A sexist gorilla is being forced to go to therapy after he taunted a female gorilla. The Dallas Zoo primate will have to go to South Carolina to be treated after he bit one of the females and sneered at the other.
Patrick, a 430-pound Western lowland gorilla doesn't seem to do well with the ladies. He will now be moved to the Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina, where he will be able to live life as a bachelor in his own spot. The zoo in South Carolina often works with gorillas with behavior problems. Patrick seems to get along with humans but he doesn't do well with other animals, Reuters reports.
The Dallas Zoo says they've tried to socialize Patrick many times, particularly with female gorillas, in the hopes that he might breed or at least get along. However when he bit another female and sneered at the rest, it became clear that Patrick doesn't play nice.
"It's not like we haven't tried, he's been here for 18 years" said Laurie Holloway, a spokeswoman for the Dallas Zoo.
Patrick put up with male gorillas better but he only seemed to really associate with Jabari, a male who was shot and killed by Dallas police after he escaped in 2004 and injured three people.
Patrick has been kept in his own habitat due to his cranky behavior so he's not near the other gorillas. The Dallas Zoo needs to use Patrick's enclosure as they've acquired two new male gorillas from the Calgary Zoo. Once includes Zola, a break-dancing gorilla who has become a YouTube star.
The Riverbanks zoo said Patrick will be separated from the other three male gorillas, but still close enough that he could smell and see them at first. However they want to attempt to introduce him to the other males to see if they can all live together in a more spacious area.
Patrick originally came from the Bronx Zoo, where he was born in 1990. He was abandoned by his mother and transferred to the Toronto Zoo where he was raised with another male. He went to the Dallas Zoo when he was five. Since Patrick was hand-raised, he gets along with people and he's a staff favorite, Holloway said.
"He's beautiful and smart and everyone loves him," Holloway said. "We're really sad to see him go but it's for the best for the zoo and for Patrick."
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