The Great Apes

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The Great Apes

• Lorraine Engel

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OBSERVED

• Western Lowland Gorillas
• - Silver Back
• - Black Back
• At the National Zoo
• Meeting the Subjects

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BARAKA

• Largest Male 375 lbs
• Silver Back
• Born to Haloko and Gus, 1992
• Energetic
• Aggressive

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KWAME

• Male
• Sub-Adult Teenager
• Black Back
• Born to Mandara and Kuja, 1999
• Curious
• Runs and plays with other males

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KOJO

• Smallest Male
• Youngest Juvenile
• Born to Mandara and Kuja, 2001
• Hyperactive
• Aggressive, egged on, Baraka
• Playful

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HALOKO

• Oldest female zoo has had estimated birth 1967
• Born in the Wild
• Largest female in group
• Graying hair on back
• Moves slowly
• Calm

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MANDARA

• Smallest Female in group
• Has six offspring
• Born 1982
• Recently gave birth to a girl
• Known as super mom

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KIGALI

• Female
• Born to Mandara and Gus, 1994
• Half-sister of Kojo, Kwame, and Baraka
• Has reddish hair on her head
• Can be aggressive, play with the boys
• Can be calm

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KIBIBI

• Newborn female
• Born to Mandara, 2009
• Curious
• Very Playful
• Stays near her mother
• Name means little lady in Swahili

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OBSERVATIONS

• Three categories of behaviors
• - Solitary
• - Mother and Infant
• -Group Interaction

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SOLITARY

• Eat hay straw or green plants
• Swing on ropes and trees
• Play with ball
• -Stick their fingers into the holes like it was
  a bowling ball
• Throw up food and eat it
• Release feces into hand and eat it
• Sit against the glass and stare at people

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MOTHER AND INFANT

• Kibibi would try to wander, but Mandara always
  pulled her back
• Mandara kept Kibibi away from others
• Kibibi would always hold onto her mother when
  exploring the area around her
• Mandara was very protective over Kibibi

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GROUP INTERACTIONS

• Wrestling
• Running around and chasing after one another
• Kojo tries to egg on Baraka
• Baraka would shove Kojos face or run over him
• Play biting
• Barring teeth when wrestling
• Interactions/Behaviors were mostly aggressive or
  playful

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OTHER LITERATURE

• Christopher W. Kuhar,
• The size of a crowd makes a difference in how
  gorillas behave.
• Studied a group of ten Western Lowland gorillas
• Bachelor group four gorillas, family group six
  gorillas.
• During a large crowd the bachelor group was more
  aggressive than the family group.
• During large groups, gorillas were less visible.
• The observations from the National Zoo coincided
  with these findings. When a big group of people
  huddled up to the glass the gorillas would sit
  calmly. Also, the males were much more active
  than the mom and her baby.

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OTHER LITERATURE

• E. C. Blaney and D. L Walls
• Crowds of people cause stress on the gorillas
  which result in aggressive behavior.
• Put up a camouflage barrier for the experimental
  condition, the gorillas were unable to tell that
  people were watching them.
• The control condition was a regular viewing
  house, gorillas could see people.
• Their findings showed the Western Lowland
  gorillas were more aggressive during the
  controlled condition, that a large gathering of
  people leads stress and in turn results in
  aggressive behavior.

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OTHER LITERATURE

• A. Blom, C. Cipolletta, A. Brunsting, H. Prins
• Research done on gorillas in the Central African
  Republic studied the affect of habituation of
  tourism on their behavior.
• One group of gorillas was studied for three
  years.
• Found that in the beginning tourism lead to
  vocalization, fear, and aggression.
• As time passed the gorillas habituated to tourism
  and having people around which results in the
  gorillas ignoring the presence of people.
• Perhaps some of the gorillas are more habituated
  to people watching them, at the zoo, and
  therefore they ignore the presence of onlookers
  and are calm.

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OTHER LITERATURE

• Jennie Y. Crosby and Kristen E. Lukas
• A mother gorilla and her eight month old baby
  were transferred from a four member group to an
  eight member group
• Researchers studied the effect of introduction
  in mother-infant behavior.
• Found the infant and mother spent a great deal of
  time away from each other.
• The infant would stay close to the mother or
  reunite their contact, however the mother would
  often leave the infant and hardly ever reproached
  the infant herself.
• The observations at the zoo showed the mother
  never leaving her child and if the child wandered
  to another gorilla Mandara would pick up Kibibi
  and take her away.
• She was extremely protective of her.

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SOURCES

• Blaney, E., Walls, D. (2004). The influence of
  a camouflage net barrier on the behaviour,
  welfare and public perceptions of zoo-housed
  gorillas. Animal Welfare, 13(2), 111-118.
  http//search.ebscohost.com
• Blom, A., Cipolletta, C., Brunsting, A., Prins,
  H. (2004). Behavioral Responses of Gorillas to
  Habituation in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park,
  Central African Republic. International Journal
  of Primatology, 25(1), 179-196.
  http//search.ebscohost.com, doi10.1023/BIJOP.
  0000014649.15973.3a
• Kuhar, C. (2008). Group differences in captive
  gorillas' reaction to large crowds. Applied
  Animal Behaviour Science, 110(3), 377-385.
  http//search.ebscohost.com, doi10.1016/j.appla
  nim.2007.04.011v  
• Lukas, K., Hoff, M., Maple, T. (2003). Gorilla
  behavior in response to systematic alternation
  between zoo enclosures. Applied Animal
  Behaviour Science, 81(4), 367-386.
  http//search.ebscohost.com, doi10.1016/S0168-1
  591(02)00237-X
• National Zoo Park, S. (2009). Great Apes and
  Other Primates. Retrieved October 11, 2009,
  from http//nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Primates/

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THE END