This Article is From Sep 06, 2009

India's only gorilla lonely and in search of love

New Delhi:

Gorillas across the world are getting attention with conservationists observing 2009 as the year of the Gorilla, but for Polo, a 38-year-old housed in a Mysore zoo in Karnataka it is just another year of solitary life, without a female companion.

The Western lowland Gorilla is the only endangered species in the country at the Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens Zoo since 1995 and without a partner since 2000.

And his wait for the mate may remain endless as zoo authorities have now given up hope of finding a female animal for this magnificent creature which was born in Dublin Zoo way back in 1972.

In 1995, it was brought as a mate for Sumathi (a female gorilla) in Mysore zoo. But after Sumathi's death five years later following an illness, Polo has been living all alone.

"To mark the year, we have organised awareness programmes but as far as providing mate to Polo is concerned we have utterly failed. None of the zoos in the world having Gorillas is ready to part its female species for Polo," Vijayranjan Singh, Zoo Director told PTI.

Gorillas considered as the closest living relatives of human beings after chimpanzees and bonobos are highly intelligent and severely threatened animal in the wild.
Unfortunately, the world might have ignored Polo's need for companion, this charismatic and magnificent animal has enthralled each and every visitor thronging the zoo.
Polo becomes very active at the sight of children. He moves around and make pranks, bringing smile on the face of the visitor, Singh added.
A partner would have, no doubt, kept him happy and healthy as well. But as he is alone most of his time is spent in a solitude when there are no visitors, the official said.
Gorillas do not belong to Indian habitat. But even efforts to breed them in captivity here have failed. For instance, way back a Gorilla named Sugriva was brought from a foreign zoo but it died even before completing one year of its stay here in 80s. Israel gifted a male gorilla, Bobo, as a mate for Sumathi. But it too did not live long.
Now, the lone ill-fated Polo might eventually end up as a last gorilla in an Indian Zoo.
There are four sub-species of gorilla that live in 10 African countries, three of them --Eastern Lowland Gorillas, Mountain Gorillas, Western lowland Gorilla-- are critically endangered, according to IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.
The fourth species, the eastern lowland gorilla, is still listed as endangered because researchers cannot access a major portion of their habitat.
In view of grave threat to the species, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the UNEP/UNESCO Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is observing 2009 as a year of the Gorilla, BK Gupta, senior scientist with Central Zoo Authority (CZA) said. The aim is to encourage strategic approaches to Gorilla conservation including raising funds, improving the monitoring of protected areas and awareness among people.
The last decade has seen a steep drop, from 17,000 to 5,000, in the population of Eastern Lowland Gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Mountain Gorillas in the Great Lakes region number only 700, according to a report.

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