Gorillas in a tryst! Tired Rigo has to lie down after mating with four females in a day following 16 years in a cage on his own
It is a tough, and clearly tiring job, but somebody has got to do it.Sleepy Rigo has just mated with four females in one day and takes on a very human pose afterwards to grab a well-earned snooze.


After
16 years on his own in a cage the 41-year-old silverback is being
allowed to hang around with other primates at Melbourne Zoo in
Australia.










Keepers hope he will continue to get
to know the females there better and produce offspring as they are all
part of the endangered Western Lowland species.And
he has a bevy of beauties to choose from, including Julia, Yakini and
Yuska, who despite their serious expressions are all keen to become a
mum.



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These beautiful photos,
taken by Australian photographer Arthur Xanthropoulos, show the very
gentle side to the animals, which have been hunted to the edge of
extinction.'He has been introduced to eight other gorillas, four of them
females, so he can continue his species. The hope is the females may
trigger his instinctive behaviour,' he said.

His mission is to show the
human-like qualities of gorillas at Melbourne Zoo as part of his
project, which he calls 97 Percent Human.
The zoo has housed gorillas since 1980 and most of them have been rescued from poachers and exotic animal smugglers.


Despite
being legally protected the tiny gorilla population are often captured
by criminal gangs and sold for huge sums to unscrupulous foreign zoos
and private collectors.'My project, which I call 97 percent human was designed to capture the humanistic side of primates,' Arthur said.


'Many primate species share 97 percent their genetic make up with humans.


'But it wasn't simply about photographing these animals.

'More
importantly it was about capturing a side to them that complimented
that close genetic make up evident in their behaviour, expression and
interactions.
'Ultimately
my hope and intent has been to use these unique captures to create an
environmental awareness of how endangered these animals are in the wild.

'The zoo environment allows me to do just that as the animals are readily accessible to the viewing public.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046533/Gorillas-tryst-Tired-Rigo-lie-mating-females-day-following-16-years-cage-own.html#ixzz1aCQRTCDx