After riding from Los Angeles in a rented white van, 10-year-old lowland gorilla Tinga is settling in again at the Denver Zoo — where 1,000 people dressed in gorilla suits are poised to race Sunday morning.
Zoo officials were planning an official homecoming celebration after the 5K race through adjacent City Park.
Savvy visitors have spotted Tinga in the primate area where, on Saturday, she ambled onto a sunny patch of leaves, following the 420-pound male, Jim, nibbling almonds and peanuts.
They’ve bonded well but haven’t mated, assistant curator of primates Michael Stern said. Tinga was on birth control in Los Angeles to prevent breeding with close relatives.
Lowland gorillas, although they number 20,000 to 125,000, are listed as critically endangered because of accelerating population loss due to deforestation from mining and tree-cutting, hunting and the Ebola virus.
At the Denver Zoo, Stern said, “the hope is babies.”
He and a veterinarian drove the van hauling Tinga, in a stainless steel cage, directly from the Los Angeles Zoo, stopping only for gas.
Back in 2004, Tinga’s family of five was housed in Denver during renovations at the Los Angeles Zoo. She was born here, then grew up in Los Angeles under one of the “species survival plans” in which zoos nationwide constantly trade captive animals to try to ensure genetically robust captive populations.
Tinga recently began beating on family members, approaching the age where gorillas in nature leave their families. Joining Jim and two females, Bassa and Angel, in Denver is considered optimal, Stern said.
“They’re psychologically built to leave their families at this point,” he said. “She’s doing very, very well. There’s been a lot less aggression than there might have been. She’s still a little nervous around the other females — wisely so.”
The Denver Gorilla Run raises money for the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund, which has helped raise the numbers of mountain gorillas in Rwanda from 248 in 1985 to 880.
Colorado runners pay $99.95 to enter the race. They must wear full gorilla costumes. Previous races were downtown. Winners complete the course in 18 to 22 minutes. A record 1,061 raced last year.
A Denver Zoo partnership with race organizers and conservationists has led to a beer venture, too. Aframomum “grains of paradise,” favored by gorillas in Africa, now is being grown by the Denver Zoo. Colorado brewers discovered the grain can be used to produce a pleasing Silverback Pale Ale. Each pint purchased results in a $1.25 contribution to the conservation fund.
Harvard-educated zoo primatologist Stern, who also directs a zoo-backed New Nature Foundation conservation project in Uganda, points to the fact that gorillas share 99 percent of genes with humans with obvious similarities in ears, eyelashes and fingerprints.
“People look at gorillas and they bond with them quickly — because of our close genetic relationship,” he said. “They look like family.”
Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700 or bfinley@denverpost.com
