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.

Follow Zoo Much Information over at Google Plus for the latest news.