Tormenting Big Brother

When I looked in at the zoo recently, Apollo was tormenting his brother every chance he got. Remember, the boys are only three weeks apart-yet one is the bigger and the other is the elder. The weight check at the end of October showed Apollo to be at about 21 pounds, about three pounds heavier than big brother Bomassa. Lately, Bomassa seems to cling to his mom Jamani much of the day. When Apollo comes over, Jamani patiently pushes that little squirt away! She might hold Apollo's little leg with her big hand and thus immobilize him for awhile so she and Bomassa can get just a little peace. She's a tired mom and just wants to rest! That's hard to do, when Apollo is constantly plaguing big brother.

Sometimes she even swats at Apollo to drive him away. She swatted pretty hard about eight times before Apollo ran away scared and stayed away for a long time. But then an hour later he was back to grabbing at Bomassa. Jamani had come to the sheltered window with Bomassa to curl up in the straw and have a nap. Fearless Apollo came over and picked up Bomassa's toes and started to bite them. He also would stick his nose down in Bomassa's private area. Might have been sniffing, might have been biting! Hard to tell when you can't get a good view. Olympia (Apollo's mom), meanwhile, sits unconcerned and nonchalant; she doesn't get involved in the boys' interactions at all.

Most interesting of all, the wheelbarrow pose, as seen above. Twice Jamani picked up Apollo's legs which left the one year old gorilla having to support himself on his arms. Can you see Bomassa hanging onto his mother's back, while Apollo kicks at Jamani's face? The social dynamics at the zoo lately are fascinating!

Apollo and Daphne

Greek mythology tells us...
that Apollo and Daphne, as an item,  were never meant to be. Apollo had insulted Eros, and Eros had placed a curse, rendering Apollo in love with Daphne, with Daphne indifferent to his advances. Eros shot Apollo with a golden arrow to inspire love, and Daphne with a leaden arrow, to inspire hatred. She was deeply annoyed with Apollo and his constant attentions, and indeed with those of all her many suitors; she blamed her misfortune on her beautiful looks. So she begged to have her form altered and was changed by her father into a Bay Laurel tree. To this day she never leaves her vivacious state of green, moved to that circumstance by the powers of eternal youth marshalled by Apollo, who never stopped loving her.

Speaking of eternal youth, we take a look back at an old pic, as our own Apollo the gorilla approaches the six month mark. It is hard for us to imagine such a cutie ever being spurned. And too, it's difficult to imagine him growing any bigger.  I have missed seeing Apollo and his half-brother Bomassa for the last few weeks. I bet when I get over there to see them later this week they won't be quite so small any more, and they won't be clinging to their moms every minute. I expect we'll be able to see both baby boy gorillas bouncing off the walls any day now and getting cuter every minute.

Baby Gorilla Turns Nine Months Old

The Life of a Nine Month Old Gorilla at the North Carolina Zoo

Apollo Gorilla was born on August 31 of 2012, making this past Friday, May 31 his nine month old birthday.  Mother and baby are still doing absolutely great at the North Carolina Zoo.  On Thursday, we'll let you know just how rare that is.  But for now, you are probably wondering exactly what is happening in the world of a nine month old gorilla. Read on!

As you can see in the photo, Apollo still likes to spend plenty of time with or near his mom Olympia.  He will inch away from her to do some climbing. There are some small tree trunks he loves to cling onto as he sees just how high he can get. And he will take hold of two sticks of the bamboo growing in the brush and climb up between the two.  The bamboo is not very tall, because it's been hard to keep the gorillas out of there long enough to let some of the stalks grow big.  There are some grates which separate the gorillas from the zookeepers who tend to the needs of the animals and Apollo loves to climb on those structures!  He tenderly grabs hold of one rung with his hand, and will carefully wrap his toes around the lower wires and climb very patiently until he gets quite high.

Socially, he will go and see his brother Bomassa (who along with his mother Jamani, is also doing very well) and they will tussle with each other, showing teeth and batting at each other's heads and wrapping their arms around each other. I have not yet seen them chase each other, but that is surely coming. Just at the moment, Apollo is a little clumsy with his running. It's possible that he has not yet learned to keep his feet flat as he propels himself across the grass.  Apollo loves his daddy, Nkosi the Silverback, and that love is returned. On a few occasions, Nkosi actually picked up Apollo and gave him a little bit of a piggy back ride! 

And what does a baby gorilla eat? At nine months old, Bomassa and Apollo are still nursing, but not visibly. I have not seen them nurse in months, even when they are curled up in their mother's arms on a chilly day. But surely they are nursing at night. The moms are still lactating, that's for sure. There are times when you can see Olympia put her hand to her breast and take drop after drop of the sweet milk she is making.  Apollo will pick up peppers and eat that, and you've seen pics here of Bomassa eating celery and browse. They are pretty much on a diet of salad, branches, and bamboo. Both boys love kiwi, which is given as a treat when they have their training.  And a little while back, we showed you a picture of Apollo chomping down on a pretty yellow flower!

Do baby gorillas take naps? You bet. Both boys have times in the day when they get very sleepy. They will sleep on their mother's backs as the moms carry them from place to place, hanging on tightly to mama's fur all the while. And they will also curl up with their moms, especially when it's cold out. They might sleep then for a good hour, right in the middle of the day, when so many visitors have come to see them!

Speaking of visitors, one sweet little girl who was at the zoo Friday was telling her dad about how the gorilla moms put Pampers on the babies.  That was a cute concept, but no. Some gorilla babies DO wear diapers, if they have had to be removed from their moms. But not here at the NC Zoo. Everything is au naturel.   The boys must be pretty discreet about it, though, because I have never observed any evidence of either baby in the process.  The moms and the dad, yes.  The entire place gets cleaned out every day, so there is never much mess.

Recently both boys had their vaccinations.  They get shots pretty much like the shots that children get.  The moms were sedated slightly so that the boys could be tended to. Otherwise the moms would never have let their babies go for this treatment!  But the boys were fully awake, and needed to be held by two people each. Even at only some 15 pounds, they are extraordinarily strong.  Believe it or not they did not like the idea of getting shots. So there was some screaming. Nkosi was very upset at hearing the distress calls and paced nervously back and forth until the whole thing was over, and after,  he did not get his appetite back for awhile. But that's all in the past and all is well now.  We are so incredibly lucky to have two healthy baby gorillas at the NC Zoo.

Apollo Playing with Daddy Gorilla's Colossal Hand

Last week,  after the big commotion upon the return of Acacia, little Apollo was thoroughly pooped when his mother finally calmed down and brought him over to the straw for a much needed rest.
For the next hour or so, he kept venturing over to one massive pile of silverback gorilla otherwise known as our own beloved N'kosi. Even the big boss himself had found the events of the day exhausting! For the longest time, Apollo just lounged on the straw, lying on his back, and reaching up to play.

Look at the size difference as Apollo reaches for a hand to play with

Just about all of Apollo's head easily fits in the hand of N'kosi, who tenderly curls his fingers round his son's head as Apollo winces

Apollo stays with his daddy for awhile. He's having a great time

Because of those opposable toes, you have to keep in mind that some of the four little hands you see here are actually feet!

As son of the dominant female, Apollo is thought to have some extra privileges with his dad. N'kosi is also very sweet and caring with Bomassa too, in my opinion, but Jamani was over in the bamboo while all this was happening, and Bomassa, as usual at his age,  was hanging out with her, so Apollo had Daddy all to himself.

ZooBabyBlog is now sharing some cool things over on Tumblr.

Baby Gorilla Gets Aggressive at the Zoo!

Both the gorilla brothers we write about here are little sweeties, but they are each toying around with their forays into showing their strength. Right now, it's Apollo's turn. Last time I visited, I saw him beating his chest for the first time. Bomassa had started this back in April, so it's nice to see Apollo catching up. Come to think of it, I have not seen Bomassa beating his chest much lately, and I never did see him do it proficiently. Apollo doesn't either. He just kind of throws his arms around and sometimes his big hands land on his chest, and sometimes they don't.

But now, Apollo is also coming to the glass and banging! I have seen one of the adults do this a few times. Jamani will sometimes get irritated with all the laughter and noise. In reaction, she will stand up on two legs and steady herself there for a minute or two about 15 to 20 feet away from the glass, and then CHARGE! She comes running, one arm up in the air, and gives that glass a good whack with her massive open hand. Just one. And then she goes off into the bamboo weed cover so she can find a little peace. But Apollo is now coming to the glass and pounding away with his own little oversized hand, palm open, many times in a row. This does not seem to be in answer to any provocation. Sometimes there are visitors in front of him, and sometimes there are none. He might just be experimenting and entertaining himself. When it was just me and Apollo, he was not pounding at the glass I was standing at. He was down a couple of panels, banging over there.

Much of this aggression gets pointed at big brother. Here comes Apollo now, hand raised to his brother's mother. Bomassa is hiding behind mom, so you can't see him in this shot. Jamani does not like to see Apollo getting after her son so much. She is so big, she is easily able to shoo him away. For the time being, anyway. On the other hand, Apollo still has his moments when he looks purely angelic.

Apollo Gorilla Takes a Turn

The Puzzle of the Ring 

was too much for the boy gorillas. As we saw a few days back, the keepers had placed a ring on end of the log, way up in the air, and Bomassa tried his special method of getting the prize. Apollo wanted that ring too! So he had to take a shot and used a very different approach!  While Bomassa is the brains, Apollo is the brawn. Recall that Bomassa had carefully climbed up that log, trying to get very close to the ring, and attempting to pull it back to himself, which was not at all effective in moving that ring off the log. Apollo, being the more active, and the more willing to stretch his physical abilities, decided to jump for it!

Apollo sizes up his target and gets ready  to pounce

Spring! 

And  Apollo makes contact with the big black ring

A spring and a miss

No. Not happening. That ring did not come down. Apollo had thought it through very carefully, had positioned himself well, and jumped as high as his little body possibly could. He touched it! But in the end, he did not manage to budge that ring off the end of the branch. And believe me, he tried!  Again and again, Apollo went after his target, but when I finally had to go home, that ring was still on the end of the log.

Copperheads in the Gorilla Area at the North Carolina Zoo

A Snake or a Toy

It was a nice, calm morning on Tuesday, not too crowded, but a bunch of us were at the glass, appreciating the gorillas. Everyone but Acacia hung out for hours and hours right there at the covered overlook. The boys were having a grand time playing in the big black buckets, climbing in,  climbing out, tussling a little, but being very gentle. Usually they show a lot of teeth when they tussle, but Tuesday, they were just being good pals.  Suddenly, one of the kid visitors exclaims Hey, there's a snake! And sure enough there was, slithering right through the straw you see surrounding the bucket. This was just a little snake, a slender snake. From my distance, it looked pretty much like a garter snake or something. No big deal, it just did not seem like much of a problem.

Apollo, left, and Bomassa, playing before they notice the copperhead

The boys were fascinated; they peered down at that reptile from just a few inches away. Something new, something unusual, something moving around, seems like a good toy, after all, something to have some fun with.  So friendly Apollo hovered over the snake and sat on it!  I lost sight, but when Apollo got up, I couldn't see it any more. One of the keepers was right there observing all this. She did not see a yellow tip on the tail. That's one of the identifying marks of a young copperhead snake. So without that mark, she was not overly worried. But the head........the head was not a good shape. A harmless snake has a round snout, whereas any viper has a much broader head. This head seemed a little broad. So there was reason to be worried!

N'kosi came around the wall and took charge. I am not sure who first alerted him. It's possible one of the ladies--probably Olympia-- made a vocalization we could not hear. The adults were taking the situation seriously. With no panic or screaming, Olympia picked up Apollo and carted him a good fifteen feet away and sat facing the area where the snake was obviously still lying. Jamani stayed behind the bucket with Bomassa. Acacia had been off in the rear of the area and there she stayed, being very pregnant.  The majestic N'Kosi had quite a reaction!  He stared down that snake,  while not getting too close. And then he went away. But did he turn and go? Not on your life. Our N'kosi kept his eye on that snake the entire time, and slowly  backed away. None of us could  see the snake anymore......but N'Kosi kept going back over there to check out that snake. And each time, he must have still been seeing it, because he would carefully back away once again.  

Above, Apollo and Bomassa play, unaware of the danger.  Silverback N'kosi comes around the wall to check things out. Olympia, who may have alerted N'kosi to the presence of the copperhead,  grabs Apollo and takes him a safe distance away where they can watch the snake from a distance

The keeper mentioned that if the moms had seen this snake first, they would have immediately carted off those babies. But no, it was the babies who first noticed. So Apollo and Bomassa, who know nothing of the fangs and the poisonous tongues of snakes, were very much in danger. Why? Because it did turn out to be a copperhead, and because they did not have enough life experience to stay away.

Uwharrie Mountains Home to Copperheads

So that brings us to a question.......what does a zoo do to control the possibility of an encounter with a poisonous snake? At some zoos, there would be little chance of this. But the North Carolina Zoo, in the Uwharrie Mountains, happens to be the native habitat to numerous copperheads. There's no way of keeping native snakes out of the exhibits.  The animals simply have to learn. Olympia and Jamani and N'kosi clearly learned the snake lesson somewhere along the way, perhaps by an encounter with a snake bite from a harmless snake, or perhaps by observation. The boys are going to have to learn not to mess with snakes. Hopefully they can absorb this lesson vicariously,  and won't have to suffer a snake bite.  A bite from a harmless snake would be enough to ruin the day of one of our little sweeties, but a bite from a venomous snake could easily end in tragedy. Copperhead venom is not as potent as that of other snakes, but a dose of copperhead poison could kill when injected into a small gorilla baby body of only some fifteen pounds.

N'kosi watches that snake!

Proficient Reaction of Zoo Personnel Keeps the Baby Gorillas Safe

This time, since the keeper was on hand to observe this near disaster, she checked for that snake after most of us thought it had simply slithered away.  It hadn't.  She was not sure of the variety, but went to seek identification from one of the zoo's reptile experts. Before making the call, she had asked one of the volunteers to keep a close watch so the location of the snake would be known.  The snake expert arrived and confirmed the identification. That was definitely a copperhead! Next, the keeper went back to call those animals out of the area. She just called their names, and off they went, to safety. She checked Apollo carefully and found no evidence of any bite, thank goodness. Meanwhile, in went the snake expert, to place the copperhead in a bucket and relocate him to a different part of the park, far away from the animals. And that's the happy ending: due to the vigilance and expertise of the personnel at the North Carolina Zoo, the threat was removed immediately. But not before Apollo sat on a poisonous snake and lived to tell the tale.

Struggle for Dominance in the World of the Female Gorilla

Acacia Returns Strong and Healthy

but not without considerable  fanfare. What follows is a pictorial account of the roughest day I have ever observed at the gorilla home at the North Carolina Zoo. Recall that Acacia had a difficult labor Saturday July 6, with a caesarian section performed Sunday July 7. This resulted in the live birth of a beautiful baby boy gorilla, who unfortunately died two days later.  Afterwards, Acacia had a period of confinement, in order to give her time to heal.  This is the story of Acacia rejoining the troop.

Acacia returned Monday July 15, looking healthy after her surgery of a week earlier

Olympia, dominant female in the troop,  wasn't taking any chances.  Apparently she was determined to make sure that Acacia remembered who's in charge. Here she is, grabbing Acacia's head

Though not apparent here, Acacia is only a little bit of a thing.  She may be a tiny, as gorillas go, but she is not about to be intimidated by Olympia. So she raises her fist and prepares to give chase. This is far from typical for Acacia, who usually stays out of the way and keeps to herself

GO ACACIA! She bares those teeth and starts running,  and Olympia is off like a shot, baby Apollo clinging with all  his might

N'kosi, left gets involved now,  but Acacia, right, is unwilling to leave her defense up to him or to anyone. Smart girl, she continues to defend herself with a show of her teeth.

N'kosi grabs Olympia. He's fine with her fighting for top position over the other ladies, but he will not tolerate Olympia going too far.  One of his most important jobs is to keep the peace within his troop, and he's an expert

Olympia has calmed down, and N'kosi stays nearby for a little while,  to make sure she keeps it under control. The series of scuffles subsides now, after having gone on for  close to an hour, with screaming like I have never heard. This screaming is rare at the gorillas area!

During the entire time of the conflict, neither Bomassa,  nor Apollo, pictured here, ever once left the relative safety of his mama. They both remained firmly attached either to stomach or to back, even as the moms ran around chasing each other at top gorilla speed. What  a tiring ordeal for our boys! When Olympia finally came over to the straw by the window to lie down for a rest, Apollo limply crawled off her and just flopped. His eyes rolled back in his head, almost like he was about to faint. I've never seen that boy look so weary! Sometimes a baby gorilla will get badly hurt during a scuffle of this type; had Apollo  sustained some internal injury or something?  No.  I kept a watch and twenty minutes later our sweet Apollo was rested enough to get up and play again in the straw near his mother.

Hours later Olympia picks up Apollo and they go off near the wall. Jamani, left,  had been lying low during the commotion. She knows how to keep out of trouble. Even after all that time she continued to tread lightly. Usually she just strolls right on by Olympia when she wants to move to another part of the area. But not today. Jamani rose up on two feet and  ran past Olympia, keeping a wary watch on the dominant female,  just in case of another outburst.

Perhaps being the youngest, Jamani is the most submissive of the ladies, even though she is by far the largest of the three.  Bomassa, out of sight, is securely attached to Jamani's back as she hobbles by. Olympia, seated right, is unworried at this point. She has won the struggle of dominance once again. She is calm and confident and keeping Apollo safe.

Jamani gets by without incident and returns to calmly walking on all fours. You can see Bomassa now. N'kosi comes out of nowhere. He's noticed that Jamani is nervous and he is not happy; he stares down Olympia to make sure she is not going to try anything further

 After her reprimand, Olympia does not go off sulking. She gets up and walks right along with N'kosi, left.   That's the whole point of dominance. Olympia has fought for and has won the top spot. Her prize is that she and her son Apollo get to stay under the umbrella of the protection the silverback provides. But Bomassa, who knows that N'kosi has at heart the best interest of all the ladies and both his sons, looks ahead, perhaps wondering when the adults are going to calm down and get back to normal again.

Acacia is out of sight now. She has found a private little corner and is keeping to herself.  She had been the dominant female years ago, when it was just Acacia and Jamani and N'kosi living together. But when Olympia arrived from Atlanta, Acacia was immediately demoted.  And then, after her difficult labor and her surgery, and during her healing period, Acacia was apart from the troop and presented no threat to Olympia for an entire week. Olympia was clearly very nervous upon Acacia's return. Today Acacia has lost the perceived challenge, and  Olympia has reasserted her position.

Gorilla Family Trees for North Carolina Zoo

Here are the complete family trees of Bomassa and Apollo, the boy gorillas at the North Carolina Zoo. In the case of Apollo, if you wanted to visit his mother, you would of course find  her (Olympia) with Apollo, at the North Carolina Zoo. His maternal grandmother Mia Moja lives at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky. And you can still  visit Apollo's maternal great grandmother Machi, if you just travel to the Knoxville Zoo. And would you believe that Apollo's great-great grandmother Choomba is still with us as well? She's at Zoo Atlanta!

Back before that, we just don't know. At the top of each birth line, you see the names of the wild born gorillas in the lineage of the boys. We probably don't have any information at all going back further than this. It's doubtful that records were kept. We might not even know what countries the distant ancestors were found in. It was quite a shady business.  These days we no longer remove gorillas from the African bush for the purpose of exhibiting them in zoos. Most zoos refuse to get involved in the gorilla trade; they simply don't buy gorillas from the wild and instead rely on breeding programs, such as the one which resulted in the successful births of Apollo and Bomassa. At one time, zoos would purchase gorillas young enough to handle and have them transported from Africa. Thank goodness that is over. It was a gruesome endeavor, which you can read more about here in this article about Colo. By the way, as stated in a prior blog post, Colo, great grandmother to both our boys is also still with us. She and their grandmother Toni can both be found in Columbus, Ohio.

Gorilla Moms and Discipline

Discipline Breeds Respect and Affection 

Apollo is spending more and more time these days with his brother's mother. He likes her! And who wouldn't? Jamani Gorilla is calm, patient, caring and sweet. On the other hand, she's no pushover, and when Apollo gets out of hand she pulls him back in line. She'll hold his leg to immobilize him when he gets too frisky, and she'll even give him a little bite on the shoulder if she has to. Full of energy, Apollo Gorilla wears the other gorillas out!

Apollo, left, and Jamani

This little dynamo is into the go, go, go method of enjoying life. Sure, he hangs out with his mom, Olympia, when he needs a little snack. (Approaching the two year mark, he's not yet given up nursing.) And he'll remain long enough for a cuddle with Olympia at times, or take a nap on her furry self. But when Apollo's awake and wants to play, he twirls over to see big brother Bomassa, who's generally quite near mom. And that is when you can sometimes sneak a peak of Apollo looking up and gazing adoringly at Jamani.

Gorilla Family Tree: Apollo

Apollo Gorilla's got a fantastic set of genes!  

North Carolina's Zoo's littlest sweetie turned one year old just a few days ago, on August 31, 2013.In his honor we have started his family tree board  over at Pinterest. So far we've got pictures of Apollo's mother Olympia, his father N'kosi, and his great grandfather Ozzie (Ozoum), who happens to be the oldest living male gorilla in the entire world!  How do we know? Because we have a complete tally of the vital statistics of all the gorillas in zoos. As for the thousands of gorillas living in the wild, their lives tend to be some ten to fifteen years shorter. They don't have the benefit of veterinary care, and they are subject to the horrors of the bushmeat trade, as well as loss of habitat.

Apollo Clutches Mother Olympia Gorilla

Follow along with  The Apollo Ancestors Board as we try to fill it up with pictures of all of Apollo's known grandparents, great grandparents, and great-great grandparents. We'll be picturing such Gorilla Greats as Atlanta's famous Willie B, and the inimitable Colo, first gorilla ever born in a zoo and oldest gorilla on the planet. Colo was born back in 1956 and it may be hard to find photos of her parents Millie Christina and Baron Macombo. If you can point us in the right direction, say the word.

How Apollo Got His Name

Adorable Apollo often rides piggy back upside down

Baby of Olympia the Gorilla gets a name

The younger baby gorilla at the North Carolina Zoo did not have a name right away. Originally, the zoo hoped to sell the naming rights.  The zoo's baby book still reads as of this writing as follows:

Olympia, a female born in 1996, gave birth around 7 p.m., Friday, August 31, to a four-pound male baby. The infant went on exhibit with its mother the following day.  This infant is currently unnamed. The North Carolina Zoological Society is seeking a sponsor to help pay for a shelter structure at the N.C. Zoo's Gorilla Exhibit that would include the right to name the zoo’s new baby gorilla.

However, I recently spoke with the zookeeper, who reported that they had decided to go ahead and name the baby in advance of finding the donor. Apollo seemed an obvious choice, so Apollo it is. Meaning Sun God, the name is Greek, as is the name of mother, Olympia. She was named in honor of the Atlanta Olympics, having been born in June 22, 1996. At the same time, Apollo is also named in honor of his grandfather, Sunshine, who once graced the the San Francisco Zoo.  The zookeepers work very closely with the gorillas and feel much more comfortable being able to relate to Apollo by name.

Apollo Gorilla Comes to Visit Daddy

Silverback loves his babies!

N'kosi gets along great with his sons. The boys like to come over and hang out with their dad for a few minutes now and again.  Here comes that little ball of cuteness we know as Apollo, the son of the dominant female, Olympia. Due to this relationship,  the Gorilla Team and the Zoo Volunteers seem to think that Apollo is the favorite son. I am not entirely sure about that. I have seen plenty of affection directed towards big brother Bomassa, but here we see Apollo, at the age of not quite ten months, sauntering over. He looks like he is walking, though he is actually using all four limbs. Gorilla babies can walk pretty ably on two feet from a young age, and I guess that's because they have those marvelous long arms to steady them, so they can practice quite easily all by themselves. Anyway, Apollo walks on past and then N'kosi does what he does so often. He puts his finger near a certain region and then he smells it. In this way, N'kosi keeps track of the scent of both his boys.  Every time I have seen one of the boys with N'kosi, he has checked that aroma.

Baby Gorillas in Action

Here's a video of the gorillas of the North Carolina Zoo taken by b palmento, a major fan of the adorable Bomassa and Apollo and the rest of their family. Some nice basic footage which shows you how the gorillas behave on an everyday basis. A few notes, so that you know a little bit about who is who and what is happening. The video starts with Jamani coming down from the tree, Bomassa on her back. Then we have Olympia following, with Apollo on her back. Next we see Acacia enter from stage right. At about 1:30 we see Acacia approaching and climbing the tree. At 1:52 we see Jamani give a little hop as Olympia barrels in from the right. Olympia is dominant, and sometimes Jamani appears a little scared of her and makes sure to clear out of her way. Jamani is the biggest of the three lady gorillas. Therefore her deference to the smaller Olympia is surprising, an interesting dynamic to observe. At 2:54 we see Apollo hopping down from the rock he has climbed. As the son of the dominant female, he is always asserting himself over his big brother. So he climbs up on the rock to the get the upper hand. But then our sweet Bomassa bares his teeth and strikes out, causing Apollo to leap down and go away. Highly unusual! If you have been reading this blog for a little while, you know that Bomassa sometimes runs to mama for safety. It's nice to see him standing his ground against that little tyke Apollo!

For even more interesting videos about the gorillas check out the YouTube stream of b palmento.

The Intelligence of Gorillas

Gorillas know their colors

and they can learn sign language. They can even learn to understand the names for their various body parts. But put an enticing toy ring on a tree, and you just might find gorillas completely puzzled, at least when they're only about two years old. The wondrous reality is that you can observe the gorillas using their intelligence to try to devise a way to get a toy that looks attractive. Such was the case recently when I visited Apollo and Bomassa at the North Carolina Zoo. Each day, the keepers bring in some items for enrichment, so that the animals have something new to think about, something new to touch, to carry, to play with, to fascinate them. On this day they had brought in large black plastic rings, scattering some here and there on the ground.  I would not be surprised if the keepers had tucked some food into the sides of those rings. It's entertaining for the gorillas to manipulate an object, but even moreso, if there is some food to be had in the process. But not all of the rings were within reach. The keepers had placed one ring at the end of a log, those crafty devils! And the baby boys were fascinated!  They tried and tried to get at that ring, and to knock it down.

First, Bomassa looked up at that ring for the longest time, as you see in the top photo. And then Bomassa skillfully climbed up that log, going almost out to the end, but stopping short. I thought he was going to reach his hand out and flick that toy off the tree, letting it fall below. But instead he grabbed the ring and manhandled it, trying to pull it towards himself. That did not help at all with the mission! So Bomassa climbed back down, and then Apollo copied his big brother and did exactly the same thing. And he got the same result, leaving the ring exactly where the keepers had placed it.

As you can see in the last photo, Bomassa is standing right under the ring. I wonder if this is coincidence, or if Bomassa has figured out that if that rings falls when he is there, he is going to be the one to get it, even though Apollo did the work. Anyway, the boys gave up and attended to other boy gorilla matters, such as finding some food in the brush, and checking in with their mamas now and then. But the allure proved too much, so later they tried again for the ring, using an entirely new method. All will be revealed in next week's post. If you are signed up for email, you will be the first to know! Look for the Follow By Email box over in the right hand column.

Bomassa looks wistfully at the ring on the end of the branch

Bomassa and Apollo took turns

Apollo gets close as Bomassa observes from below

Gorilla Boy with No Fear

Apollo Gorilla jumps right in

He still is loving to go bother his brother, who still generally hangs out near mom. Here you see the back of the daring boy. He has just jumped on top of Bomassa who is snuggling with Jamani. The fearless younger brother Apollo got a little frisky, apparently, because Jamani is using both of her big feet to grab hold of Apollo's little foot. She did not succeed in keeping him at bay, and ended up standing up trying to fend Apollo off. She smacked at his face a few times, but desist he did not. So she grabbed Bomassa and ran off with him in search of some peaceful corner. It will be fascinating to watch how Jamani manages when Apollo is older, bigger, and stronger.

How Can You Tell Twins Apart?

Same Father, Different Mothers
Bomassa and Apollo are not twins, they're half-brothers. Yet, it is next to impossible to tell them apart at this stage, when they are still only very small. Do both of the pics on this page show Bomassa? Are they both Apollo? Or is there one pic of each? I am pretty sure they are both Bomassa! No, maybe that's Apollo in both. No wait, it's Bomassa, it has to be.

Actually, I do know that the photo above is Bomassa. And how do I know this? Because Bomassa is securely attached to his mother Jamani's back, and I could see her face clearly before I cropped the photo.  Apollo is always being held by or tightly holding onto his mother Olympia.  And Jamani is always holding or otherwise attached to her dearie, Bomassa. Well except for that one incident a few pages back in the blog.  As for the photo below, I have no way of knowing. Does that look like Bomassa to you? I think it might be. But no, surely this one is Apollo, right? Oh never mind, don't ask me, I seriously don't know. 

Researchers are able to tell gorillas apart by their noses. A gorilla nose print is just as distinctive as a person's fingerprints. The shape and the wrinkles of each nose are unique. Maybe as the boys grow it will be easier to tell them apart. I hope so, because I am really looking forward to getting plenty of pics when they start to romp around  with each other, and I want to be able to tell you which is which!

Danger! Gorilla Escape

Escaped Gorilla on the Loose

Here's a scene we'll not see again. Jamani clutching Bomassa.  When park rangers drove by the Forest Glade early this morning, the four adult gorillas were fast asleep in the straw,  and six month old Apollo Gorilla was bouncing around having a grand time on the climbing structure.  His big brother Bomassa was gone. At about ten pounds, he's just a little bit of a thing and hard to keep track of, so at first, it seemed  maybe the little gorilla boy was just hiding or maybe having a swim in the pond. But later in the morning, during training sessions, the truth came out.

Bomassa is sick and tired of milk

Acacia Gorilla spilled the beans. Bomassa's gone,  she told officials with sign language gestures she has learned over the past few years.  I had recently told him the story of how I just about climbed outta here a couple years ago. Darned if he didn't seem fascinated, but I didn't think much of it at the time,  she admitted sheepishly.  Maybe I shouldn't have been discussing that kind of thing with a child,  but I am just a gorilla. So how was I supposed to know? Officials persisted in questioning, but Acacia maintained her matter-of-fact composure.   This morning when I opened my eyes for a sec, I saw that little white patch on his butt,  disappearing over the wall before I dozed off again.  Zip! There he went.  He's an able climber now, and he's tiny enough to get past that electric wiring up there. He just slipped right up and over and  through. Anyway, get over it already. I am having a baby in September, so it's not like Apollo will be lonely or anything.

Investigators proficient in gorilla sign language were flown in from California,

and immediately began questioning the rest of the troop. Olympia, the dominant female in the troop,  was annoyed by what she sees as needless commotion over nothing,  and  quipped  that her son Apollo is puh-lenty cute enough thank you. In her estimation, one gorilla baby is more than adorable enough for all of North Carolina. I'm not so sure North Carolina is big enough for all these gorilla babies, she said. It's not really that big a state.

Nkosi the silverback was so distraught he was unable to answer any questions or perform certain other functions. As zoo goers know, Nkosi makes presents for his son. He is constantly showing  affection for both Apollo and Bomassa. He's taking it hard and wishes he had not given Bomassa such a stern look last month. Four hundred and ten pounds of sobbing gorilla daddy is a sorry sight, sources tell ZooBabyBlog.

Naturally, Mother Jamani is destroyed, but she expects to get over this bump in the road quickly.  Jamani lamented that  she needs a rest. Half the time he is  climbing up me or grabbing my boobs.  That hurts!  And he is always clinging to my legs when I  am trying to beat Olympia to a prime head of lettuce. Boy slows me down, I tell you. Jamani complains that she is exhausted from  trying to keep track of bouncing Bomassa.  It's not easy being a  milk factory. You wonder why I nap half the day, well it saps my energy. People expect way too much of me. After Bomassa got kidnapped a few months back, I have to keep that boy under wraps every minute of the day. A mama gorilla gets tired, says Jamani.

Apollo might have the best information of all, as he and his half-brother Bomassa were born in the same month of 2012, and are very close. They communicate telepathically because their moms don't let them play much with each other.  Bomassa was mad because he never got anything good to drink around this place. Milk is not as tasty as you might think, he pointed out.  I don't know why you people don't put in a soda machine or something.

Weighing a Baby Gorilla

An Ape's Maternal instinct is enough to keep a gorilla mother from handing over her baby to the zookeeper  So she won't do it, even when keepers need to weigh the baby to be sure he is thriving. Apollo is doing just fine, weighing in at about twelve pounds as of last week. But wait, how can we know that if Olympia is not anxious to share that bouncing bundle?

Olympia cradles Apollo

As a routine, the keepers will weigh the adult gorillas. And they are able to record a mother's weight when she happens to be holding the baby.  Then if she is still on the scale when the little gorilla decides to step away, keepers quickly look at the scale again. They make note of the amount,  and do a little subtraction to find the weight of the baby.  Apollo will be six months old at the beginning of March, making him slightly younger than his half-brother Bomassa. Yet he weighs more.  Even stranger given that his mother Olympia is the smaller gorilla. How is it possible that Apollo is heavier?  The two moms, Olympia and Jamani, were pregnant simultaneously, but there is no way of knowing who was actually pregnant first, and whether their gestation periods were exactly eight and a half months long, or not.   Other factors come into play as well, so who knows.   Maybe it is time for a growth spurt for Bomassa.

Baby Gorilla Fight

Here's another look at how Bomassa and Apollo are tussling with each other these days. On this particular day, little brother Apollo seemed to have had the upper hand much of the time. The boys got together three or four times during the day, for short periods of scrapping; Apollo was very often on top of the baby gorilla pile! Here you see Apollo with his hand on Bomassa's head, appearing to be in charge. Though he's a little heavier than his slightly older brother, the boys are well matched and enjoy each other immensely.

What happens when gorilla brothers get older and are reunited after a they are apart for awhile? Here's a story about just that. These young gorilla men Kesho and Alfie, both born at the Dublin Zoo, clearly never forgot each other, even after a three year separation.