Houston Zoo debuts new gorilla exhibit for media and zoo members

Zuri, a 31 year-old silverback gorilla, roams the new Gorilla Habitat at the Houston Zoo on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Houston. Zuri, a 31 year-old silverback gorilla, roams the new Gorilla Habitat at the Houston Zoo on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Houston. Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Houston Zoo debuts new gorilla exhibit for media and zoo members 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

On Tuesday the Houston Zoo opened its new gorilla exhibit to the media to get a look at the digs weeks before it opens up to the public.

Tuesday’s humid, drizzly weather didn’t hinder the exhibit’s seven gorillas from moving around for the cameras.

This is the first time in more than a decade that the Houston Zoo will have gorillas on exhibit for the public after nearly four years of fundraising and construction of the state-of-the-art facility for the western lowland gorillas to roam, climb, and explore. The landscape is about two-thirds of an acre.

Guests, separated by fences or safety glass, also will be able to watch the gorillas in their indoor shelter, which is about 4,000 square feet.

There are plenty of places for visitors take photos and take in the exhibit, which goes public on May 22. This weekend zoo members will get a first crack at the exhibit.

There are seven total residents of the exhibit, including the dominant Zuri, 31; his mate Holli, 25; Sufi, their 13-year-old daughter; and another older female, Binti, who is fabulous at 40. Visitors may find them out in the meadow grazing on vegetables and fruit, while socializing with one another.

The family trio came from the Bronx Zoo in New York. Binti came from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and acts as a sort of grandmother figure for Sufi.

In addition to this unit is a trio of bachelors that consist of Chaka, 30; Mike, 23; and Ajari, 14. They spend most of their time in a room is equipped with ropes, hammocks, platforms and a 23-foot climbing tree (being bachelors, it’s appropriately untidy).

These fellas are from the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, S.C.

A small group of three red river hogs also lives inside the habitat. There was a standoff early on with the hogs winning. Gorillas are more docile in the wild than one would predict.

Jill Moyse, primate supervisor at the Houston Zoo, says that all the animals do get along, though it was tense at first.

“In the beginning Zuri did use some gorilla behavior but the hogs did not respond to that,” Moyse says. “They now mostly ignore each other. Zuri will throw plants at them but to them it’s just food.”

One of the zoo’s top brass has been watching the exhibit with pride since fundraising began. He’s happy to finally be seeing the fruits of all the labor that went into making it possible.

“I’m most excited about the public seeing this and getting their reactions,” says David Brady, executive vice president of the Houston Zoo. It took two years to build the habitat for the gorillas.

“This habitat is one of the best in the world,” he says.

It took a year and a half alone to plant the vast amount of trees and to build a berm that zoo visitors will walk across, Brady says. He’s happy to have helped bring a part of the animal kingdom right to Houstonian’s doorstep.

“When you think about the percentage of the population that will actually ever get to go to Africa and then the percentage of that that will get to see gorillas in the wild, this is that opportunity for our guests and Houstonians to get a close-up look at how these animals are in the wild,” Brady says.

Brady’s favorite of the gorillas is Mike, a silverback from the bachelor group.

“In our upstairs area, which is off public view, he sits next to a window and is rather animated with us,” Brady says. “But like a good parent I love all of them equally.”

While Brady was talking one of the gorillas tore down a sizeable banana tree for lunch. What would take a human man a few hours with tools takes a gorilla seconds of effort.

“Their strength is very much masked by their gentle nature,” Brady says.

The Houston Chronicle's Claudia Feldman also contributed to this report.