Today, we have answers to some of your questions. There was a video posted on the blog, capturing Richard's attack against Moja, which looked pretty scary. You were curious why that happened. Many questions also regard physical contact between humans and animals at zoos.
Richard attacked Moja
Many of you have seen a video (including a slow-motion version) - Richard attacked Moja who was sitting on a stump. It looked horrific at first sight. Some said Richard was too rough, many expressed worries about Moja. What is going on? Is this behaviour natural?
This is an absolutely natural behaviour of an adult male towards an adolescent female. Moja has reached an age when she can no longer dare anything towards her father. In primates, young babies are protected not only by their mothers but also by the alpha male. In some primate species, newborn babies have different colour than adolescents (e.g. in baboons, some macaques etc.). This colouration is a signal for the rest of the troop that the young must not be hurt. At a young age, the young are tolerated almost anything. However, the fur colour changes approximately after half a year, which causes a change in the behaviour of alpha males toward the young. Gorillas take longer to mature, which is why adult members of the troop tolerate playful behaviour longer. In the first few months, young can do almost anything - pull the adults' fur, sit close the the alpha male, taste food close to the alpha male when he eats, etc. The situation later changes, though. Adolescents (not only gorillas) seek their position in the hierarchy of the group and learn adult behaviour. The alpha male no longer tolerates what he tolerated from the young. This is a difficult process. On the one hand, there is Tatu as a companion for games. On the other hand, there are adults for whom games are the lowest priority. Although Richard's attack looked scary, he did not really hurt Moja. He caught her leg, bit (probably only symbolically, otherwise she would have started bleeding heavily), and shook her. Moja was frightened but when the attack was over and other females came to console her, she did not run away but stayed close to Richard. We are likely to see more such attacks by Richard. If he wanted to hurt her, it would end much more seriously than with a shock. Over time, it will teach Moja behave like an adult female.
Animal breeding with and without human contact
Another discussion concerned animal breeding with and without physical contact with humans. The zoo in Prague breeds gorillas without human contact. That does not mean that keepers do not intervene in the life of the troop on a daily basis. It does not mean that they are not in contact with the animals but that they do not enter the enclosure (it would not be possible with gorillas, anyhow). Every zoo sometimes faces the dilemma whether to feed an abandoned baby artificially or leave it to the nature, meaning let it die. Remember Knut, a white bear from Berlin zoo. A certain level of interaction between the gorillas and the keepers is necessary. It is up to each zoo to choose its own strategy. It makes the job easier for the keepers and often eases relations within the troop, because contact with humans reduces stress. Gorillas commonly learn to accept food from the hand. It is possible to leave food lying on the floor, which is the case most of the time. Sometimes, it is necessary to distribute food in a particular way (that is why Richard is served treats at a different door than the females). If the animals learn this, it make sit easier to distribute medicines without stressful separation of sick animals from the troop. Some animals learn to hand something to keepers. Some zoos in the US introduced special training that teaches gorillas sit or stand close to the bars and let a human touch their body, turn around, hold their arm, and allow examination with a stethoscope. This makes it possible to perform common check-ups without tranquillisation, administer medication by injections without applying anaesthetics, and take samples for analysis (saliva, hair, etc.). All that eliminates the need to separate and tranquillise animals, preventing stress within the troop. Remember how our gorillas become agitated when something like that is being done to them.Another issue is isolating animals from visitors. Glass wall work well as a barrier to noise and infection. Direct visual contact remains, though. We know that Richard hates cameras with flashes. On the other hand, the young actively seek contact with children. There are scientific studies that analyse the impact of visitors on the behaviour of animals in zoos. The time of the year also plays a role. In summer, there are large numbers of visitors and the animals do not tend to seek contact. In winter, in contrast, when there are few visitors, animals often come close to the glass walls and watch the visitors. If animals are kept on islands, they are usually separated by a moat and a green belt. If such a natural barrier is 15 metres wide, it mutes noise made by visitors. The animals are not disturbed and can go about their own business. If visitors ceased throwing food into enclosures, it would be an almost ideal situation.
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