That Gibbon walk is the greatest! I shared a very special few moments with a White Handed Gibbon one time at the zoo in Little Rock, Arkansas. There was a very forlorn Gibbon huddled up at the front of it's cage all alone. The poor thing looked absolutely broken. I stood there and spoke softly to him for a bit. All of the sudden he extended one of his amazing long arms towards me. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I was able to reach as far as his wrist and still stay on my side of the railing. So, I supported his hand with one of mine. Then I began to mimic grooming through all of the hair I could reach on his hand and wrist. Eventually he turned his body a little more to the side so he could gain a few more inches reach by sticking even his shoulder through the bars. He obviously wanted me to groom even farther up his arm. I did this for several minutes. The effect on this sweet lonely creature was palpable. His entire energy and facial expression changed. I don't know how long we would have continued that. Well, I would have been willing to do it for hours, but I finally stopped because I was afraid I was going to get kicked out of the zoo or something. The sweet Gibbon continued to reach out for me and cried a little as I walked away. It broke my heart. I was much younger then, but I will never forget that incredible experience.
Valerie Armstrong Unfortunately, I was just in the city to attend a dog show. I lived several hours away. It is sad to see them in cages. In a perfect world there would be no need. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. I wish, at the very least, all zoos had huge open areas full of enrichment to try to make up for the lack of real freedom.
@@smellyolegoat150 I remember having to go to the SF zoo to observe gorilla behavior for my anthropology class. While there I came across the exhibit for monkeys and lesser apes, and it was just depressing seeing them bottled up in a tall glass enclosure with dead trees and concrete surrounding them. I guess they don't get as much visitors as other animals so all they got was this small bleak cage to sit in. If zoos actually gave their animals enough space and a place to hide away from crowds that isn't just a small cage in the back, they wouldn't be so bad. Even the gorilla enclosure seemed pretty awful, just a small bare island with some dead trees and tires. hardly similar to the lush environments they call home.
