The door opens for
the first time!

Through sheer luck, Jim and Linda Davis were at GH on their twice yearly volunteering visit, so they got to witness Oliver’s first day out, as they’d done in April 2004 when Joe was let out into his part of the habitat. We all tried to imagine what Oliver would do and how it would compare to Joe’s first day out – especially since the gorillas are polar opposites in nearly everything from food favorites to behaviors.  Joe is neat and tidy like the Odd Couple character, Felix Unger. Oliver is messier in a typical gorilla way, like Oscar Madison.  Joe is very laid back and calm and loves visitors (especially men).  Oliver is hyper sensitive to change and new faces, and needs a lot of time and reassurance when visitors come. (Even to me, Joe is often grumpy, whereas Oliver is as sweet as he can be.)

And after a couple of minutes, Oliver finally decides to venture outside

And then goes out exploring his new surroundings

Joe surprised us all when he rocketed outside onto the grass when he was let outside. We half expected Oliver to do the same thing, but instead, Oliver did what most of us thought Joe would have done, which is more of what you’d expect a gorilla to do, when faced with a new environment or experience:  He hesitated.  For the first few minutes Oliver just sat at the newly opened door, looking out. We had about 5 people on top of Emma Villa’s observation deck, and perhaps that was one factor in his caution.  Steuart and our volunteer Gordon, were on scaffolding with cameras at one end of the habitat and I was by one of the wall windows, so we had several vantage points.  Finally, Oliver hopped out, but kept a hand on the door, ready to run back in, if spooked. 

Oliver enjoying the view over the Blue Ridge Mountains

Jane has a moment with Oliver at a viewing window

Over the course of the first 10 minutes or so, Oliver stayed on the concrete apron around the villa, and finally laid one foot on the grass, while keeping the rest of his body on the apron, as reassurance.  Oliver would look up to see his observers and carefully scan the newest part of his world, seeing me by the window, where I’d opened up the tic-tac doors** to take photos better.

** This is an historic joke, since I’m known for feeding tic-tacs to gorillas around the world (orange flavored ones), as treats.  As impossible as it seems, neither Joe nor Oliver has ever had a tic tac at GH, however.  But the mesh openings allow us to pass food through to a gorilla or dart them, if necessary, and the name “tic tac door” stuck... in the photo on the left, look closely and you'll see a red cherry tomato I'm feeding Oliver.

View towards Silverback villa (Joe) from door at Emma Villa

An impressive bipedal (2-legged) display

Finally Oliver did a few magnificent run-by displays, stopping to see me as I nodded to reassure him, and going towards Steuart and Gordon on the scaffold, as well as to the other side of the villa, towards Pitchou Villa.  He stayed on the upper part of his hillside habitat, however, and occasionally would run back into the villa, where all the doors were left open, so he could choose where he wanted to be.  The second day, Oliver spied one of the facility cats, Greeni, who jumped up at the viewing window by Pitchou Villa, surprising Oliver and his observers.  David Hall, one of the maintenance workers, was by the window too, and Oliver spent quite a bit of time watching him. I drove up and joined the ‘party’ and opened the tic tac doors, to offer Oliver his favorite cherry tomatoes, which he accepted, quite calmly.  When the food was gone, Oliver remained by the window, sitting with his back against the wall, soaking in the sun and fall beauty, before returning inside his villa.

Oliver finds treats in a box

Oliver and Joe have now seen each other from across the habitat, but so far haven't exhibited any overt interest

Oliver first sees Joe with box hanging from his mouth

Initially we only let one of the silverbacks out at a time, but after a week or so, it was clear there was no problem letting both boys have outside access, since they are far enough away from each other that they hardly even notice the other is out there. The photo on the left is a great historic view of both GH silverbacks outside at the same time, even though Joe's just a tiny grayish-black blob in between the trees and harder to make out.

We were having someone observe Oliver and make notes as to how he uses the habitat and what he does, when he has outside access. However, Oliver has been reluctant to come or stay out and we're re-evaluating things, based on what Oliver's behavior is telling us. Saturday November 4th was mild, after a cold start, and I brought my laptop up to Emma Villa to work on my book. Since I was there, Kelly and I decided to let Oliver have outside access, and for the first time since he was let outside, we observed new behaviors, which we believe could be attributed to a variety of factors.  I was sitting in the safety porch, and not up on the viewing platform, where other observers have been, and offered Oliver some bread, after opening one of the 2 doors into the habitat.  Oliver calmly walked outside and got the bread. Later Kelly joined me, bringing Oliver's lunch, which she threw outside onto the grass. Oliver calmly went outside and for the first time, sat in the grass eating his lunch, looking around him. A little later, Oliver strolled along the concrete apron around the villa to the other side, where we could see him looking at the 2nd door which was closed, before continuing down to the Pitchou window, where he hadn't gone since the 2nd day out, before walking back to sit near Kelly and me. Finally, he did a wonderful show-off display and returned inside his villa for a nap, but it was the first time he (a) ate calmly outside, instead of grabbing food to quickly return inside; (b) strolled to the other side of the villa, instead of running/displaying there and (c) looked over towards SB villa while Joe was also outside, perhaps seeing him, but not showing any signs it mattered to him one way or another.

We know Oliver is incredibly intelligent and athletic and want to be sure he knows where the hotwire fences are, before we let him outside without someone watching. Cameras will be installed later, but for how, we're using volunteers. So far Oliver has avoided going anywhere near the fencing, so perhaps he remembers hotwires from his previous time in zoos, he’s not interested or he’s just biding his time, until no one is watching him (or so he thinks!). The weather has been mild and sometimes windy, and Oliver has surprised us by not wanting to spend much time outside – even to retrieve his lunch time feed and special treats we put out to encourage his explorations. After Saturday's change in behavior, and calm, relaxed use of the outside, I'm thinking Oliver doesn't like the new faces above him. The observation decks on tops of the villas are designed to watch gorillas in the main habitat, not the ones in the villa itself, since gorillas don't like people/threats to be overhead.  Since Oliver is so sensitive to strangers, especially ones above him, we'll re-think who observes him when he's outside, to make sure going out is a pleasurable experience for him.  As it is, it’s Oliver’s choice and we’re not locking him outside or forcing the issue and allowing him to let us know what he wants to do. I also suspect the habitat is too open and vast and he may feel vulnerable, so when we add habitat ‘furniture’ and climbing structures, we’ll incorporate some areas to provide shading and cover, which will hopefully encourage him to explore more.

Oliver is Magnificent!

Oliver often prefers to be inside (here with a sheet around him)

Note the scale of silverback Oliver, outside Emma Villa

Above, Joe chilling on the apron of SB villa; below on a popcorn search.

Don’t Forget Joe Too!

A week after Oliver’s first foray outside, it was beautiful and mild weather and we had a volunteer able to stay as long as we needed them, so we decided to let Joe have access to his part of the habitat at the same time Oliver had access to his.  Kelly sprinkled popcorn on the grassy area near Silverback Villa and initially Joe didn’t want to go outside, since the winds had picked up.  But the lure of popcorn was too strong and Joe ambled outside and we had some wonderful opportunities to watch him from the top of Emma Villa across the whole habitat.  I yelled over to Joe, who looked across the habitat at me, aware I was there, but more interested in his popcorn search.  When it was clear Oliver didn’t want to go outside again (after he never even came out to his outside cages for his lunch), we shut his doors to his part of the habitat and let Joe have access the rest of the day.  Joe clearly enjoys spending times outdoors, soaking in the sun, and perhaps Oliver will one day too.

Welcome Peter B!

One of our volunteers, Peter Burvenich (left with Kelly in doorway), has been recently hired to assist our maintenance staff part of the week, and to do animal care duties under the supervision of Pete and Kelly the rest of the time, which helps everyone.  Peter has worked with primates in zoos, but is learning about gorillas and both Joe and even Oliver have accepted him as he helps feed them and clean their villas, when not working with the maintenance crew.  Now it gets so confusing since we have two Pete’s, two Randy’s and two David’s working for or with GH.  I wanted to call him Fred, but we decided Peter B would be how we’d distinguish the new guy from Pete Halliday, who’s just Pete.  Peter B just got married and his wife works at the Kangaroo Center in Dawsonville, along with Kelly’s husband, Jeremy, so it’s a small world after all.

And a BIG Thank you to Harry’s Farmer’s Market in Marietta, Georgia

In a previous update we told you about how Harry’s selected Joe as a mascot and were holding barbeques during the summer to raise funds to donate to Gorilla Haven, in addition to the produce and food they donate.  From my initial conversations with Harry’s, I thought we’d get a couple hundred dollars, perhaps.  On October 17th a group of Harry’s employees came up to see Joe, who enjoyed the visit, and also to present us with a check for $1,110.35!  This money will be sent, in its entirety, to help gorillas in Africa, which is where most of the donations we receive as a non-profit charity, go.  Thank you, Harry's!!