South Africa’s most famous female gorilla has been single since the death of her celebrated mate last year, but zoo officials hope romance blooms when they introduce her to a new beau — on Valentine’s Day.
Staff at Johannesburg Zoo said Lisa, 33, was already warming to her prospective mate Makoko despite the fact that he is 14 years her junior.
“Lisa’s a lucky lady in order to get such a young hunk. She’s still of an age when they could mate, they could produce an offspring,” said Johannesburg Zoo CEO Jenny Gray on Thursday.
Makoko arrived from Germany’s Munster zoo in November after a recommendation from gorilla matchmaker Studbrook International but was kept in quarantine for 45 days until Thursday.
To help the two grow familiar they were kept in adjacent enclosures so they could smell one another and see each other with the aid of a mirror on a wall between their holdings.
“We’ve noticed quite a lot of changes in Lisa’s behaviour ... She spends a lot of time standing by the bars preening herself, looking (in the mirror) at this young man who’s waiting for her next door,” Gray said.
Zoo staff said Makoko would have to pay a traditional South African bride price, or “lobola,” to upgrade their joint quarters before they move in together and launched an appeal for the money.
Lisa’s previous mate Max rose to fame in 1997 when he confronted a gunman who leapt into his enclosure while fleeing police.
The man shot the 200 kg (440 pound) gorilla but Max recovered after treatment at a top Johannesburg hospital and died of old age last year.
