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KF5JRV > TODAY 22.12.18 13:25l 47 Lines 2390 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 27523_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - Dec 22
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<VE2PKT<N3HYM<NS2B<KF5JRV
Sent: 181222/1215Z 27523@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.17
On this day in 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo enters the world at the
Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity.
Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla
whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter of
Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who
were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo’s birth, gorillas
found at zoos were caught in the wild, often by brutal means. In order
to capture a gorilla when it was young and therefore still small enough
to handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and
other family members.
Gorillas are peaceful, intelligent animals, native to Africa, who live
in small groups led by one adult male, known as a silverback. There are
three subspecies of gorilla: western lowland, eastern lowland and
mountain. The subspecies are similar and the majority of gorillas in
captivity are western lowland. Gorillas are vegetarians whose only
natural enemy is the humans who hunt them. On average, a gorilla lives
to 35 years in the wild and 50 years in captivity.
At the time Colo was born, captive gorillas often never learned
parenting skills from their own parents in the wild, so the Columbus Zoo
built her a nursery and she was reared by zookeepers. In the years since
Colo’s arrival, zookeepers have developed habitats that simulate a
gorilla’s natural environment and many captive-born gorillas are now
raised by their mothers. In situations where this doesn’t work, zoos
have created surrogacy programs, in which the infants are briefly cared
for by humans and then handed over to other gorillas to raise.
Colo, who generated enormous public interest and is still alive today,
went on to become a mother, grandmother, and in 1996, a
great-grandmother to Timu, the first surviving infant gorilla conceived
by artificial insemination. Timu gave birth to her first baby in 2003.
Today, there are approximately 750 gorillas in captivity around the
world and an estimated 100,000 lowland gorillas (and far fewer mountain
gorillas) remaining in the wild. Most zoos are active in captive
breeding programs and have agreed not to buy gorillas born in the wild.
Since Colo’s birth, 30 gorillas have been born at the Columbus Zoo
alone.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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