Chillin' Gorillas

Baby Bomassa Gorilla and Silverback N'kosi hang out on a hot summer's day

Slilverback Gorilla Gets a Present

N'kosi got presents at  the baby gorilla birthday party this past weekend. He is the dad, after all, so he was absolutely central to the fact that we have two adorable little baby boy gorillas at the NC Zoo. Here he is, looking like he is getting ready to catch one of his presents. He did not really catch it, he just let it fall nearby. Nothing was going to happen to that box. It's not like N'kosi had to worry that anyone would take it. His food is thrown directly to him, and the ladies' food is thrown to a different area. The lady gorillas know not to mess with the silverback's provisions. Sharing is not a strong suit of the gorilla!

Someone had wrapped up a bunch of boxes and in beautiful paper. The keepers threw them down into the area, from the feeding platforms. For a minute, we onlookers thought our gorillas were going to be feasting on Ritz Crackers and breakfast cereal. When the gorillas ripped off the paper, you could see the markings on some of the boxes and one of them said Ritz Crackers on it.  It's the perfect weight of cardboard for this purpose.  The gorillas ripped those boxes right apart and found their treats with no problem at all and gobbled them up.  Inside were some loose carrots (N'kosi's favorite) and some popcorn.

Photographs of Baby Gorillas 

Flashback! This article has photographs of both boy gorillas when they were very small. At that time, I was totally unable to tell them apart.

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Birthday Party for the Baby Gorillas

There was a big party at the zoo. Bomassa and Apollo both turn one year old this month, so the zoo had a big bash, complete with a lovely cake and streamers decorating the tree. The keepers came out and set everything up. And then the gorillas came out and had their party. You may have read about all this over at Bomassa's Twitter.

A huge crowd was on hand to watch the gorillas get their treats. 

Look at the lovely cake, made with ice and vegetables!  Nkosi the silverback came out last. Tell us in the comment section why you think that was!

Bomassa's having a go at the carrots. They're  a little hard to get at because they have been frozen in ice for a few days. It took a long time for zoo personnel to get ready for this party. 

The top of the cake featured a gigantic ONE carved of watermelon. Apollo worked at that for awhile and got a few licks here and there. 

Music was presented by Healing Force. It was not clear whether it would bother the gorillas, but they took no notice, while the crowd enjoyed it immensely.

Happy Birthday Bomassa!

And Good Job, Jamani

Today, August 4th, marks  the first birthday for Bomassa Gorilla, first gorilla born at the North Carolina Zoo since 1989. Jamani has done a terrific job with her son this entire year. Here they are, both enjoying their birthday cake at a celebration held yesterday.

Tomorrow look for more photos of the party right here. Follow Twitter for an alert.

Read all about Bomassa's ups and downs throughout the year. Here's a link to each post we've written about him here at his blog, the only blog chronicling an entire year of development of two baby gorillas.

In which the boys get a car for their birthday

Buy the Kids a Shiny Toy and They'll Play with the Box

It's time for a birthday! Bomassa Gorilla turns a year old on August 4th.   So that means presents. You know how it goes with kids though.  We try to get them things in the colors and shapes they should love, but our curious and intelligent children would rather play with something more ordinary.

There's something red and yellow and new in the gorilla area these days. What's that look like to you? I am pretty sure it's a little red car. I could not get a great look. Is it driveable? I think it probably is, but I can't say for sure.

Anyway, Bomassa and Apollo were not the least bit interested. I never saw either one of them go anywhere near the thing last Thursday when I went out to visit them.  Yes, it would have been terribly cute to get a shot of Apollo or his big brother sitting in that car and trying to steer it around. In fact, that's why the car was there. People in charge of publicity for the zoo were kind of hoping to get a nice shot of the kids in the car, lol.

But alas, as you already know, our eager gorilla boys spent a good part of the day practicing their climbing skills.  And then Bomassa turned to the mud, of all things! Between a high tree to climb and gooey mud, a cute little car just did not stand a chance.

With our recent nonstop North Carolina rains, the Forest Glade exhibit is quite muddy in places. Bomassa found some mud which had begun to dry out a little and had a ball messing around with it. He combed through it, and picked it up and made it into clumps. As a matter of fact, as you can see at this link, he rubbed some in the hair on his head and just generally enjoyed himself.

Car? There's a car to play with? Never mind that, I've got mud!

Bomassa Gorilla and Apollo will have their  first birthday party this Saturday, August 3rd at the North Carolina Zoo. Come if you can, it's going to be a lot of fun.

North Carolina's Cutest Tourist Attraction

If you're on your way to North Carolina any time soon, you absolutely have to stop and see our baby gorillas! Our young boys Apollo and Bomassa are ever so fun to watch now that they're learning to climb. They are getting up sky high now. What you can't tell from this pic, is that Bomassa is hanging from the highest platform on the structure in the middle of the exhibit. The one everyone calls the tree. Scroll down to get an idea of the height of the tree.

Apollo is always struggling to keep up with Bomassa. Big brother is more daring, a little stronger, and definitely more adept and confident. That's why you see Bomassa way up high, and Apollo trying to follow! Apollo never did join his brother on those top branches. He's still timid yet.

Bomassa has been practicing climbing for ages, because his mother has allowed him the freedom. Reports from behind the scenes indicate that when mother and son are in their private quarters, Jamani is happy to let Bomassa climb on his own. She has blessed this activity for many months now, and he has gotten very strong. It used to be that when the gorillas would come out in the mornings, Bomassa would settle in to nurse from his mama and would go right to sleep. He'd be exhausted after a hard morning of climbing.

Jamani does not always stay right with Bomassa as he perches precariously atop the structure. Here above, he finds it convenient to put his foot on her face as he tries to stabilize himself.   You can see the entire tree below. I am guessing the very tops of the tree are a good 12 to 15 feet off the ground.

Bomassa does go up to the very top! I  don't think you would find too many people-moms letting their tiny tots climb up that high. But gorillas have special skills, uncommon strength, very long arms, and gigantic hands with lengthy fingers.  Besides, gorilla feet are shaped so as to function as an extra pair of hands, capable of grabbing on.

It can be scary to watch. But  Bomassa has it under control. Though strongly motivated he is very tentative. He inches along, little by little, grabbing one handhold and not letting go until he knows he's secure.

Below he's attached only at one point of contact and searches very carefully for another before he lets go.

When Bomassa summits Mount Tree, he hangs out where his mom is resting.

But that is not his goal so he does not stay long. Below you see our young blackback first put one foot down on the branch, and then he just lifts his last foot off the platform and gingerly moves forward. He is learning all about how long his limbs are, and what he's capable of. It's exciting to watch him discover his abilities! And yeah, that's his mom yawning in the photo immediately below. You can just barely see her open mouth on the right. She's not worried.  She believes in her son!

How Baby Gorillas Sleep

Here's little Apollo, being cradled by Olympia as he slumbers. 

All the gorillas get tired after their two lunches. There's a feeding at 11:30 and another at 1:30. After the animals make their rounds and hunt up some carrots and peppers and whatever else they would like to eat, they tend to retreat to the window area and curl up for a rest. Olympia lay down for a length of time, and then sat up and continued to hold her sleeping son. At nearly a year old, the boys are still sleeping with their mothers, enjoying the warmth of their bodies and the comfort of their arms. They will keep this up for a few years to come. No wonder Apollo was bushed today.  It had been a morning full of climbing.  Apollo's not quite as adept as big brother Bomassa, but he is not far behind. Both boys were deftly climbing the big structure today for quite a long time. Pictures Monday!

Apollo Gorilla Sleeps at the North Carolina Zoo