“Moja has long since become a legend,” says the director of Zoo Prague, Miroslav Bobek. “She is the first gorilla born at Zoo Prague who has gained immense popularity with the public and has also become the protagonist of the extraordinarily successful ‘a slightly different reality show’ Revealed. Even though she has lived in Cabárceno for many years, people have not forgotten her. We are therefore even more pleased that Moja's story in our zoo continues through her daughter Duni and, starting this year, her granddaughter Mobi. And for me personally, it is very important that Moja, among other things through the Gorilla Tales, which were distributed to children in Central Africa in tens of thousands of copies, helps protect gorillas living in the wild.”
Moja received a complex enrichment from the Zoo Prague team with rotating wooden panels. These concealed fruit and nuts placed at various levels.
“In November 2011, we brought a seven-year-old adolescent girl here to Spain. Now we are observing an adult gorilla who raised her daughter Duni and passed on many of her truly remarkable traits and skills. Thanks to this, Duni is now skilled and clever in raising Moja's granddaughter Mobi in Prague,” says the head primate keeper at Zoo Prague, Martin Vojáček.
The extraordinary nature and especially the intelligence of Moja is also evidenced by the words of her current caretaker in Cabárceno: “She is a very sharp and perceptive gorilla, definitely the smartest in the group. I often say that she is smarter than me because she is able to find tools in things that she uses to get what she wants, regardless of the other gorillas,” recounts Lucía Gandarillas Chicote, who takes care of lowland gorillas and other primates in the natural park near Santander.
Moja resides in the local exhibit and extensive enclosure along with females Chelewa and Gwet, Chelewin’s six-year-old son Kibwe, and the silverback male Nicky. She is also accompanied by a group of Brazzaville monkeys. Currently, Moja does not have permission to conceive again from the coordinator of the European breeding program (EEP) because she is already genetically significantly represented in European breeding.
