GH
Critter Update
 |
We’ve had a tough year and
things continue to be bittersweet here at GH. On May 24th we had to
euthanize our oldest dog, 15 year old Ginger, whose death is still felt
daily. The kitties who used to share the front porch with Ginger (photo
left, taken two days before she died, as Barney and
Shelley greet a weakened, feeble Ginger) have more or less disbanded, and the
back deck kitties continue to be scarce except at breakfast, fearing the
return of the bobcat or whatever killed Cicero, Cinder and Kelele kitties.
Then last week Belle kitty didn’t come for her
routine treats one evening, and when she wasn’t at breakfast, I knew I had
to look for her. By that evening we found her, almost comatose, in a corner
of her favorite spot near CG and Midnight. She was limp and cold and I
thought maybe dead, but I rushed her to the vet, where they diagnosed
diabetes and kidney failure, even though she’s only 6 years old. We could
manage her diabetes with insulin shots twice a day, but the kidney failure
meant she was terminal, so after 8 days at the vet hospital (photo
right), with only
little improvement after fluids and intensive care, we made the difficult
decision to let her go to kitty heaven on July 28th. Her brother, Benny, is
the GH “C.A.T.” or Chief Attitude Trainer. She and
Benny (photo left, soon after we got them in
November 2000) were abused as tiny kittens, being tossed like baseballs by
some local kids, until friends “stole” them and gave them to us. Belle
always was scared and wary of people, but warmed up after years of knowing
she was loved and wouldn’t be hurt. Benny is our most outgoing kitty, so
it’s funny how siblings from the same family and same abuse turn out so
differently. Rest in peace, dearest Belle. |
 |
 |
Earlier in the day I ended
up rushing Belle to the vet’s, I agreed to take 3 tiny
kittens from a litter of 7. So our newest family members, named
after Oliver’s favorite treats, are bringing smiles and laughter after the
tears and sadness of Belle. Mango is the only boy, with insta-purr and
a feistiness and stubbornness that will do him well in the future. His
two sisters, Papaya and Kiwi, both had some eye gunk and all 3 had fleas and
were tiny for their age (about 6 weeks old), but they’re doing well, being
slowly introduced to the front porch kitties. When Mango first saw the dogs,
he hissed, spit, growled and puffed up to twice his tiny size (3/4 of a
pound!), but all three are slowly getting to know the big doggies and other
kitties are their new family and nothing to fear. Kiwi, the runt, is
the most affectionate and Papaya, or Poppy, is the most independent. It’s
amazing how you can see their distinctive personalities so young.
The left photo shows Mango, Kiwi and Papaya peeking out
of the gazebo by Lake Bwindi, as we take them on explorations of their new
home.
|
 |
Sad
Farewell
On July 28th I learned
of the death of Linda Howard, who was a tireless campaigner for monkeys and
all primates in captivity and around the world. Her website,
www.aesop-project.org, is on
the GH web links page, with a wealth of information about many primate
issues. Linda was a regular at IPPL meetings and always my ‘go-to’ resource
when issues of monkey welfare came up. I can’t imagine a world without her,
but I guess we’ll now have to. May she rest in peace, knowing how many
others she inspired to continue to fight for animals and the world in
general. Rest in peace, dear Linda, with all your animal friends surrounding
you.
Joe
Update.
 After Joe’s 15Apr06
procedure, we thought we might have beaten the problem with his
regurgitating food, but after a brief reduction, the regurging is back. We
had a meeting with our vet team and it looks like we’ll have to do another
procedure on him to help expand the stricture in his esophagus, which is
most likely where the trouble is coming from. Biopsies from the last
procedure didn’t show any cancer, but there is a wart-like growth plus the
stricture, which could be where food is getting trapped, causing the
regurging, which is involuntary, and NOT like R&R (regurgitation and
reingestion) seen in captive gorillas, which is self-induced. Joe’s been a little grumpier than usual too.
We’ve controlled his weight loss with supplements of some of his favorite,
more caloried food and Ensure-like drinks, and we’ve tried cutting food in
smaller pieces, spreading it around more over his villa and over time, etc.
to find a way to help him keep down what he still readily wants to eat.
He’s even banged the mesh at his beloved caregivers Pete and Kelly, when
food wasn’t given fast enough, which was usually only reserved for me and
people he didn’t like! Our next plan would be to do another endoscopy, and
use a balloon-like instrument to expand the stricture and thus (hopefully)
open up the esophagus to reduce the hindrance of food going down. This is
done in humans and it’s our best hope of helping Joe, since surgically
removing the growth or fixing the stricture would be highly risky and the
recovery time would be next to impossible, since you can’t tell a gorilla to
lie still for a few weeks while he heals! Please keep Joe in your thoughts
and prayers. He’s looking great and acting as charming as ever, most of the
time. The photo on the left was taken of Joe during a visit of guests, and
is a great example of his sweet face when he's interested in his guests.
Photo is courtesy of Tom and Dorothy Heitjan.
Joe & Harry’s Farmers Market in Marietta, Georgia
 About 3 ½ years ago, I went
to Harry’s, a local, upscale farmer’s
market-type store in the Atlanta area, to ask about them donating produce for
Joe. At the time, their lawyers said no, they couldn’t donate anything, but
I guess I made an impression on one of the staff there, who finally figured
out a way to help GH and Joe. Since Harry’s became part of Whole Foods,
each store is challenged to find ways of making a difference in their
community and/or the environment. After voting on several projects, Joe and
Gorilla Haven were selected to be the Marietta store’s mascot and recipient
of their fund-raising efforts! Some of the team members visited GH and met
Joe, bringing the first batch of donated produce, which is most
appreciated. Now we just have to figure out a way of getting the food from
Marietta to GH, which is about an hour and three quarters drive each way.
If
there are any Atlanta-area volunteers who could help us, please let me know!
Oliver, the Charmer
 Oliver and I have bonded quickly and I will confess to be totally
smitten with the fellow. I didn’t see him for over 2 weeks when I was in
Europe, and when I returned and he saw me (wearing a mask, since I’d just
been on a germ-filled-plane), he snubbed me for almost 10 minutes, refusing
to come see me, but peeking out through the plastic door flaps, fighting his
anxiousness to see what treats I’d brought and his annoyance at my long
absence. Finally, he came out and I offered some freshly picked
blackberries from our garden, and all was forgiven. Unlike Pete and Kelly,
who feed, train and clean for Oliver, my visits are usually more social
calls, with special treats to help him put back the weight he lost during
the move to GH, and as a fast growing teenager, who moves constantly,
figuring out his new home environment. Oliver’s calm and interested when I
visit, except if there are strangers with me, which has been frequently
lately. After several attempts to introduce Oliver to visitors, ranging from
13 year old girls to men and women in groups of 1 to 7, I think we finally
figured out how to make Oliver calmer and more confident when strangers come
to visit.
  We’re not open to the
public, but contractors are here and zoo professionals and colleagues visit,
so Oliver has to realize new faces aren’t anything to fear. Initially, he
started grinding and chattering his teeth, his arms would shake and he’d
refuse to come near anyone, getting more agitated if people entered the
inside of the villa. It finally dawned on me, that if people met him through
the safety porch of the outside cages, he was more comfortable, and
furthermore, if I stood up against the mesh, he’d come up behind me (using
me as his protection, perhaps?), look at the guests and accept the food we’d
offer, calmly and with minimal displaying. The photo on the left above shows
Oliver looking at our guests, with me there to help him hide
(photo courtesy of Tom and Dorothy Heitjan). Naturally, as a teenage male
gorilla, displaying and showing off is normal and what you’d expect, so we
still get to see his wonderful displays, which are now as they’re supposed
to be – confident and cocky, instead of fearful and angry. This method seems
to work, but Oliver prefers our time one on one, which hasn’t been that
often lately, since things are so hectic here. When given the choice of
grabbing blackberries himself in bulk, or being hand-fed the berries one by
one by me, he chooses being hand-fed, and he stares at me with his
milky-chocolate-creamy eyes that just melt my heart. But it’s not about me
and Oliver, but about Oliver being a gorilla and we’re hoping the Gorilla SSP will remember to keep Oliver in mind when doing gorilla moves, since
this boy definitely would benefit with more gorilla company. Since Joe is
happy being alone and would NOT benefit seeing Oliver, we’re hoping a young
gorilla could be introduced to Oliver, if he’s not able to have his own
family group for a few years. Meanwhile, we’re trying to keep him
entertained and happy, which is a fun challenge, since he’s so incredibly
smart. He loves blankets and sheets and carries them around like the
Peanuts' character, Linus, so
donations of old
sheets or towels would be most welcome. Below is a series of
photos of Oliver with a new blanket given to him by one of our staff; above
left is classic Oliver holding onto his towels and sheet pieces.
Photos are courtesy of Kelly Maneyapanda and Randy Ray.
Oliver the Engineer
|
 When Kelly was cleaning
Emma villa a couple weeks ago, she came back inside the villa and found the sink’s
faucets running full blast. Since we’re all still getting used
to the routine of having twice the gorillas to care for, she just assumed
she’d left it running, and shut it off, continuing her cleaning. When she
returned, the faucets were running again and Oliver had this smirk on his
face (ok, that last part I’m adding to the story!). So Kelly shut off
the water and ducked outside, but peeked back in to see what was going on.
As soon as he thought he was alone, Oliver picked up a stick of browse, and
skillfully poked it through the mesh and pushed against the handled faucet,
turning the water back on! Kelly just laughed, but made a mental note to
give Oliver shorter branches of browse in the future!
Another time, Pete came
into the villa and found one of our bullet-cameras out in the service
corridor. This was before the cameras were operational and they had been
temporarily set up in the outside cages out of finger-grabbing range, but
that didn’t stop Oliver, who miraculously managed to dismantle/destroy the
camera, ripping it from its bolted box (again, we think using a stick of
browse). But the funniest thing to me was the fact that Oliver took the
camera and all the pieces and brought them inside and tossed them under the
mesh into the service corridor, to make sure we found them right away. He
could have just ripped the camera off and thrown it in the hay in the
outside cages, where we’d find it when we cleaned. It was as if Oliver
wanted us to know how clever he is. I must confess, I was duly impressed!
We’re now going to work on
a system of gorilla-proof buttons for Oliver, so he can control his
environment a little. We’re still in the very beginning stages, but ideas
include buttons to turn lights on/off, operate a bubble-blowing machine, run
water (on a timer, so it shuts off), turn on his TV, etc, etc. Meanwhile,
Kelly’s made an enrichment item of nuts and bolts that Oliver can manipulate to get honey or peanut butter off them,
since it’s clear, this boy needs to be kept busy
(photo bottom right)! When
given a treat log stuffed with apricots, Oliver's fat fingers couldn't pull
the apricots out, so he tried other ways of getting the treats out,
including brute strength
(photo top right), knocking it, and even tool use!
He grabbed a cardboard paper towel tube and ripped it and tried jamming it
in the holes to knock out the apricots
(photo center right).
All four photos are courtesy of Kelly Maneyapanda.
|
 |
Construction Update & a Few Staff and Volunteer Photos
 The group building’s
steelwork is being bid on and we’re hoping that will soon be underway, as
well as the two remaining villas, Pitchou and Bonz villas. The photo
on the left shows the group building as it now stands, waiting for the steel
work and finishing out (walls, electric, plumbing, etc). If you’ve been
following this website for the past several years, you’ll know we’re never
able to quite make the deadlines we think are reasonable, due to so many
different factors, but hopefully we’re learning to anticipate delays and
we’ll keep to our schedule better from now on. After all, this is the first
gorilla facility we’ve built and 100% of the visitors who’ve seen it
firsthand agree, it’s simply amazing, comprehensive and well thought-out and
well planned, so we’re slow but doing it right! As Steuart would say, if it
was easy, everyone would do it! Meanwhile, there's never any lack of
projects for our crew and
volunteers, shown below in these photos!
.jpg)
.jpg)
From left to right, Gordon Hewett (volunteer,
originally from Australia, Gordon is a regular weekly volunteer willing to
help with just about anything we ask him to do, with a big smile and great
efficiency); Randy Ray often helps Kelly conceive and create
enrichment ideas, like the nuts and bolts contraption shown here and above,
with Oliver; Randy Soble and David Hall complete our
maintenance crew, as jacks of all trades! JoBeth Vaughn (volunteer,
who drives from Canton - about an hour away - to help us around the cabin or
in the facility. She also helps with our rescued dogs, taking them when I
travel, if we're overloaded), Pete Burvenich (volunteer, who's been
helping Pete and Kelly with gorilla villa cleaning, driving almost 2 hours
each way to do so!)
|
This has been a long, hot
summer at GH as well as in Europe, where Steuart and I went to attend the 6th
(or 5th depending on if you count Brookfield Zoo’s Great Ape
Conference as one) International Gorilla Workshop in Paignton/Torquay,
England. The Gorilla Workshop is always a great venue to meet gorilla
caregivers, researchers and students from around the world, sharing ideas
and experiences and getting to know one another better, in our common goal
to help gorillas in captivity, as well as in the wild. After the workshop
ended, Steuart headed back to GH, but I stayed on an extra week, and toured
some English and Irish Zoos, seeing 104 gorillas at 8 zoos in 3 countries in
9 days of the 15 day trip! GH Board member and former gorilla caregiver, Ian
Williams, drove me around England and Dublin Zoo’s curator, Gerry Creighton,
Jr., drove me around Ireland and Northern Ireland, so I traveled in style
with my own “chauffeur” making the time even more fun. Except for the
bomb scare at Dublin Airport on July 4th, canceling my flight
back to England, where I was connecting to my USA-bound flight, things went
smooth and it was a great trip, although I was happy to be home.
The photo on the left was taken from an internet story
about the bomb scare, which didn't get much coverage outside of Dublin.
