Richard - gorilla male
Hi there, my name is Richard and I am a lowland gorilla. I come from jungles of central Africa but I have never been there. I was born on 9th November 1991 in Frankfurt am Main, in Germany, have lived with a bunch of gorilla boys in English Paignton and now I've been living in Prague for some time.
I came to the Prague Zoo on 4th November 2003. I have three partners and at the moment one daughter by the name of Moya. This can change any day because my oldest wife Kamba should give birth to a baby at any moment and in May 2007 my other wife Kijivu is going to have her second baby.
Standing erect, I measure almost two metres in height, and my present-day weight is 205 kg. I eat all sorts of fruit and vegetables, bark, leaves and raisins but my absolutely favourite food is a chilled water melon...
I really enjoyed twelve of them when on 15th January 2006 I managed to win the main prize in the Revealed - a slightly different reality show. You can take a look at what an event it was and how many people came to congratulate me.
People who I don't like too much are undisciplined photographers. When a photographer uses a flash behind the glass or when he gets too close to the glass wall with a big camera lens I immediately start showing him who the boss is over here. I have to protect my family in front of enemies. And if by any chance any other male appeared here I have to be very fit and ready for that.
Many experts say about me that I am the most skilful male who has grown up in zoological gardens and was not brought up by people. There is some truth about that. They even admired my abilities at the Wildscreen festival. Even you can take a look at my ability or appreciate the way I managed to get my hands to some food hidden in boxes. If you want to see more, come and visit me to the zoo and you'll see for yourselves.
You can write to me or leave me a message on my personal electronic e-mail address at: richard@rozhlas.cz
My first video
My keeper, Marek Ždánský, may be a bit biased when he says: "He's one of the most magnificent male gorillas in Europe. When he came to us from a group of males in England, he was unbelievably well behaved. Of all the males I've known in my life, he was at that point the gentlest, and wasn't at all aggressive towards us. He let us touch his head, hands, feet and he communicated really well. When he was given the two females, he became a bit tense and didn't let us touch him as much. But when Moya was born everything returned back to the way it was when he arrived." You people better not try touching me at all!
