Calgary Zoo adds 5th female gorilla to troop

The female population of western lowland gorillas at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo just grew by one, with the addition of 24-year-old Johari, who arrived from Toronto last Friday.

The transfer is months in the planning stages and there's lots of reciprocity.

"We spent some time getting to know her," animal care director Colleen Baird told reporters Wednesday.

"We sent a caregiver of ours over to Toronto to start to get to know her there. We also have a Toronto caregiver here so we can transition and get to know her even better."

Zoos and conservation facilities around the world are working together.

"It's really exciting. We work through a very long-term plan with our gorilla genetics and our troop in general, population globally," she explained.

"This has been in the works for some time. We are always looking at what the troop dynamic looks like over time."

Including Johari, the zoo now has a troop of five females and two males, including silverback Jasiri.

"They will hopefully have some offspring as well as other troops in our collection," Baird said.

That's important because the global population faces huge challenges.

"They are critically endangered," she added. "We have them here so we can talk about what's going on globally out there and how they all tie together."

Johari is a bit older than a lot of gorilla mothers and she hasn't had any offspring so far, but experts are excited about a possible connection with Jasiri.

"We were able to say, we are ready for her. Let's bring her in. Jasiri is a great match so let's bring them together to have that offspring and give her the ability to have an offspring, which she hasn't had yet."

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Having a child can change a female's status in the troop.

"Sometimes they don't conceive right away, sometimes the genetic match just isn't there," Baird said.

"She is at a point in her life where we are ready to do it. She's healthy, there should be no reason why she can't be successful."

Johari arrived in Calgary on June 27, so the next two weeks will be about looking for the best time to introduce her.

As part of the genetic diversity program, any offspring would likely be sent to another facility.