Calgary's 'breakdancing' gorilla, brother off to Dallas Zoo

Two of the Calgary Zoo’s 11-year-old male gorillas have been moved to the Dallas Zoo.

Brothers Shana and Zola were brought to Calgary from the Bronx Zoo in 2009 in the hope they would be welcomed into the existing troop of Western lowland gorillas.

However the pair did not fit in, so the gorillas lived at the Calgary Zoo as bachelors.

"Our silverback did not accept them at the time," said Calgary Zoo curator Malu Celli. "In the wild, males tend to push less dominant males, younger males out of the group, so it's quite natural. They weren't his offspring. So they had to live separated for the entire time they had been here."

In preparation for their trip, a keeper from Dallas spent time with the pair in Calgary so that they would see a familiar face once they got to Texas.

"We want them to be in a bigger group with more stimulation," said Celli.

"Also, because of the harsh winters it can be quite difficult to keep two groups. If we needed to bring in another gorilla, space would be very tight. So we just made the decision to move them to another location."

A Calgary zookeeper travelled with the animals to make sure they had a safe journey.

Zola became famous as the "breakdancing gorilla" in a 2011 video that went viral on YouTube in 2011. He was actually playing in a puddle.