As we finish the first phase of our gorilla training, I have noticed an amazing improvement with all ten of the gorillas living here in the San Diego Zoo’s Gorilla Tropics. Each gorilla has mastered a minimum of five behaviors, ranging from an open mouth presentation (so we can look at their teeth and gums) to offering a foot for visual and manual inspection. There is always a physical barrier between keeper and the gorilla: 2-inch (5-centimeter) bars that run along the inside of their bedroom areas. These bars allow minimal contact if one of the gorillas decides he/she wants to play “grab the keeper,” but at the same time allows us to safely have some physical contact for medical procedures or training.
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It has been unexpectedly hot and humid in San Diego recently, which has prompted a lot of questions about the well-being of the giant pandas in the warmer weather.

San Diego County has different microclimates, many of which can be found within our Zoo! The Zoo’s Giant Panda Research Station is located in a canyon in the coolest part of the Zoo. On any given day, summer or winter, it’s about 10 degrees cooler there than up on the front plaza. Sea breezes come up through the canyon in the late afternoon, and the trees and tall bamboos growing around the panda exhibit provide lots of shade for bears and visitors alike.
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I know many of you are anxious for news of Bakari and Abena, Oshana’s cubs at the Wild Animal Park, and several of you have posted questions (see Marcia’s previous blog, Lion Cubs Named.) I will do my best to fill everyone in! First of all, I am pleased to report that the lion babies are progressing beautifully. They are much more mobile, have begun to interact with their surroundings and each other, and become more coordinated every day. In the last week or so the cubs have been showing interest in the enrichment items we provide: climbing in and out of cardboard boxes and playing with dried palm fronds (these make an intriguing sound when pounced on!). Oshana’s tail has also become an attractive toy. They have been showing some interest in Oshana’s meals, as well. It shouldn’t be long before they will be ready for a little solid food.
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Yvette is writing a series of blogs about each orangutan at the San Diego Zoo. Her previous blog is titled Karen: Will She or Won’t She?

Every morning the orangutans participate in some form of morning training sessions or exercises on their way to the Absolutely Apes exhibit. So far, all the orangutans except the big male, Clyde, have gone through. It is almost 9 a.m. and the siamangs have not started to sing yet. If they start singing with Clyde still inside, he bangs his bedroom door as if telling the neighbors to turn it down. If they start singing while he’s heading to the chute, he moves slowly and looks towards their bedroom when he arrives at the end of the hall. Once in the chute, he won’t let me close the door. He just wants to go out. Those days, I let him out quickly, along with anyone else who may still be inside. But today the siamangs are sitting quietly, so it will be a relaxing training session.
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This blog topic was prompted by Megan, a 7th grader who posted a comment on one of my previous blogs (see Smelly Koalas). She said that she has always wanted to help koalas since she was in 1st grade and she wanted to know what she could be doing to help them. This really hit a chord with me, because I was just like Megan at that age. I actually started working with animals at the age of 7 at a local Nature Center and the rest is, well, history. I have always been passionate about animals and I know that it is not always easy to figure out how you can help. And we tend to think that the only way we can help is to be hands on, so I thought I would help Megan and every other passionate animal person out there like her, whether you are 7 or 70 years old, and let you know what I think is one of the most important things that every one of us can do to help animals.
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Yvette is writing a series of blogs about each orangutan at the San Diego Zoo. Her previous blog is titled Janey Exercises Her Keeper.

The orangutans have been very good about participating in the morning exercises on their way out to the San Diego Zoo’s Absolutely Apes exhibit. So far Indah, Cinta, Josephine, Satu, and Janey have gone through. This leaves Karen and Clyde. It is close to 9 a.m. and so far the siamangs have decided not to sing and I haven’t heard Unkie warming his voice up, which he does by making “ump” noises and inflating his throat sac.
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On Saturday, our lion cub pair here at the Wild Animal Park’s Lion Camp will be one month old. They continue to grow and thrive and are becoming more mobile. They are coordinated enough now to play clumsily with enrichment items, each other, and mother Oshana’s tail on occasion. Today during one of the cub’s active periods they each in turn explored a flattened cardboard box given to Oshana as an enrichment item. For some reason known only to her, Oshana proceeded to drag the box along the floor, giving the babies ” toboggan rides” until they tumbled off. Eventually she ended the game by sitting on the box.
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Su Lin is only seven weeks away from her first birthday. It’s hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly. Nearly a year ago, she was a tiny, helpless, hairless creature sequestered in a den and totally dependant upon her mother for warmth, sustenance, and comfort. Now, she’s a capable black-and-white bundle of tree climbing, rough-and-tumble energy.
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In the last few days the pool in Bai Yun and Su Lin’s exhibit at the San Diego Zoo has returned to its proper function as a pool. Keepers had been placing bamboo for the giant pandas in the drained pond after early concerns that using it for water while Su Lin was a small, unsteady cub could pose a potential hazard for her. It was a common place for Bai Yun to recline and eat. Bamboo is now placed to the side, and the pool contains water once again.
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The title may be a little misleading – these bats have no wings! They are a litter of bat-eared fox kits, born several weeks ago in the Wild Animal Park’s Heart of Africa habitat. The kits recently began taking their first tentative steps out of the family burrow in the exhibit they share with the warthogs.
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