Great apes
Yawning baby chimp
Originally uploaded by Little Dog Laughed I usually avoid the great apes at the zoo. They seem to be very aware that they're being observed by the visitors, and the lowland gorillas especially seem irritated by it. Whether or not they mind, it just makes me uncomfortable staring into those eyes - they really will look into your eyes - and seeing that level of awareness, and knowing I'm out here and they're in there.
But today I did go by that area, for some reason, and I got to see the new chimp baby. The big old male was out sunning, and up came the mother chimp with her baby. She stopped and greeted the male, settled down near him, and then, when visitors started arriving across the rails, she moved closer to us and seemed to actually settle in a position so that we could see the baby better. I really felt like she was showing him off. And why shouldn't she? He's very cute.
This juvenile gorilla stood up, looked straight up at me, and beat his chest. It was kind of eerie to be challenged that way.
