Today in History: Colo the Gorilla

Today in History –> December 22, 2017  –> December 22, 1956

Gorillas are peaceful and intelligent animals, but if you cross them they can be vicious. 

However, baby gorillas like every other animal as a baby are cute and funny. On this day in 1956, Colo was born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. She would be the first gorilla born in captivity in America. At the time, she captured everyone’s hearts and drew in public interest like a Beyonce’s concert.

Her name Colo is a combination of Columbus and Ohio and was the daughter of Millie and Mac, two captive gorillas from French Cameroon, Africa. 

Before Colo, most gorillas were caught in the wild and brought back to zoos, sometimes by brutal strategies. If a baby gorilla was needed, merciless hunters would find a family, kill the parents and other members, and capture the baby. 

Before her death on January 17, 2017, Colo had become a mother and a grandmother and in 1996 a great-grandmother to Timu, the first surviving infant gorilla conceived by artificial insemination. This is where I shake my head. Humans have no limitations when it comes to science, but back to the gorillas. 

Despite the fact gorillas are wild creatures that protects and preserves their family’s generations, people still captures them for zoos. Presently, there are approximately 750 gorillas in captivity around the world. 

What do you think about capturing and placing animals in captivity? How about constructions tearing down their homes in forests and wooden areas for housing? Would you stop going to zoos because of this?

Please tell me what you think below!!