By the time we got ready, picked up lunches, etc., and got to the zoo we had 15 minutes before we needed to leave and take Morgan to her class. We decided to go see the baby chimpanzee since we had so little time and he is so much fun to watch. Also, Morgan hadn't seen him before. He was born on July 2nd last year. We had been at the zoo that day and were told that the chimp was getting close to having her baby. The baby was born later in the evening after the zoo closed.
The baby chimp is still really small even though he is almost a year old. As soon as we got there, we were all watching him and really excited to see him which turned out to be the start of a really incredible experience!! An older gentleman started talking to me about the chimps. There was one sitting next to the glass and he told me that one is 27 years old and the brother of the baby chimp. I started asking more questions and he started telling me more stories. The man used to work closely with the chimps and he was especially close to the 27 year old one. He said that he got to know him when the chimp was 2 1/2 so they've known each other for more than 20 years. I asked the man if the chimp recognized him when he comes to the zoo and he said that he does and that is why he is sitting right next to the glass. He says that whenever he arrives, the chimp runs up to the glass and does a dance for him. This man has a friend that used to work for the Wichita zoo who is now head of the Honolulu zoo. His friend convinced him to write a paper about his work with the chimpanzees. The man thought it wasn't very good, but others loved it. Because of this paper, he even became acquainted with Jane Goodall. He told me that Jane Goodall asked him to look for opportunities to share more information with people about chimpanzees when they are acting interested. That is why he started up a conversation with me! Another thing he told me was that it takes chimps 7 years to reach maturity -- so I'm inferring from that the baby will still look young for a few more years -- awesome!! We only spent 15 minutes at the zoo, but I'm telling you it was the best 15 minutes I've ever spent at a zoo!! While I was having my conversation, the girls were having fun watching the baby and taking pictures of him!
We then took Morgan to her cake decorating class. She did it with one of her friends and had a great time. The bottom part of the cake that is kind of messed up was courtesy of me. I brushed it with the box when I opened the box so I could take pictures. Morgan was NOT happy with me!! Morgan is saving her cake to give to Mark for Father's Day!
The baby chimp is still really small even though he is almost a year old. As soon as we got there, we were all watching him and really excited to see him which turned out to be the start of a really incredible experience!! An older gentleman started talking to me about the chimps. There was one sitting next to the glass and he told me that one is 27 years old and the brother of the baby chimp. I started asking more questions and he started telling me more stories. The man used to work closely with the chimps and he was especially close to the 27 year old one. He said that he got to know him when the chimp was 2 1/2 so they've known each other for more than 20 years. I asked the man if the chimp recognized him when he comes to the zoo and he said that he does and that is why he is sitting right next to the glass. He says that whenever he arrives, the chimp runs up to the glass and does a dance for him. This man has a friend that used to work for the Wichita zoo who is now head of the Honolulu zoo. His friend convinced him to write a paper about his work with the chimpanzees. The man thought it wasn't very good, but others loved it. Because of this paper, he even became acquainted with Jane Goodall. He told me that Jane Goodall asked him to look for opportunities to share more information with people about chimpanzees when they are acting interested. That is why he started up a conversation with me! Another thing he told me was that it takes chimps 7 years to reach maturity -- so I'm inferring from that the baby will still look young for a few more years -- awesome!! We only spent 15 minutes at the zoo, but I'm telling you it was the best 15 minutes I've ever spent at a zoo!! While I was having my conversation, the girls were having fun watching the baby and taking pictures of him!
We then took Morgan to her cake decorating class. She did it with one of her friends and had a great time. The bottom part of the cake that is kind of messed up was courtesy of me. I brushed it with the box when I opened the box so I could take pictures. Morgan was NOT happy with me!! Morgan is saving her cake to give to Mark for Father's Day!
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