Gorilla named Patrick evicted from Dallas Zoo and sent to therapy for sexist attitude

Updated

A male gorilla is leaving Dallas Zoo to have therapy after he bit one female gorilla and sneered at others.

Patrick, a 195-kilogram Western lowland gorilla, will be moving to the Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina, where he will live the bachelor life in his own digs.

The South Carolina zoo is known for working with gorillas with behavioural problems.

Dallas Zoo officials said Patrick gets along fine with humans but not with other gorillas.

They said they have repeatedly tried to get him to socialise with the other gorillas, particularly the females, in the hope that he might get along and even breed.

Instead, he bit one female and sneered and nipped at others.

"It's not like we haven't tried, he's been here for 18 years," Dallas Zoo spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said.

Patrick was more tolerant of other male gorillas but seemed only to engage with Jabari, who was shot to death by Dallas police after he escaped in 2004 and injured three people.

Because of his cranky behaviour, Patrick has been kept in his own habitat separate from the other gorillas.

The Dallas Zoo needs to reclaim Patrick's space because it recently acquired two new males from the Calgary Zoo, including Zola, a breakdancing gorilla who stars in a video that has gone viral on the internet.

John Davis, curator of mammals at the Riverbanks Zoo, said Patrick will initially be separated from the zoo's three other gorillas, all males, but will be able to see and smell them.

Patrick will eventually be introduced to the other males and zoo officials are not ruling out the possibility they can live together in a spacious bachelor pad, Mr Davis said.

Born at the Bronx Zoo in 1990, Patrick was abandoned by his mother and transferred to the Toronto Zoo, where he was hand-raised along with another male about the same age.

At age 5 he was transferred to Dallas, zoo officials said.

Because of his rearing, Patrick gets along well with people and is a popular favourite among visitors and zookeepers at the zoo, Ms Holloway said.

"He's beautiful and smart and everyone loves him," she said.

"We're really sad to see him go but it's for the best for the zoo and for Patrick."

Reuters

Topics: animals, human-interest, offbeat, united-states

First posted