Monkey Business? St. Louis Zoo & Chicago Zoo Just Traded Gorillas
If you're going to the St. Louis Zoo or the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago to see a specific gorilla, you might want to double-check who's where as both zoos have just traded gorillas.
I saw this monkey business gorilla trade mentioned by Brookfield Zoo on Facebook. Jontu is a 26-year-old lowlands gorilla that used to be a resident in the St. Louis Zoo. He's now at Brookfield Zoo while their 7-year-old gorilla Zachary is now on his way to St. Louis.
The Brookfield Zoo shared some details about why this gorilla swap happened:
Since Zachary is unable to mate with any females at Brookfield, now is the right time to make this transition,” said Tim Snyder, vice president of animal care. “Plus, Zachary, who is the grandnephew of Bakari, has a great opportunity to interact and learn important skills that are needed to become a successful leader from the silverbacks. We’re grateful to our partners at Saint Louis Zoo for our collaborative efforts to create a seamless and comfortable transition for these incredible animals.
The hope is that Zachary will learn helpful habits from the silverbacks at the St. Louis Zoo and that Jontu will find "love" at the Brookfield Zoo. Yes, that's a wild exaggeration of gorilla habitat optimization, but you get the idea.
For the latest gorilla lineup, check the St. Louis Zoo website and the Brookfield Zoo website.