Zoo Observation

Female Gorillas

Gorillas are knuckle walkers, have opposable hallux., and are herbivores. An interesting about the gorillas at the L.A. Zoo is that the male was originally placed in the enclosure with only one female and only started mating when they brought in the second female.

Male Silver Back Gorilla

Patrolling the area and protecting his females. The male is distinguished by his size and color. Gorillas have both sexual dimorphism and dichromatism.

The OrangutansOrangutans have long arms built for brachiating. There is definitely sexual dimorphism in orangutans. At first glance it is difficult to notice the female orangutan laying down by the feet of the male.

Mating OrangutansThe other female orangutan had recently given birth but neither she nor the newborn were out with the other two orangutans. We did on the other hand get to see the other two mating. We were told that normally, when trying to reproduce, orangutans only mate in a specific position. We were also informed that rape is very common in wild orangutans.

SiamangWe could hear these guys singing long before we got to their exhibit. Siamangs have inflatable throat sacs to help them magnify their voices. When we came close to their area they were yelling to signal their territory.

Chimpanzees

At first glance it was amazing how similar the Chimpanzees are to us. Not only because they are primates but because they lay around like we would if we were bored. Maybe the inactivity has something to do with the fact that all of the chips in the exhibit were males.

Gibbons

The mama gibbons and her baby are brown. All gibbons are born brown to blend into their mothers fur. When they grow up a little they all become black but the females change back to brown when they are sexually mature. Here is the mom and her cute little baby.

Leaping Lemur

Lemurs are classified as prosimians meaning before primates. They are believed to have branched off before simians had evolved. They show features more common with other animals. They have a wet rhinorium and don’t have nails or claws on their fingers.

Squirrel MonkeysThese monkeys started begging when we got there.

Emperor Tamarin