Genki was born at Kyoto Zoo. She currently lives happily with her husband Momotaro and her 2 beautiful sons, Gentaro and Kintaro. However, she has lived a rather tragic life. This is her story. I tried to add captions to the video but they did not quite match. So I am adding the text here. You can translate it using https://translate.google.com/
0:00 Genki this is her story
00:10 Genki was born at Kyoto Zoo in Sakyo ward, Kyoto, Japan on June 24, 1986 to Hiromi (mother) and Makk (father)
00:36 Silverback Makk was born on Kyoto Zoo on October 29, 1970.
00:46 He was the 1st Gorilla baby born in a zoo in Japan to a wildborn pair. Makk was also raised by caretakers because his mother rejected him.
00:59 Makkuro (Makk) means black in Japanese. Makk was a precocious youth. He copulated for the first time at 7 years 11 months.
01:13 Hiromi was born in 1973 in Osaka, Japan
01:16 Hiromi was given to the Kyoto Zoo by a private individual at 3 yrs old. Her name means wide eyes in Japanese
01:40 And baby makes 3. On November 22, 1981 a urine test was positive. On May 15, 1982, Kyotaro was born. He was Genki's only sibling.
01:48 His mother and father are also Hiromi and Makk. He was born on May 15, 1982. Tragically, he died of heart failure at 11 years old. Genki never met him... This is incorrect. Genki actually met him he was 4 when she was born. Thanks to Vickie Mendiola for correcting me.
02:03 Makk died at 26 yrs old. Three years after Kyotaro. The zoo chose to taxidermy both Makk (left) and Kyotaro (right). They are both displayed along other animals in the exhibition room.
02:15 Genki through the years. 3 week old Genki. 1 year old Genki. 3 year old Genki. 8 yr old Genki.
02:38 After Makk died they brought a new silverback named Gon. Gon was born sometime in 1971. He was moved to Kyoto Zoo following a breeding recommendation with "Hiromi" (31 years old) and "Genki" (18 years old). This was not successful and Gon never had children.
2:57 Although Genki and Gon mated they did not have any kids together.
03:04 Genki is moved to Ueno Zoo. On March of 1997 she was moved to Ueno Zoo following a breeding recommendation from the Japanese Society of Zoos and Aquariums. The Silverback at that time was Biju. The move was rather traumatic for Genki, and she lost 43 kilograms of weight which equals 95 pounds.
03:24 Genki & Biju. Genki got pregnant with Biju but unfortunately, she had a miscarriage.
03:33 Momoko. Early in 1999 they brought Momoko, who is a dominant female, to the group and Biju became more interested in her than in Genki.
03:44 Self Mutilation. After loosing her baby Genki was heartbroken. She was also experiencing severe stress due to her reduced position in the hierarchy of the group. As a result she bit off the tip of her finger in one of her hands. After that Genki was moved back to Kyoto Zoo in 1999 for her own good.
04:01 Hiromi dies. On November 24, 2008 Hiromi died after receiving multiple severe injuries in an altercation with the silverback Gon.
04:11 Gon died on November 11, 2009 of a sinus infection.
04:18 After Hiromi and Gon died, Genki was alone at Kyoto Zoo until Momotaro arrived.
04:27 Born on July 3, 2000 at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo to Silverback Biju and Mother Momoko. Momotaro at 1, 10 and 20 years old.
04:42 Young Momotaro and his mother Momoka.
04:48 Genki meets Momotaro. Prior to his arrival, Genki was shown videos of Momotaro who moved in on October 18, 2010. Interestingly, Momotaro was the son of Biju and Momoko. It was instant attraction between Genki and Momotaro.
05:11 6 Months later Genki is pregnant for the 1st time.
05:19 About 8.5 months later, her first born son, Gentaro was born on December 21, 2011.
05:47 Genki wanted to be a good caring mother. She did everything that she was supposed to do. However, she was not able to produce milk.
06:04 Unfortunately, the zoo decided to take Gentaro away so they could hand feed him. This was not done out of malice but to save his life. Genki was heartbroken and would never forget that they took her baby away from her. You can see her frustration when she hits the wall in the video.
06:42 They were reunited when Gentaro was 10 months old. Right away Genki was seen snuggling him to sleep and playing with him. He took to Genki very well right away.
07:03 Momotaro also wanted his little boy back. On the right, you can see him peeking through a door at Genki and Gentaro. He did everything he could to make Gentaro comfortable with him and not be scared.
07:28 There is no love like Mama’s Love. Genki giving Gentaro soft kisses.
07:33 The Old Enclosure. Prior to 2014 this was the enclosure for the gorillas at Kyoto Zoo. It was very similar to the old enclosure at Higashiyama Zoo where the Shabani family lived.