Last week our pal Hasani, the Western Lowland Gorilla at San Francisco Zoo, made headlines. His adoptive Mom Bawang picked up a boy's dropped Nintendo DS and began to try and figure it out. Photographer Christina Spicuzza was on hand to record every moment. Bawang wasn't so eager to share "her" new toy with Hasani. That didn't stop the curious little fellow from trying to get a game in before the DS was safely returned to the boy by keepers.
First, a boy dropped his Nintendo NDS into the Gorilla enclosure. Bawang was more than happy to swoop it up and investigate.
It wasn't long before Hasani had to see what was going on.
Bawang tried to figure it out.
That way didn't work, so she flipped it over.
Then they held it really close to their eyes hoping to see something through it.
"OK Mom, let the pro try!"
Photo and Video Credits: Christina Spicuzzi
Above Photo Credit: Eva Thorensen / San Francisco Zoo
Hasani in his infancy at the SF Zoo. No stranger to human games like Peek-a-Boo.
Earlier this week the San Francisco Zoo introduced some of their newest, and smallest, friends to the public. First we have two baby Emperor tamarin twins who will spend the next few weeks clinging tightly to mom's back. This species gets its name from the regal mustaches of adulthood. Secondly we have a feisty black-tailed prairie dog pup. Prairie dogs are a type of highly social ground squirrel that live in huge "towns" made up of countless individuals across hundreds of miles. They often make "house calls" on neighbors and greet each other by touching noses, which looks an awful lot like Eskimo kisses.
In May of 2009 we brought you the story of a baby gorilla named Hasani who had been abandoned by his mom but was adopted by a surrogate mother, Bawang, at the San Francisco Zoo. Today we check back in on mother and baby to find that they are doing very very well. In the first pictures, mother Bawang is tickling little Hasani.
Photo credits: Marianne Hale
This last picture is actually Hasani with Aunti Nneka but you get the idea.
Raised by keepers since birth in December, experts at the San Francisco Zoo decided to introduce baby Hasani to his new surrogate mom, Bawang, yesterday. After a few cautious hours, the two got along wonderfully as you can see in this touching video.
ZooBorns has been following little Hasani since he was just 9 days old. Here's a reminder.
Surrogate gorilla mom Bawang has raised three offspring of her own and has proven to be a outstanding mother. Keepers noted that Bawang's handling of Hasani was very gentle and clearly demonstrated her natural maternal instincts kicking in.
SAN FRANCISCO (April 2, 2009) – Today, the San Francisco Zoo is proud to announce the birth of a reticulated giraffe calf to proud mom, Kristin.
This is Kristin’s third calf and marks the sixth calf sired by Floyd at the San Francisco Zoo. This is the second giraffe birth this year for the herd. A female named Bititi gave birth to a calf, Camilla, on January 26, 2009.
Remember our friend from the San Francisco Zoo? Born on December 8th of last year, the baby gorilla boy abandoned by his mother is doing fine and now he needs a name. San Francisco Zoo is hosting a contest to give him one.
Prizes for the winning name include:
Zoo Family Membership for the zoo closest to the winner's place of residency
Large Gorilla Plush
Framed photo of the infant gorilla with a footprint
Thirty
minute Live Q&A with a gorilla keeper (either in person, via phone
or internet depending on location of winner)
More contest details are below the fold as well as a lengthy and adorable video...
This past Monday mama Bititi gave birth to her second calf at the San Francisco Zoo. Giraffe gestation lasts between 14 and 15 months and the female gives birth standing up, a six foot drop for the calf’s grand entrance into the world. Newborn giraffes can be up to six feet tall when born. Life span for a giraffe is between 20 and 25 years in the wild and up to 28 years in captivity.
Photographer Susan Pettitt caught these kangaroos coming nose to nose with a wild squirrel just the other day at the San Francisco Zoo...
Meanwhile, at the Artis Zoo, A.J. Haverkamp comes through again with some heart warming photos of Dayo the gorilla baby coming face to face with a meerkat and her own baby...
Momma meerkat valiantly protects her babe, but we suspect Dayo is "meer"ly curious...
SAN FRANCISCO (DECEMBER 9, 2008) – The San Francisco Zoo is proud to announce the birth of a male baby western lowland gorilla, born Monday, December 8 at 11:30 a.m. This is the first gorilla birth for the Zoo in a decade and plays a contributing role to the conservation efforts taking place for this critically endangered species through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (AZA, SSP). This is the fourth successful gorilla birth in North America this year.
photos courtesy of Amy Frankel and the San Francisco Zoo
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