I just wanted to update everyone on the San Diego Zoo’s Gabrielle’s crested (or red-cheeked) gibbon, Gaby, and her new roommate, Chui (see post, Gibbon: New Home for Gaby). He arrived on May 8, is seven years old, and is Gaby’s baby brother! Gaby and Chui lived with their parents and other siblings at the Wild Animal Park. When Gaby was four, she left her younger brother to come to the Zoo; now, almost five years later, they are back together again.
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You may think most newborn monkeys would blend in with their mothers. However, with silver-leaf langurs it is quite the opposite: their babies are a beautiful bright orange! There are several theories as to why this is; unfortunately, it is unknown which theory is accurate.

Theory 1: It makes it easy for the mothers to find them, as young langurs like to explore. They can sometimes travel a little too far away from their mothers. Being bright orange, their mothers can easily spot and retrieve them.
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Installment #6
Read Installment #5, Little Guenon, Big Step

By early March 2009, Gigi was making the transition to Wolf’s guenon life well. She was obviously fully accepted by devoted sister Mimi, tolerated by her stoic father, and her older brother Dru was as gentle and tolerant as we could reasonably hope for. Things were not perfectly harmonious, though. There were times when Gigi’s mom, Fifi, would show some behavior that was concerning to us.
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Gibbons are monogamous and, unlike most primates, they maintain a matriarchal society. The natural living arrangements for gibbons are a monogamous pair and their young offspring. When the offspring are mature, they will take cues from their parents and leave in search of starting their own family. The stronger the family bond is between the parents and their young, the more confident they are. They will be more vocal, more defensive of their territory, and more protective of their young. This is reflective of a strong, thriving family of gibbons.
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Meet our new silver-leaf langurs! Aden, our resident male, is brave, outgoing, and adventurous. He lives with four females: Tevy, LiLi, Adamena, and Zoe. Tevy and LiLi are mature and attentive to the younger langurs; Adamena learns a lot from Tevy and LiLi; Zoe is our youngest and smallest, timid yet curious.
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Installment #5
Read Installment #4: Little Guenon, Big Sister

Things continued to go well for Gigi. The relationship between Gigi and her sister, Mimi, was consistently positive, as was her relationship with brother Dru. Most of the time, mom Fifi was patient with and even affectionate toward Gigi. However, we occasionally saw Fifi separate the two girls when they played with each other or sat together, encouraging Mimi to nurse from her briefly. Sometimes, Fifi would carry Mimi away from Gigi. It seemed as if Fifi was unsure about this new relationship that took up so much of her older daughter’s time. Even though we didn’t always understand the dynamics of what was going on with the new family, the Wolf’s guenons did and were working things out among themselves.
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At the San Diego Zoo, 11-year-old lowland gorilla female Azizi was trying hard to care for her firstborn baby. Frank, a healthy male, was born September 4, 2008. Azizi, who was hand reared, was cradling the infant and keeping him close to her body to provide warmth. Though Frank weighed in at a whopping 2.46 kilograms (almost 5½ pounds, big for a newborn gorilla), he still had not been observed nursing by the second day of life. Animal care staff intervened to assess the situation. Frank’s blood glucose was low, as was his body temperature. After correcting for these conditions, we returned him to his mother, but Azizi refused to pick him up. Clearly we had to take over for Azizi, at least temporarily, but we were determined to only help Azizi with Frank while promoting and preserving their early bond. We were careful to never separate the two as we cared for Frank. (See blog, Gorilla Born at the San Diego Zoo.)
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Installment #4
Read Installment #3: Little Guenon, Big Exhibit

Gigi was adjusting well to her daily visits to the San Diego Zoo’s Monkey Trails habitat, so we began to increase the time she spent with her family. Her day was now challenging and full. Following a morning weigh-in, Gigi received the first of four bottle feedings at 6 a.m. Then she was packed up and taken to Monkey Trails by 6:30 a.m, not to return to the Children’s Zoo nursery until late afternoon. Her family was anxiously awaiting her arrival and gathered to welcome her. Gigi spent each day in the company of guenons; even her bottle feedings were accomplished remotely without handling. Gigi nursed from her bottle, which was fed through the wire mesh, then went happily about her other activities. Many improvements to her relationships began to surface.
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Installment #3
Read Installment #2: Little Guenon Gets Acquainted

The exhibit that houses the Wolf’s guenons in Monkey Trails at the San Diego Zoo is beautiful. It is lushly planted and embellished with various leafy vegetation, climbing structures, pools, and grassy areas for rest and play. The exhibit is also very tall and hilly, offering our guests two-story viewing. These exciting exhibit elements are enriching for the guenon family and our guests, to be sure, but can be problematic for a youngster who does not yet “know the ropes.”
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Installment #2
Read Installment #1: Little Guenon Gigi

When Gigi was two weeks old, we had essentially eliminated all the obstacles of her socialization. Gigi was eating and gaining weight well, was bottle adapted, and could hold her body temperature outside of the incubator environment. She still relied upon a heat disk to keep her toasty when outside or in a cool room.
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