Taipei City Government

Iriki and Tayari, 2 female gorillas from the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands have arrived in Taiwan on November 6 (Wednesday), marking their debut at the African Animal Area in Taipei Zoo!

Taipei City Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-Kun, Representative of Netherlands Trade and Investment Office (NTIO) Guy Wittich, Taipei City Government’s Department of Education (DOE) Deputy Commissioner Hung Che-I, Shin Kong Life Foundation CEO Wu Hsin-Ying, Animal Welfare Symposium experts, staff from Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands and delegates from the Korean Environmental Education Center (KEEC) all turned out for the function to offer their congratulations. It is hoped that the male gorilla D’jeeco will win over the hearts of the 2 gorgeous gorilla beauties and form a family, thereby ensuring that all good things come in pairs!

Thanks to the long-term efforts of the Taipei Zoo, it has acquired the approval and assistance of Gorilla EEP (European Endangered Species Programme). After male gorilla D’jeeco was relocated to Taiwan from the Opole Zoo in Poland in late 2016, this year (2019) the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands introduced 2 female gorillas Iriki and Tayari, both 8 years of age. It is hoped that they will get along with D’jeeco to form a family and give birth to baby gorillas in order to ensure the prosperity and sustainability of gorillas.

In celebrating the starting of a family by Iriki, Tayari, and D’jeeco, Taipei Zoo has arranged a heartwarming and playful gorilla wedding at the African Animal Area this morning. Heavyweight dignitaries including Deputy Mayor Tsai, Representative Wittich, DOE Deputy Commissioner Hung Che-I, CEO Wu, Animal Welfare Symposium experts such as University of Cambridge biologist Professor Donald Broom, staff from Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands and delegates from KEEC have all turned out for the function to offer their congratulations.

At the wedding, Representative Wittich and staff from Apenheul Primate Park acted as the family members of the bride and presented D’jeeco with a dumbbell, reminding him to keep training and stay fit in order to make sure he has the masculinity to impress Iriki and Tayari and become the man of the house. On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Tsai and DOE Deputy Commissioner Hung represented the groom’s family by presenting the cauliflower bouquet, golden key to the new home, and good luck pregnancy badge to wish that Iriki and Tayari fall pregnant soon and start a new family.

The debut of these 2 female gorillas coincides with Taipei Zoo’s 2019 International Seminar on the Ex Situ Conservation and Population Management of Wildlife on December 9 and 10. The function saw the attendance of many guests including nearly 100 experts and scholars from 7 countries to witness the introduction of Iriki and Tayari into the Taipei Zoo family, in turn envisioning a brighter future for the gorillas.

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