Zoo Bronx Zoo Part Two

At LAST! My notes from the Bronx Zoo: verbatim as scribbled in my embroidered firefly journal:

(later observances and comments are in italics)

Jungle World

Matchie's Tree Kangaroo

-He's just sitting there as if he knows he's supposed to - or as if any second he's going to explode out of anger and hiss at you. I don't trust him.

Ebony Langur

- Some brown, some black

- families include one or two adult males, several females and offspring

-males born into the family leave before puberty to form bachelor groups or travel alone.

-one brown Langur has a black Langur baby. It's mother holds it very close and it might be nursing. The baby starts crying and the mommy starts to jump around (while still holding it) and swing from the branches. This quiets the baby. Take note, AG and NL.

-There are otters in this habitat, too. They're hiding in a tree trunk. One Langur starts to jump on a log to awaken the otters and get them out of the tree. Mission accomplished!

This was the first instance when I began to suspect that the animals here know that they're in a zoo. The Langur was clearly saying to the otter, "um . . .we have a visitor. please show yourself or you'll be fired. yes, just like the zebras."

Silver Leaf Monkey

-mothers often allow related females to babysit infants

-wow! they really swing from vines!

Malayan Tapir

-ugly and strange looking

-shy - only been observed in the wild by a very few people

White-Cheeked Gibbon

-Gibbons pair for life - up to 25 years

-they're swinging through the trees!

Striped Squirrels run rampant in here.

Leopards

- Black. Beautiful.

African Plains

There are peacocks everywhere. They sure have their reign of the place!

Baboon Reserve

-The baboons here are Geladas. They're different from other baboons in that they

* only eat grass

* use 25 different calls to communicate

* live on high altitude grasslands

-Body Language

* Direct eye contact - THREAT!

* Smile - to show fear or appeasement

* Flip Lid (a gesture that looks like they're going, "syke!") - worried/uncertain

* Yawn - to show off large teeth

* Groom each other - comfort, cleaning

* Female turns her back - act of submission

GIRAFFES!

- Sleep deeply for 20 minutes a night

- They can move/gallop at about 40 miles an hour.

- They have a 25 lb heart.

- Mating- Bull smells the urine of female to detect heat. He then taps his foreleg against her hind leg or rests his neck on her flank. If she stands still, he will mount and mate.

-Baby girl Giraffe born 10/30/06

This is the second instance where I began to suspect that the animals knew they were in a zoo. The mommy and daddy giraffes would nudge the shy baby in front of them as if to say, "Go on. This is your public. You're a show-raffe, now." The baby would stand in front of them, terrified, looking at me, as if she was going to be forced to tap-dance, and then she would circle around to stand behind them again. Stage parents are relentless!

Zebras

-Missing. No Zebras in the Zebra Habitat. My hunch is that they were fired. The weren't comitted to being zoo folk.

Congo Gorilla Forest

Gorillas

- Two huddle close with their backs against the glass.

-All of the gorillas are a family

Names from one gorilla section (town?):

Fubo, Pattycake, Tunko, Triska, Fran, Halima, Layla, Kumi, Suki, Kioja, Nyasha

-Tunko might be preggers - she's got a huge belly and she keeps throwing up into her hand and eating it.

Names from the other gorilla section:

Zuri, Julia, Holli, Tuti, Imani, Pierrepont, Sufi, Shana, Zola

Bears

Polar Bears - to survive, a polar bear, on average, must kill a seal every 5 days.

Tiger Mountain

The tigers names are Sasha, Norman, Zeff, Alexis, and Taurus.

There are diagrams on how to tell them apart.

- I can't tell them apart.

Himalayan Highlands

Snow Leopards

- Baby Twins - Girls. Born June 7th, 2006

- They are very cute and like to climb and have fun and chase leaves.

Red Pandas

- Not at all related to giant pandas

World of Darkness

(nocturnal animals)

Douroucouli - Nocturnal Monkey

Porcupines - Huge

Bats -Really hang upside down

Slow Loris - Wins the award for THE STRANGEST Animal here.

I'm in Atlanta, now. I may or may not do the calendar here. Haven't decided.

Thank you for reading.