Perhaps you saw that video by that guy who kinda sounds like Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off claiming to teach you how to open a banana like a monkey (by pinching the bottom and peeling towards the stem). A gorilla at Busch Gardens responded with a video showing how monkeys really open bananas:
According to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), over 600 million visitors pass through the gates of over 1,300 zoological parks, reserves and aquariums worldwide every year. Springtime brings many new animals to these parks as well, as newborns.
Hang on, you still got something on yer face..almost got it..
Link: The Big Picture on Boston.com.
The population of cute is booming at the San Diego Zoo, as reported on NBC Bay Area.com. Check out the March madness…
Pagi, a female Bornean sun bear cub whose name means morning in a Malayan dialect, reassured her brother, Palu, who is named after a valley in Borneo, as they made their public debut at the San Diego Zoo. The 5-month-old bears surpassed their keepers expectations by exploring every inch of their habitat, including the highest points of their climbing structures.
A couple of mule deer steer clear of a black rhino calf while he runs around his habitat. This calf was born at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Despite their size and weight, black rhinos are known to run at speeds up to 40 miles per hour.
A baby western lowland gorilla has made his debut at the San Diego Zoo. Frank was born at the zoo in September and introduced to the public on Friday. Immediately after being placed in the Gorilla Tropics exhibit, Frank began crawling and foraging for food with his mother, 12-year-old Azizi, and the other gorillas. Zoo officials say Frank weighs 13 pounds, but he’s expected to grow to more than 400 pounds by the time he is full grown at about age 15.
Thirteen Australian red-bellied short-necked turtles hatched at the San Diego Zoo. The hatchlings are about the size of a quarter. The females will grow as large as dinner plates while the males will reach only about four inches in diameter. This aquatic species is native to tropical regions of Australia and New Guinea.
Three of four meerkat pups stay close to each other at the San Diego Zoo. The pups are thriving and are scrambling about in their habitat with the whole group of 12 meerkats. After their birth they spent much of their first few weeks in the den. Animal care staff was not even certain how many pups there were initially, as mom would only allow one out at a time. The mother, Ngami, is the dominant female of the group, but the whole troop helps raise the pups.
A female koala joey born in 2008, at the San Diego Zoo holds onto its mother, Orana, in a tree.
Matamata turtles hatched at the San Diego Zoo in 2008, the first time this species has successfully reproduced at the Zoo. The matamata, native to Brazil, Guiana and Trinidad, has a name that means “I kill, I kill,” in Spanish. The matamata is not endangered, but its population is feeling the pressure of habitat loss.
This little baby gorilla needs a name! A cute little dude like this can’t go through life without a name! That would be preposterous, I tell you, simply preposterous! [Ed. note: I've been dying to use the word 'preposterous' all day today. Check that off the list.]
From Zooborns:
Born on December 8th of last year, the baby gorilla boy abandoned by his mother is doing fine and now he needs a name. San Francisco Zoo is hosting a contest to give him one.
Prizes for the winning name include:
* Zoo Family Membership for the zoo closest to the winner’s place of residency
* Large Gorilla Plush
* Framed photo of the infant gorilla with a footprint
* Thirty minute Live Q&A with a gorilla keeper (either in person, via phone or internet depending on location of winner)Oscar Jonesy, our dominant silverback gorilla and father of the infant will choose the winner on March 11, 2009. A panel of judges appointed by the Zoo will choose five finalist names. Each name will be connected individually to five colored bamboo sticks and placed out in the Jones Family Gorilla Preserve exhibit for Oscar Jonesy. The first colored bamboo stick he chooses will be the winning name.
What are you waiting for? Get on over to the SF Zoo’s website and enter your name now!
Hey, evrybuddy, Skeezix heer. I’m just gonna sqweeze in on Snuzzy cuz I saw this grate story that was too sadly Snuzzilicious to keep to myself.
A couple of days ago in San Francisko, a gorilla mom had a baby. A reely KYOOT snuzzilicious baby. Ixsept she didn’t qwite see it that way, and once the baby was born, she went out for a snak and never wint bak to her baby.
Heer is the baby crying, “Ware’s my mama?”
Heer is a pikcher of his mama:
His mom’s name is Monifa, and she is an endanjered lowland gorilla. If yoo ask me, she shood go without a few snaks and pay attenshun to little Sparky.
The San Francisko Zoo has desided to look for a surrogate mother to take care of the baby gorilla. I think I’m gonna send them an email and volunteer for the job!
PHOTO CREDIT: Amy Frankel/San Francisco Zoo, and Susan L Pettitt
