Monkey's in the Zoo
Yesterday I posted about my thoughts and feelings regarding my recent trip to the Calgary Zoo and how conflicted and uneasy I felt about the animals living there and the real purpose of a zoo.
This post I going to talk about one specific interaction I had and what I took away from that encounter.
Gorilla's and monkeys are similar to humans in many ways, emotions, family bonding, aggression and dominates just to name a few. As I was touring the zoo I came across the Gorilla habit. This area was fairly large and had six or seven gorilla's housed inside. Most were laying about or sleeping however one was very active.
This particular gorilla was walking around with a piece of burlap wrapping itself in it and tossing it around in the same fashion a child might with a blanket. I though this might make for a good image so I moved from the upper viewing area to a lower one to photograph this particular behavior. Unfortunately I missed the shot and by the time I got there it had put the cloth down and was munching on some grass.
I managed to capture a couple of images before it got up looked at me through the glass and then hammered the glass with its fist. I am not an ape expert but I definitely felt the utter dominance and "don't take my picture" feel from this action.
I wasn't afraid but I got the message. Immediately after there was a man watching what had just unfolded around the corner from where I was and the gorilla ran right over to him and stood in a very dominate stance towards him.
This whole situation and the aftermath really struck a cord with me and my views on animals in captivity. I started to question every behavior that I saw and what was the cause. Was this Gorilla just asserting its dominance? Was this a reaction to being put on display? I don't know but either way the entirety of the situation really caused me to think about everything that I had seen.
Monkey's watching monkey's...
I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings.
Thanks for reading and I'll be posting more on this as the week progresses.
Scott
For more stories and images - http://www.scottstevensonphotography.ca/
As you know as your one of my followers, I’m a zookeeper. Looking at your lovely photographs of the animal in question he/she looks healthy, potentially an older ape, and the encounter you witnessed i believe is a sign of dominance. They are so like us in many ways and get agitated very easily. Usually zoos have one way glass for large apes for this reason. They read our facial expressions so much more easier than us that if you were smiling for example, he might have seen that as a dominance sign and told you off for it. It’s hard to tell by what you have written as I wasn’t there. I hope that you can see why we have animals in captivity these days, the wild isn’t safe and there is hardly anything for these animals to go back to as we have destroyed it. Captive species are an insurance policy for the future and for reintroduction programs- zoos don’t breed for fun there are species cooridinators that control breeding populations of animals. Sadly as a species, we have destroyed everything on this planet and will continue to do so that these amazing creatures will continue to suffer. Even being a keeper I don’t wish for my animals to be in captivity but as long as I ensure that they are well fed, have the best veterinary care, have a wonderful life exhibiting the same behaviours as their wild cousins, I can keep them busy with enrichment and also help bring new life into the world to save a species then I can go home each night without worrying. I hate it when zoos are tarnished yet no one is willing to actually do something about it. Frustrating to say the least. Anyway, love the photos looking forward to seeing more.
Love that you left a comment, thank you. Great to read.
Incredible post continue going brother dont know were gorilla originating from however dont think it has an association with human .
Very interesting post.
Great photos you made here! I also like your tag/logo :>
Zoos are really disgusting. I am all stand against that kind of animal captivity. Why we make them amuse us? Curious scientists already going to their natural habitats to observe their behaviour etc. Why is captivity then? Amusement for people? This is sick. They should have been closed down for good. I feel sad and angry at the same time when this subject comes on table. Damn.
Nature is really beautiful,, and you are lucky being there and seeing all that.
It is great post. I am still upset that we have places like zoo's were animals are kept in small places far away from the natural habitats...I know far away from perfection.
I'm really torn on the issue of zoos. On the one hand, I believe the majority of zoo employees genuinely care deeply about the animals they care for and want them to have the best lives possible. On the other hand, no zoo can every replicate the wild and therefore the animals aren't living the way they were designed to live.
I love Gorillas, and would love to have the opportunity to see them in nature. They are so smart that I truly believe that those we observe in captivity can't reflect true gorilla behavior. It would be like judging human beings by only watching inmates in a jail yard... great photos though, the light makes them look so pure. Thanks for sharing!
Great photos and content!!