Today Damisi, the infamous dancing gorilla, arrives at Chessington Zoo to start a new chapter in his life.

Thanks to the European Gorilla Stud Book, the equivalent of an online dating agency for gorillas, Damisi will now have a chance to impress the ladies as he leaves his bachelor group to find love at Chessington Zoo.

The Stud Book is a computer database of the entire European gorilla population - with family trees and family history for every gorilla.
 
In the wild, gorillas will often leave the group they are born in to join another group when they reach puberty, this situation is recreated by arranging moves between zoos. The entire European zoo gorilla population is managed in this way to ensure the gene pool remains healthy and varied.

Damisi will become Chessington Zoo’s breeding male and has been matched with Buu who was born at Chessington in 1996. Michael Riozzi, Gorilla Keeper at Chessington Zoo said,

We are hoping that it will be love at first sight for Damisi and Buu. Damisi is a typical thirteen-year-old male gorilla – full of fun with hormones starting to kick in! But Buu is no push over, if he doesn’t treat her well she will just ignore him.