Colo (Gorilla)

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Colo in March 2009

Colo (born December 22, 1956 in Powell , Delaware County , Ohio , † January 17, 2017 ibid) was a female western lowland gorilla who lived in the Columbus Zoo in the US state of Ohio. She was the first gorilla ever to be born in captivity, and at the age of 60 was also considered the oldest known individual of her species in the world.

Life

Colo's parents were Millie (called Christina ) and Baron (called Macombo ), both of whom were born and captured in Africa. Because Colo was rejected by her mother, the zoo keepers took over her care. At first she was called "Cuddles" (English for cuddling , pampering ), later named after the place of her birth - Col umbus, O hio - due to a competition .

At the age of two, she was introduced to the male cub, Bongo , of about the same age , with whom she later fathered three children - Emmy , Oscar and Toni . In April 1979 Oscar's first offspring was born and the zoo got a third generation gorilla. Colo's granddaughter was called Cora , an abbreviation for C entral O hio R are A pe. Colo's great-grandson Jontu was born in January 1997, and more were to follow. In August 2003, Colo became great-great-grandmother for the first time. Although Colo did not raise any of her children herself, she took care of her grandchildren Macombo II and Mosuba (twins) from birth and acted as the protector of another grandson, Jungle Jack .

Colo was the long-time resident of the Columbus Zoo. In 2017 her family tree included 16 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Five of their descendants still live in Columbus, and many more in other American zoos. After Massa († 1984) in the Philadelphia Zoo and Jenny († 2008) in the Dallas Zoo , Colo was considered the oldest living gorilla in captivity at the time of their death. On December 22, 2011, the zoo held a party for her 55th birthday. To the delight of the visitors, she celebrated it with colorful garlands and a special cake. Such a celebration has taken place annually since then and has also been broadcast live on the Internet since 2013. After Colo's death, Trudy from the zoo in Little Rock , Arkansas and Fatou from the Berlin Zoological Garden were considered the oldest living gorillas.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.dewarwildlife.org/jrdavis-gorilla-studbook/0056.htm
  2. ↑ http://colszoo.org/news_room/press_releases/colo_queen_of_the_columbus_zoo_celebrates_year_55.aspx ( Memento from June 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheldenestate/6571202789
  4. ↑ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheldenestate/6571215121