Primate News Roundup

There were two monkey (okay, not literal monkey) stories that intrigued Gothamist yesterday: First, Timmy, the Bronx Zoo's gorilla stud who fathered 13 gorilla offspring, including a set of twins, is moving to the Louisville Zoo with two other gorillas from his harem. The Daily News says that zoo officials hope "the change of scenery might reignite the 45-year-old silverback's legendary libido, as a move to the Bronx 25 years ago did." Timmy was sent to the Bronx after being a "dud stud" in Cleveland, and the move worked, as Timmy got down to business here. NY zoo officials say a new male gorilla will arrive this fall and expect him to be pretty popular with the ladies.
The other story concerns chimpanzees at the Jerusalem Zoo. Zookeepers were surprised when a 24 year-old chimpanzee, Maya, gave birth (her twins are pictured at right), considering that all the adult male chimps were sterilized. It turns out that a 7 year-old (!!) male chimp, Nicky, reached puberty early. Zoo officials thought that the female chimps were just fat, but now expect to see many babies. This is crazy! It's Tadpole-ing in the animal world! Or is this just their version of Ashton and Demi?

New York magazine profiled Timmy and his Bronx home, and read more about Suki, one of Timmy's kids.