Herald Express (Torbay, Brixham & South Hams Edition)
Zoo’s gorilla king swings into retirement
HE’S knocking on a bit, he’s got bad feet and a dodgy tummy. Now this old boy is enjoying a well-earned retirement at Paignton Zoo.
Pertinax, who came to the zoo in 1997 as a swaggering 16-year-old and now weighs a thumping 200 kilos, has lost his place as the alpha male in the zoo’s gorilla community.
Now curator of mammals Nic Dunn and his team are making sure the big fellow enjoys his retirement in style.
“We have to manage Pertinax separately from the other three - Kiondo, Kivu and N’Dowe,” said Nic.
“The old boy has effectively gone into retirement.”
It means some careful planning for access to their island playground and the off-show and on-show areas.
Pertinax was deposed from the position he’d held for nearly 20 years as the boss of the gorilla gang by the other three.
In his time, he guided numerous feisty young gorillas to adulthood and saw them go on to join females and start families. He doesn’t know it, but he’s played his part in the international efforts to secure the future of his species.
Mammal keepers Anne Lunt and Gemma Keohane know him better than anyone. “He’s grumpy with strangers but he’s chilled with people he’s familiar with,” said Anne.
“He likes what he knows – he’s set in his ways! But he definitely became much more relaxed and content once he was separated.”
“Pertinax enjoys the company of keepers,” said Nic. “He displays play behaviours when they’re around. He also communicates with the other three through the mesh, even though they don’t have direct physical contact.
“Pertinax has been managed away from the others for a while. He is 36 now, and we would consider 40 or 50 to be a typical age for a male gorilla in a zoo.He has a good life, and we’re always striving to make it better. For now, Pertinax’s health issues don’t cause him too much trouble – but we keep a close eye on the old boy.”