The State - News from Oct. 30, 1986

Bwana, leader of the San Francisco Zoo’s seven-gorilla colony, returned to his cage after surviving a dangerous illness--only to be pelted with dirt and water and punched by his male offspring, who now seems to fancy himself a rival. Zoo Director Saul Kitchener said Bwana, who weighs 350 pounds, endured most of the indignities with only an occasional flash of teeth, and did not appear to feel himself truly threatened by the 230-pound Mkubwa. Kitchener said Mkubwa was probably taking unprecedented liberties because he felt “emboldened by Bwana’s absence.” “Bwana will win and would win in the wild,” Kitchener said. “But in another five or six years, Kubie (Mkubwa) would take over in the wild . . . we don’t know what will happen here.”