![]() When Thomas arrived early the next morning he would separate them so that no one discovered the secret rendezvous.Īs Millie’s behaviors changed to indicate she might be pregnant, Thomas had to reveal his secret. To test his suspicions, second-year veterinary student Warren Thomas started allowing Millie and Mac (now 8 and 11 years old) to spend the night together. One of the part-time keepers, however, observed other, more flirtatious behaviors, with Millie backing up to him through the mesh. The staff were given strict orders from the zoo’s director, Earl Davis, to keep the two gorillas in separate enclosures for fear that they would injure each other, even though the ultimate goal was to breed them. When Millie and Baron (“Mac”) arrived in Columbus, their ages were estimated at around two and five, and as they grew older Mac became quite large and aggressive. Truth be told, Colo wasn’t even supposed to exist. ![]() Who would have thought these gorillas would become so valuable?īaron Macombo and Millie Christina arrived in Columbus on January 15, 1951. Stephi sired the world’s second (Goma) and third (Jambo) gorillas born in captivity in 19. The third gorilla, Christopher, was traded to the zoo in Basel, Switzerland, and renamed Stephi. Two of them, Millie Christina and Baron Macombo, would eventually become the parents of Colo in 1956-the world’s first gorilla born in captivity. They cost the zoo $10,000, but you could not put a price on their legacy. When Columbus big-game hunter Bill Said delivered three gorillas to the Columbus Zoo from Africa in 1951, he had no idea how priceless these youngsters were. Her existence put the Columbus Zoo on the map, and much of what we know today about captive gorillas can be credited to Jamani’s amazing great-grandmother, Colo. Colo was a famous gorilla who led an amazing life of superlatives-first gorilla born in captivity, first gorilla to give birth in captivity, oldest gorilla in captivity, most accurate spitter, to name a few. The zoo’s press release noted that Jamani is the 33 rd gorilla to be born at the zoo and Colo’s 12 th great-grandchild. Last month the Columbus Zoo announced the birth of a female gorilla, Jamani, to mother Cassie and father Ktembe (son of Mandara at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo).
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