their keepers, who prepared two special cakes, made with fruit and vegetables.
In addition, various wooden objects and surprises were introduced to their exhibition to enable them experience a new adventure.
It’s all part of the enrichment activities for the mammals to enrich the development of the different animal species.
Both Pole Pole and Noel are westernMidlandgorillas. who arrived at Loro Parque in the Nineties as part of the European Programme (EEP).
This protects animals in danger of extinction, such as the Midland gorillas, which live in the jungles and forests of equatorialAfrica.
The worsening state of conservation of this species has made captive breeding efforts become much more important now.
Fortunately the population, managed in a co-ordinated way by European zoos (EEP), has a good number of examples (420 in 2008), of which three-quarters were born in captivity.
The singles group of Loro Parque is a key player in the captive breeding programme inEurope. That’s because it allows greater genetic exchange and helps to manage family groups in other zoos better.
Gorillas are the largest living primates, and the animal species with which humans have, after chimpanzees, a closer relationship.
In fact, the percentage difference between the DNA of gorilla and human is only 1.6%.
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/gorillas-enjoy-birthday-feast/)