SOUTH ASIA’S sole surviving male gorilla, presented by Ireland to an Indian zoo some 15 years ago, is destined to live out his remaining years as a lonely bachelor as the authorities have failed in finding him a mate.
Born in Dublin in 1972 and presented 23 years later to the Chamarjendra Zoological Gardens at Mysore near southern India’s IT capital Bangalore, 37-year-old Polo has been living in enforced celibacy after his mate Sumathi died in 2000.
Confined to a corner of his enclosure most of the time, the lonely Polo frequently beats his chest, claps and, at times, purrs broodingly at visitors as if beseeching them to somehow help him out of his predicament.
Zoo officials said he is particularly fond of children, gamboling around and playing pranks whenever any gather around his enclosure, much to their amusement.
“We have approached all the zoos in the world for a female gorilla for Polo, but none have been forthcoming” zoo director Vijayranjan Singh said yesterday. “Even though this is International Gorilla Year, we have had no luck in finding Polo a mate and it seems highly unlikely that we will.”
In captivity gorillas live about 50 years so Polo, a western lowland gorilla, a highly-endangered species, appears destined to remain forlorn for some years yet.
Imported from Dublin in 1995 as a mate for an ageing Sumathi, Polo initially lived in connubial bliss with his Indian partner. But after a few months a fussy Sumathi did not find her Irish partner “perfect” and began distancing herself from him, dying soon after of cardiac arrest in October 2000.
Thereafter, the widowed Polo grieved for his dead mate and concerned zoo officials began searching frantically for another mate, but have now more or less given up their search.
Officials said several zoos in Europe and the US did have gorillas but were not keen on sparing one from their prized collection to partner Polo.