More on zoos and gorilla captive breeding

Continuing the debate going on in this post on the role of zoos in conservation is this article from the guardian that discusses how much breeding gorillas in zoos makes sense from a conservation perspective. - MA

from the guardian.co.uk
London Zoo's gorilla breeding initiative is questioned by conservationists
Is our preoccupation with the species in captivity distracting from the problems they face in the wild?
by IAN TUCKER

London Zoo announced that, in August, Kesho, an 11-year-old male "blackback" gorilla will be imported from Dublin in the hope he might graduate to silverback status and breed with the females in Regent's Park.

One would find it hard to recall the last time we read a story about the baby-making issues of other under-threat species in our zoos. Why are we fascinated by gorillas and their breeding habits? Ian Redmond, a biologist and conservationist who worked with Dian Fossey in the 1970s, refers to himself as a "lifelong gorillaholic". He is consultant to the Born Free Foundation; in 2009 he was an ambassador for the UN year of the gorilla; and he taught Sigourney Weaver how to grunt like a gorilla for her role as Fossey in 1988's Gorillas in the Mist.

"We seem to be more excited by gorillas perhaps because they embody many of the characteristics we wish we had. Chimpanzees are very like us – prone to violence and mob culture sometimes – but gorillas have a reputation for being above all that."

So our interest in gorillas isn't necessarily about their fight against extinction and conservation issues are often far from our minds. Redmond finds a zoo visit "very uncomfortable".

"You see a lot of institutionalised behaviour patterns that you see in humans – rocking, plucking of hair, boredom and stress – things you don't see in the wild because there's so much going on. In the wild, they take the daily decisions, not someone else."

Such as decisions about who they breed with. As Redmond says, breeding is a tricky business among complex social mammals. Ask London Zoo: in 22-years of trying they have only managed to produce one youngster.

"In captivity, males are not competing with each other and females aren't weighing up the talent and choosing – they're presented with a male." The patter of tiny gorilla feet will only follow if they "get on".

In 2006, Bristol Zoo used IVF drugs to help produce a baby gorilla, but what practical use this has for gorillas in the wild is unclear. The 125,000 odd gorillas in the wild don't have problems breeding, the problem is with hunters, farmers and mining companies destroying their habitat, and disease.

In less enlightened times, a zoo that fancied exhibiting a gorilla would just go and catch one. These days, that's not allowed – you have to breed your own. With this, Redmond argues you begin to see the creation of a sub-species. Zoos breed a type of gorilla that knows nothing of the forest. If you were inclined to reintroduce this zoo-bred gorilla to its natural habitat, you'd have problems.

The relationship between zoos and conservation is delicate. In 2007, London Zoo handed over 10% of the £5.3m budget for its gorilla kingdom enclosure to field conservation. Yet a warden of a national park in Africa might question why 90% is spent on maintaining captive gorillas.

David Field, zoological director of London Zoo, sees breeding as a key part of its role as a "safety net". "Without the funding that comes from zoos, the programmes for protecting gorillas in the wild would not get funding."

But Redmond wonders if the preoccupation with gorillas in zoos distracts from the threats they face in the wild, "If you look at the range of organisations that fund conservation in the wild, most don't hold animals captive. Increasingly, the public asks if we're wanting to raise money for field conservation, why do we need to keep them captive?"