Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is set to trade gorillas with Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo.
Frankie, Pittsburgh’s 7-year-old male western lowland gorilla, will head to Boston, and in exchange, Boston will send 33-year-old Little Joe the silverback back to Pittsburgh, according to the zoo.
Born at the Pittsburgh Zoo in 2018 to female gorilla Moka, Frankie has been described as having “good vibes — playful and chill,” and the zoo said he’s been a favorite among zookeepers.
In Boston, Frankie will join two other male gorillas of his size and age to form a bachelor group, which will mimic gorilla social groups in the wild, the Pittsburgh Zoo said.
“Young males leave family groups and form bachelor groups. As juvenile male gorillas mature, they reach a point where they are too old to be a juvenile, yet too young to be a silverback,” the Pittsburgh Zoo’s announcement said. “In the wild, these “blackbacks” generally voluntarily leave their birth group around the age of eight, though there are instances when the silverback of their natal group forces them out.”
The bachelor group typically does not acquire females of their own until they are over 13 years old, the zoo said.
Little Joe will join Pittsburgh Zoo’s family group as a silverback. The group includes gorilla females Moka (29) and Ibo (35), as well as Charlotte (3) and Bo (2).
“A typical family has only one mature male and several females with offspring,” the Pittsburgh Zoo said.
Little Joe, who has been described as “curious, intelligent and gentle,” will fulfill that position.
“He gets along well with other gorillas and unrelated babies and is a quick learner — especially good at figuring out how to get food out of puzzle feeders,” the announcement said.
The gorilla trade is part of the American Association of Zoos & Aquarium’s Gorilla Species Survival Plan, and this trade was designed to “provide a healthy, genetically diverse population of critically endangered gorillas in human care,” the Pittsburgh Zoo said.
The survival plan makes recommendations for social groupings based on genetics, age and housing availability after closely monitoring gorilla populations in human care, according to the zoo.
“Bachelor groups allow non-breeding males to live healthy, social lives while minimizing competition and conflict, and the matchmaking role performed by the SSP also identifies potential opportunities for well-being among breeding troops,” the Pittsburgh Zoo said.
Once Little Joe is acquainted with his new gorilla family, Pittsburgh Zoo visitors will be able to see him in the Tropical Forest Complex. However, each gorilla can vary on the amount of time it will take to be introduced.
“Given the intelligence of a gorilla, personalities and group dynamics, we will be working at their pace and comfort level as to when it will be appropriate to introduce them,” said Karen Vacco, assistant mammal curator at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. “The best-case scenario is four to seven weeks. During this whole time, we will be working on keeper trust.
“Once he is comfortable with his surroundings, then we will look at physical introductions. He will have visual access to the troop during this time.”
