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| This is my birthday, and all I get is this dang CARROT?! (Photo by Erik S. Lesser, European PressPhoto Agency) Another Amazing April Birthday! |
Ozzie was part of the original group of gorillas who arrived at Zoo Atlanta from Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center in the 1980's. He joined another gorilla at the Atlanta Zoo who had been there since 1961 by the name of Willie B. I have written of my memories of Willie B. before. If you would like to read that post you may read it here. These two gorillas had something in common: they had not been born into captivity but had been born free in Africa. The news film that was shown when Willie B. was let out of his cage and was able to walk outside for the first time was one of the most moving scenes I have ever witnessed.
If you ever get the chance, spend some time observing these animals. Willie B. died in 2000, but some of his descendants still live at the Zoo, along with Ozzie! Do you have any fond memories of visiting a zoo that you would like to share?
Oh, this reminds me, I can't remember if I told you that I saw the movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", but I really liked it very much indeed. Have you seen it? Why doesn't Andy Serkis get an Academy Award? He deserves one! Click on the following "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" if you want to know more. (One of the characters in the film is from the Harry Potter movies, but he is all grown up and I ALMOST didn't recognize him. Now, you will have to watch the movie to see who it is!)
Oh oh oh, Ozzie must know Ivan.....the gorilla that inspired that book that I LOVED....The One And Only Ivan (I posted about it back in early March)!!! I bet those two are tight friends!!! You know I LOVE THIS POST!!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I do remember your post about Ivan! Thanks for reminding me, since I want to read that book! So glad you like this post Audrey! (I keep telling you that you are my HD!)
DeleteAw happy birthday Ozzie! What an amazing animal -- his build, his expression -- just perfect. I've always enjoyed visiting the zoo (though I realise there is some debate on the advantages of keeping animals in captivity). No particular fond memory sticks out, but I do have to share this one -- seeing two GIRAFFES start having sex right in front of my father and me. He led me away fairly smoothly lol...
ReplyDeleteI saw the same thing with the giraffes at the London Zoo!
DeleteHave you ever seen the movie "Gorillas In The Mist"? If not, search it out and watch it. It is based on a true story and it is heartbreaking.
We visited Atlanta Zoo some 25 years ago. Kate was very young and I seem to remember that the zoo was being modernised then. There was a beautiful Polar Bear there - the first "real" polar bear Kate had ever seen and now she has seen them in the wild - we had no idea then that she would grow up to travel constantly and see almost all "zoo" animals in their natural habitat. We also saw Willie B and were captivated by him. Looking back, I realise that we were very lucky indeed to see such beautiful animals.
ReplyDeleteThank you for jogging my memory once again Kay. x
Oh yes, the bear exhibit was small but it meant that you could see the bears very well. In fact, one of the Zoo employees was found to have eaten one of the bears! That was a very low point. After that, the zoo went through a transformation, and has much more natural habitats and much more caring people involved!!
DeleteI am glad that you remember Willie B.!!! If zoos can make people understand and apppreciate all the creatures in the world, then it is serving a good purpose.
Thanks for your comment, Pat! Hope you and your hubby are enjoying long walks on your beach with your sweet dog!! xx
Really? No! How could he have eaten one of the bears.
DeletePat,
DeleteI know it is hard to believe but it really did happen. He also ate some of the rabbits too. Dreadful business, but thankfully, that is all behind us now! Zoo Atlanta is a very nice zoo now and was a place that we often visited when our son was young!
being a Georgia girl, I remember visiting Zoo Atlanta and seeing Willie B. I remember when he got to go outside for the first time after the Zoo was modernized. Fond memories, thanks for reminding me.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the zoo at Grant Park in Atlanta, I remember it from when I was a kid too! I loved your photos from Callaway Gardens, with you in front of the azaleas! I hope to get to Callaway sometime this spring or summer! I want to see the butterflies!
DeleteWe have a very nice zoo, and of course we've been to the Audobon Zoo in NOLA where i grew up. My favorite part of the zoo is the bat house! They are such amazing creatures.
ReplyDeleteI love bats too! In fact, I truly want a bat house, to encourage them to be closer to my house. They eat so many mosquitoes, I love them!
DeleteI love to see them flying just before the sun goes down, they will sometimes skim over the water of a swimming pool.Fascinating creatures!
What beautiful creatures apes are. And I loved the zoo in Tokyo. The animals there looked healthier than the ones in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteYes, I also find them beautiful and fascinating!!
DeleteI would love to visit Japan, and Hawaii for that matter!!
I love to think about these wonderful animals and how zoos have made their environment much better. But I wish they could be safe and have all they need living in the wild. Unfortunately that doesn not seem to be the case.
ReplyDeleteZoos are better now but I am the same, I also wish the animals could be free, living where they are supposed to be. I think that is why I feel so much for the animals like Willie B. and Ozzie, who were born wild.
DeleteLove the photo of you and the bluebell wood. My husband is English and he loves the bluebells too. In fact, he started planting them around the base of a large tree in the backyard (garden, if I'm going to carry on in an English vein!). This morning I looked out the kitchen window just in time to see our happy little beagle dancing around on top of the bluebells while she was trying to catch a squirrel. Oh well. Maybe the plants will survive and be nice next spring! xoxo
ReplyDeleteYes! I love bluebells too! That bluebell wood kindly was late blooming in 2010, so I was able to see them!!
DeleteYour happy beagle made me think of Snoopy dancing!!
Never mind, I am sure they will survive, plants really do try very hard to live.
(And I do the same, I have to remember to say "garden" instead of "yard" when I am in England!!) xx
Happy Birthday, Ozzie! What a handsome fellow.
ReplyDeleteAnd he looks pretty strong too, right? :-)
DeleteWhenever I see gorillas or orangutans at the zoo, it makes me so sad. I feel like I'm seeing a soul that would so much like to be free in the forest.
ReplyDeleteAnd when a gorilla looks into your eyes at a very close range,it is something you never forget!
DeleteThese gorillas that I have written about were born free, so that makes it especially sad.