Sailor's Grip

How to hold your baby

We have so much to learn from gorillas. Maybe that's why I like watching them so much. I have never once seen Jamani pick her child up by the hand. We humans do that all the time, but maybe that's not so smart.  Jamani lifts Bomassa many times a day to put him on her back so she can move with him to wherever she needs to go next. But does she reach for his hand? Not on your life. No, she always grabs the entire forearm.

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This is so much less risky.  Were she to hold only his hand while lifting, his body weight would drag him down at the same time as she's pulling the hand up. This could result in dislocation of the wrist.  Bad idea.   But she always knows to grab a good portion of his arm as she hoists him up over her shoulder so that he can latch onto her back. This is pretty close to what is known as the Sailor's Grip.  People who work on boats learn that when they need to grasp each other for safety, or to pull one another up on deck, they are better off grasping forearms rather than just holding hands. It's a much more stable hold.

Jamani lifts Bomassa

Acacia Gorilla is Getting Big

Gorilla gestation lasts eight and a half months

Using that information,  and a pregnancy test conducted awhile back, NC Zookeepers have a pretty good guess on a due date for our precious Acacia. They gave her a physical last week, including sonogram. Result:  confirmation that July looks promising.    But look at that huge belly already!  Gorillas have a bit of a gut naturally. Their intestines  are extra long.  All that extra tubing allows them to extract nutrition from the tough stuff they are always munching on, including tree bark, tough leaves,  and other fibrous substances.  Those intestines don't exactly  fit into a nice flat belly,  so even a very fit lady gorilla sports a bulge. In pregnancy, this effect is even more pronounced. 

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Fingers crossed. Born January 14, 1995, Acacia is 18 years old and this will be her first baby.  For a first time mom, delivery can be a rough experience, not always successful.  Assuming all works out, what do you think we'll have? Another half-brother for Apollo and Bomassa? Or will we get a little girl gorilla this time?

Maternal Instinct Rages Forth

Gorilla mother keeps baby safe

Bomassa is lolling around in the grass, enjoying a little freedom amongst the weeds, and I am getting ready to take the cutest shot, when suddenly........PANIC!  Jamani Gorilla springs into action the fastest I have ever seen her move. She grabs up her son lightning quick; I was lucky to get any shot  of this at all.    She swings her right hand out to scoop him up at the crotch, ripping up a bunch of grass as well. At the same time she slips her left arm under his to get a secure hold so she can move him quickly out of the path of danger.
 

Look at that that mother go!

Something has scared her, but its unclear what. This devoted mother was definitely reacting to a sudden scream coming from the gorillas congregating further back. Different people at the window saw the event in different ways, and I did not see it at all, so I can't say for sure who was squabbling with whom, or why.  Usually everyone gets along very well, but sometimes they have a disagreement, always very quickly resolved. With six gorillas in residence, it's impossible to watch them all at all times. Anyway Jamani, amazing mom that she is, is doing a great job keeping her boy safe.

Gorilla Training

No spoiling the children

When Bomassa is not hanging out right next to mom, or riding on her back, or sleeping on her chest, he might be romping around on the grass, or climbing a little tree, or teething on some celery. But sometimes, he is having a little training.

Bomassa sits at the knee of Jamani

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The gorillas need to learn to accept the various medical procedures which are required from time to time, such as the occasional shot or the application of a sonogram instrument. At this young age, Bomassa may not be getting much exposure to those particular specifics in his training sessions, but he's getting used to the process nonetheless. Jamani will take him over to the right spot when training time comes. She knows if she goes when the keepers call her, she is likely to get a few bites of kiwi, one of her favorite foods.

There's a grate between the gorillas and the trainer. When Bomassa arrives, he uses his opposable toes in conjunction with his long and strong arms, and quickly rises right up the grate. He's a terrific little climber already!  When he gets too high, Jamani will grab him back, but mostly she is very good about letting her baby learn how to do what gorillas do.  He will position himself carefully and grab on with various combinations of feet and hands. When the keeper holds out a piece of  kiwi, Bomassa will reach his left arm through a hole in the grate, and try to grab that piece. But the trainer won't give him one bite of kiwi until he pulls his arm back to the other side and waits a little more patiently. We can't be spoiling our baby gorillas!

Milestone for North Carolina Gorilla

Baby Gorilla Chest Pound

Exciting times at the North Carolina Zoo! Bomassa Gorilla, now eight months old,  has started to beat his chest!

In lieu of video, I give you a collage of six shots of him practicing this maneuver.  He does not quite have it down and is still working on his coordination.  I am not entirely sure that he is making any noise. Typically, a male gorilla will beat his chest with cupped hands, not with fists. This creates a loud sound, which serves to scare off an intruder, or to let a challenging gorilla know he has stepped into the wrong territory. Sometimes the chest beating is used as a means of communicating a gorilla's whereabouts to the rest of the troop. As yet, I have not observed Bomassa's little brother Apollo beating his chest, and nor have the keepers. But it won't be long. Remember, the two gorilla boys were born in the very same month!

Gorillas soon to be Blackbacks

Jamani carefully helps Bomassa down 

Here's Jamani very gingerly helping Bomassa to get down a few months ago.  This won't be happening for long, I shouldn't think.  Bomassa and his half-brother Apollo are getting pretty adept at getting around now. When I was there recently, he was grabbing that fur and climbing up her body so he could go for a ride.  Pretty soon he'll just be jumping off when he is ready to go. I  have missed seeing the boys for the past few weeks. Some days it's been too cold (they won't come out to play if it is not warm enough at the zoo). And there's been some travel and other issues.  I am ready to go back! Have to get out there before Apollo and Bomassa are already blackbacks!

Egg-Stravaganza at North Carolina Zoo

Olympia's taking good care of Apollo. We see her here holding him, but she is also letting him run around and play a little these days.   I wonder if Apollo helped himself to an Easter Egg recently during the Egg-Stravaganza, when the North Carolina Zoo presented the gorillas with some  treat-filled papier-mâché eggs .  WUNC tells us this was part of an enrichment program designed to mentally and physically stimulate the animals, allowing them to find and play with the treats and experience the tastes and smells. As part of the same effort, this is why the gorillas have different enrichment objects placed with them each day.

If you visited the zoo Easter weekend, perhaps you saw either the gorillas or other animals going after those treats which had been carefully placed in their living spaces by zoo personnel. Did you post a pic to Instagram? ZooBabyBlog will be very fortunate if you let us know.  We'd like to see it. Some bloggers didn't get to visit the zoo this weekend to see the fun times.