Polo, the country’s only gorilla, listed as one of the world’s critically endangered species, died at the Mysore zoo (Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens) last month. The 41-year old Gorilla was buried next to his old time friend Wali, a chimpanzee, who had died in the same zoo last year.
Polo was born in 1973, and was taken by Leipzig Zoological Garden in Germany, where he was housed till 1992. Later, he was borrowed by Dublin Zoo in Ireland. Under the recommendation of the European Endangered Species Programme committee, Polo was brought to Mysore in 1995.
Polo was shy natured and an introvert. Polo had another gorilla for company. Sumati was at least five years older than him but the two never mated. After Sumati’s death in 2000, Polo remained a loner and became more reserved.
Repeated attempts by the authorities to find a mate for him failed. The zoo director was however optimistic of a breakthrough with France by the end of the year. However, it was a challenge to convince them that Polo could father a child.
Class : Mammalia
Order : Primates
Family : Hominidae
Subfamily: Homininae
Tribe : Gorillini
Genus : (Western Lowland) Gorilla
Species : Gorilla gorilla gorilla
News Courtesy: http://indianexpress.com
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