Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: primate

So sweet ..... "Smart, gentle and peaceful" are the words used by the Calgary Zoo below, and I think these three words describe well the animal in this photo. Taken at the Calgary Zoo on 21 September 2015. The IUCN status of Lowland Gorillas is "Critically Endangered". "There’s always something fun going on in the Calgary Zoo’s gorilla exhibit. Smart, gentle and peaceful, our gorillas form part of a close-knit family, called a troop. Kakinga, a giant male silverback gorilla, leads the troop gently, but firmly and the youngsters’ boundless energy always guarantees a show as they play, swing, climb and forage for food. Kakinga is a valuable member of the Gorilla Species Survival Plan not only because of his amiable personality, but also because his genetics have added valuable diversity to the North American population of gorillas. Lowland Gorillas come from lowland tropical forests of Cameroon, Gabon and Congo, Africa. Western lowland gorillas live in dense and remote rainforests, preferring swampy areas with dense, leafy growth. In the wild, populations of western lowland gorillas are under siege, having dropped more than 80 percent in just three generations. These gorillas face exceptionally high levels of hunting, disease and habitat loss. Western lowland gorillas live in groups, called troops, with complex social structures. Troops are led by dominant, older adult males, called silverbacks because of the silver hair that marks the otherwise dark fur on their backs. Troops also include young males, several females and their offspring. Silverbacks are responsible for organizing their troop’s activities – eating, nesting and moving around their home range." From the Calgary Zoo website. Link to a fun video (2:09 mins) from 2011, of one of the Calgary Zoo's Gorillas "break-dancing". This Gorilla and his brother had to be moved to another Zoo, as they did not fit in with Calgary's male silverback. youtu.be/yLHmt3YFuXQ www.calgaryzoo.com/animals/mammals/gorillas

This is an old photo from my archives, taken on a very overcast day at the Calgary Zoo, on 17 October 2009! I've had this image in one of my "To maybe post on Flickr" folders ever since, avoiding posting it because it's not a sharp photo. Late last night, I grabbed it .... and here it is : ) Before I took this photo, there had only been one White-handed Gibbon at the Zoo, but then a mate was brought in from another Zoo. I remember all that time ago, I was talking with one of the zookeepers and she told me that the Gibbon was her favourite animal and that soon they were going to acquire a second one. Wish I could remember which one was the original one and which is male or female. Have to smile at their expressions - the paler one looks kind of grumpy, but I guess they always do, ha. "The Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar), also known as the White-handed Gibbon, is a primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family. It is one of the more well-known gibbons and is often seen in zoos.... As is the case for all gibbons, they have long hands and no tail.... Lar Gibbons are threatened in various ways: they are sometimes hunted for their meat, sometimes a parent is killed in order to capture young animals for pets. The largest danger, however, is the loss of habitat. With breathtaking speed the forests of Southeast Asia are cut down in order to establish plantations, fields and settlements.... Their Conservation status is Endangered. The fur coloring of the Lar Gibbon varies from black and dark-brown to light brown sandy colors. The hands and feet are white colored, likewise a ring of white hair surrounds the black face. Both males and females can be all color variants, and the sexes also hardly differ in size." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lar_gibbon Yay, I've just downloaded the free Chrome browser to my hard drive, and hey presto, the row of three thumbnail photos below the map area on any photo page now appear. Feels SO good!!! Now I can see what I'm clicking on. My main browser is Internet Explorer and normally it works just fine for everything, but Chrome gave me back my thumbnails : ) Later: not sure how much I like Chrome after all. When I try to scroll down a page, it is very slow and jerky. Difficult to type comments, descriptions, etc., too, as if I pause in my typing for just one second, I get a message saying I can wait for the page to become responsive or I can kill the page (??). The automatic spell check is a real pain and keeps stopping me from typing. Early days of using it, though.

As you can see, it was a lovely sunny day on 4th April, so I just had to make the most of the afternoon and get a few shots down at the Calgary Zoo. These Gibbons are also known as Lar Gibbons. An Endangered species. I also took a few shots of the other Gibbon, who is black, and his expression is hilarious - looks like a grumpy, bitter old man, lol!!! "Lar gibbons are threatened in various ways: they are sometimes hunted for their meat, sometimes a parent is killed in order to capture young animals for pets and the largest danger is the loss of habitat. The fur coloring of the lar gibbon varies from black and dark-brown to light brown sandy colors. The hands and feet are white colored, likewise a ring of white hair surrounds the black face. Both males and females can be all color variants, and the sexes also hardly differ in size." Wikipedia. This morning, I drove over to Fish Creek Park to see if I could see the owlets that I had been told about yesterday at one of the nests. However, no sign of a nest or even Mom. A beautiful Robin posed for me, though. After that, I decided to drive just south west of the city along a few backroads. I was really hoping to see my first Mountain Bluebird of the year, and sure enough, I saw about four pairs. All were distant, except for one male, who flew straight towards me, perched in a nearby tree, and gave me a nice left pose and then a right pose, and then off he flew. These birds usually fly off in the opposite direction when they see my car coming, so I really appreciated this male. It's always such a shock to see a flash of brilliant blue after all the cold, snowy winter months. Simply breathtaking. Spring really IS here - for now! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lar_gibbon

A mate for this White-handed Gibbon was brought to the Calgary Zoo some time ago. The other ape is black and white, but I don't know which is the male and which is female. "The Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar), also known as the White-handed Gibbon, is a primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family. It is one of the more well-known gibbons and is often seen in zoos.... As is the case for all gibbons, they have long hands and no tail.... Lar Gibbons are threatened in various ways: they are sometimes hunted for their meat, sometimes a parent is killed in order to capture young animals for pets. The largest danger, however, is the loss of habitat. With breathtaking speed the forests of Southeast Asia are cut down in order to establish plantations, fields and settlements.... Their Conservation status is Endangered. The fur coloring of the Lar Gibbon varies from black and dark-brown to light brown sandy colors. The hands and feet are white colored, likewise a ring of white hair surrounds the black face. Both males and females can be all color variants, and the sexes also hardly differ in size." From Wikipedia.

The quality of this image is really bad, as this White-handed Gibbon at the Calgary Zoo climbed up and disappeared into the little box high up where the light was awful. However, I just couldn't resist taking a few shots of the expressions and body language that were so human-like! "The Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar), also known as the White-handed Gibbon, is a primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family. It is one of the more well-known gibbons and is often seen in zoos.... As is the case for all gibbons, they have long hands and no tail.... Lar Gibbons are threatened in various ways: they are sometimes hunted for their meat, sometimes a parent is killed in order to capture young animals for pets. The largest danger, however, is the loss of habitat. With breathtaking speed the forests of Southeast Asia are cut down in order to establish plantations, fields and settlements.... Their Conservation status is Endangered." From Wikipedia.