Gorilla Male Arrives at The Twycross Zoo

This is the satisfied look of a gorilla who is a hit with the female of the species.

Oumbie, a 28st silverback, arrived at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire on September 2 with the task of producing offspring.

He has successfully wooed two lady gorillas and one may be pregnant already.

At his previous home, Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, the 17-year-old great ape was kept in an all-male group.

Casanova: Silverback gorilla Oumbie was moved to Twycross Zoo in Warwickshire to mate with female apes

But it seems life in mixed company suits him. Oumbie created quite an impression when he crawled out of his crate at his new home, according to animal keeper Donna Smithson.

She said the females gave him 'a bit of a hard time to start with', but he soon won them over.

'Gorillas make flirty noises and strut about to try to impress each other,' she said. 'Oumbie has shown himself to be pretty good at that type of thing already.

'He has mated with Ozala so it's possible that she is pregnant already, although it sometimes takes a few encounters, as it were.

Cheeky monkey: The ladykiller was picked out of a stud book available to zoos to help them find suitable mates

'He got there quite late at night so went straight to bed, but by September 4 he was in there with the two girls.

'They both gave him a bit of a hard time to start with but he has wooed them now.'

The western lowland silverback gorilla was picked out of a stud book available to zoos to help them find the best possible mate for females.

His details were a match for the two girl apes and he has already proved his worth with his prowess with the ladies.

Despite there already being a six-year-old male gorilla, Matadi, at Twycross Zoo, Oumbie is now firmly in charge.

'I'll have you tonight': Oumbie [background], has already proved a hit with the ladies, wowing the single apes Asante and Ozala

Twycross Zoo spokesman Kim Riley said: 'He has already got to work on the women.

'We are hoping that the breeding programme turns out to be a success. I guess he really is a lady-killer gorilla.'

Gorillas are the largest of the Great Apes and as with all apes they differ from monkeys by having no tails. They spend most of their time on the ground away from the trees, hidden in the jungles of Africa.

All of them walk by using their hands as extra legs, supporting the massive weight of the front of their body on the knuckles of their large fleshy hands.

Western lowland gorillas are an endangered species and are part of an internationally co-ordinated conservation breeding programme.

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