The Story of Annie 

Gentarou was relatively easy as he only returned to his father and mother. Moreover, I think I was very fortunate that my mother, Genki, recognized Gentaro as her son during the artificial childcare. When Genki gave birth to her second son, she seemed to think that Gentaro had taken her son for artificial childcare, and when her second son was born, she never let go of her for 10 months. In the case of Annie, it would have been very difficult to return to the flock.

Isn't it! The one where she is smiling on her birthday is my favorite though. That big grin, all teeth showing. They have such amazing personalities.

Those are gorgeous shots!

I think it is sad AI never recognized that she was her mother. She had to have remembered she gave birth atleast.

@@CrystalM1917 Annie was born by caesarian section whilst Ai was anaesthetised, newborn Annie was taken away to be cared for by the keepers. This is why Ai has no memory of giving birth to Annie.

@glynisakabonniekenzie7664 oh wow. But surely she must have known she was pregnant? I wonder what she makes of that?, or do apes only recognize reproduction in terms of birth not pregnancy? I would imagine they may not understand mating leads to babies exactly either only that they are driven to do so by biological/hormonal design.

I’ve watched this one and Gentaro so many times. 😊

Momotaro could learn a lor from Shabani.

@@deniied5414 Because Momotarou he has nobody to leads him, he growth without Silverback. Nowaday, he did really great job for someone doesn't have father.

He’s! She is still his princess!

I too have only just started watching this family, all my attention for a long time has been devoted to Momotaro family, so just having been a recent follower I've watched a lot of stuff backwards and yes you're 100% spot on, Shabani is still extremely protective with Annie and Ai has also built a better and stronger connection with her daughter which can only be a positive. I would definitely say this was a success story and Annie is a total sweetheart ❤️ 💕 ♥️ 💖

​@@CourtneyTunbridge79 I too have started watching this family as well.😊

​@@sandraphillips1718me too ❤ I like how Shabani gave Annie time to adjust, but he made sure she was safe and secure also!! 😂

He is a great father! It is part of his appeal for people. Thank you for commenting.

Verdade eu concordo com você 😊👍

and viceversa :-D

Thank you so much for your kind comment. It is amazing how much Shabani loves his little girl.

Me and Shabani totally agree.

Shabani is a magnificent example of a good father. For this he is my favorite silverback. It is unfortunate that Ai did not care for Annie. Not sure why.

@@GiselSimon Ai has abandoned childcare and has become an artificial childcare by the keeper. During that period, Ai no longer recognized Annie as her daughter. But surprisingly, Shabani seems to recognize that Annie is his daughter. If the gorilla does not return to the flock within 1.5 years, she will not know that she is a gorilla and will not be able to live with other gorillas and will have to live alone for the rest of her life. To avoid that, Higashiyama Zoo staff made a detailed plan and implemented it to return Annie to the herd within 1.5 years. But as afraid, Kiyomasa's mother, NENE, pushed Annie to protect her son, and since then Annie has been withdrawn into her room for three months. However, Annie's desire to play with Kiyomasa, who came to the room every day, re-entered herself into the flock. After that, her father, Shabani, rather than her mother, Ai, protected Annie and helped Annie become a member of the herd to this day. Annie is now 7 years old and is running around energetically

@@GiselSimon does Ai have more other kids ?

Initially, AI was way too young to conceive and rear a child but they put her in with this family anyway! She was just a baby, she didn't know how to mother and the zoo didn't give her a chance. They took her baby and created this story that both AI and Annie don't know they're mother and daughter. I don't believe any of it!

@@GiselSimon Was Ai like this from the very beginning with her daughter? It might be understandable if the initial bond had been broken, she wouldn't recognize her; but it's not clear if she rejected her from the moment of birth? Is that why Annie was removed and human-reared?

I don't see him as unique. Most gorilla fathers are protective, loving and very playful with their young.

He’s unique as most gorillas playing with their kids somehow, Shabani spends more time than normal and she even gromming Annie and acts like her mother, father and friend!

@@stevemorris6790 I'm just starting to watch this family, and I see that Shabani is very well a good father. D'jeeco is pretty good too.

Nene hates Annie till this day. AI does not like Annie eighter. I read in a comment ...how AI and Nene were both biting Annie as a baby. If it wasn't for Shabani that came to the rescue . Annie would have been hurt..i read to that Nene had to do with Ai' s first babies death. Those two are a pair of witches.

Thank you so very much!!

Thank you for your comments. Isn't it amazing how wonderful they are? Shabani though is truly one in a million but they are all very caring and smart.

@toe the line No they are not related at all. Shabani and Haoko (among many others as their father was quite prolific) are full brothers, sharing both mom and dad.

@toe the line Haoko's wife Momoko is Momotaro's mother. Momotaros father died a few days before he was born.

@@nicoleshadow7063 I think Biju died a few days after Momo was conceived. Big mama Momoko was just too much for him! Iriki

Good grief, my pinky hit some key that dropped Iriki in there. Please ignore!

He is a wonderful father.

You're a creep creep

I am so grateful that we get to know him and know how wonderful they all are.

Those pictures are one in a million. I still think Annie is the gorilla super model. She is all arms and legs.

Thank you so much for your kind comments.

I think she meant because mom rejected her but in Gentaro case it was to save his life because Genki tried but wasn’t producing breast milk. If by years then yes Gentaro was hand raised first.

@@kelleybutler9203 it makes this claim in a couple of videos about annie.

@@bigboytoyz541 It’s strange that the person writing the script for these videos doesn’t know about Gentaro and that he had to be hand raised and was obviously before Annie or the first.. The individual seems to be from Japan so it’s bizarre as you said that they’ve made this claim more than once, so we can assume that it’s not just a mistake and you’d think they would research other gorilla’s and their history before making a documentary type video that’s suppose to be based on facts. Thanks for letting me know about other videos making the claim again, because that makes me think the individual doesn’t care about getting the facts correct. One time I can give some thoughts to maybe they meant to say it differently but more than once is obviously a pattern. Again I have to say that’s strange because Annie’s story is still a sweet and endearing story even if she wasn’t the first gorilla hand raised, so I don’t understand why just telling the truth it the fact that she wasn’t the first gorilla hand raised in Japan. It doesn’t lessen her birth story any for her not ti be the first. P.S. Please forgive all grammatical errors because I have MS and with the side eddy like bad eyesight and sometimes even cognitive issues if I’m tired. I hope my comment is coherent and/or at least understandable. NO PITY PLEASE. I’m tremendously blessed with my amazing husband of 39 years. Our wonderful children and grandchildren, even my precious 99 year old grandmother who’s still sharp as a tack and she’s so wise. I’m also grateful for the tremendous strides that have been made with MS treatments and medications by researchers and scientists. So my life is fulfilling and blessed, I was taught from a young age that life is hard and if you think what you’re going through is bad then there’s always someone else who has it even harder. I tried to remember that all my life and it means more to me the older I get, I also instilled this into my children and now I teaching it to our grandchildren as well. Blessing’s To You And Yours 🙏🏼♥️

@@kelleybutler9203 I agree. They both have an amazing story, it's just odd that they would make that claim. I'm sure they are aware of gentaro's story since they are both zoo's in Japan. But who knows. Stay strong my friend and have a blessed day.

He is such a great silverback.

Thank you for watching and commenting

Isn't she the cutest!!

Gorgeous girl!

Yes, that is what I hope will happen.

🤞😃

There are only these two next-generation couples in Japan today. If love gives birth to another one, it would be possible for a couple with the youngest child in Kyoto ... Shabani, do your best.

Thank you so much for watching. Annie sure was a cute baby!

He is wiser. Watched him reconcile with his son after a hefty fight. Shabani called him over. Hugged him, rubbed his head, held his hand. Shabani wanted things right with him and did it with his love.

I love Annie very much!

Thank you so much Lynn, I enjoyed making it. Knowing the whole story and finding the pictures of Shabani watching her was 🤗😍🥰 He is such a good dad.

@@GiselSimon -Shabani of course is so handsome but I always say his sweetness& kindness as a daddy& his playfulness is what makes him my favorite silverback!!!🌻🌼🌻💜😉👯

Thank you for watching and commenting!

Thank you so much!!

The story of Annie was written a couple of years ago. At the time that I was doing the research this is how all my resources stated her birth and being raised by humans. I don't know why it was put that way because Gentaro is older than her. I will correct the video description.

@@GiselSimon yours is not the first source I have seen say the same thing. I wondered if there was a technicality in the exact meaning of being "hand raised by humans" & if there was a big difference between how the two were temporarily fostered. Thanks for the info. Love your channel. Best,

I didn’t know that about Gentaro! His little brother Kintaro is something else!

I have read somewhere that Shabani is. Momotaro’s father . That would make sense to me as Momotaro is a very loving young father and step father.

@@jstajoy Momotaro's father was Biju who died before Momotaro was born. Both Gentaro & Kintaro are Momotaro's natural offspring; he is not stepfather to either of them.

Thank you very much. Gorillas are such wonderful creatures. It is easy to see them as just "animals" but they are so much more.

You're welcome!

Ohhh A new subscriber here。。。...

Yay! I watch your videos too!

Por eso lo quiero tanto.

Thank you for watching and commenting. Shabanii is the best!

It's not going to happen. Kyoto is working with Taipei zoo. But they are not working with the zoo that annie is in.

They're not selfish or spiteful. Female gorillas compete with one another for the attention and protection of the silverback. They don't always get along. And Nene didn't recognize Annie as belonging to anyone in the group, so she was merely tolerating Annie's presence, which is common. Obviously Nene is going to back up her own child before anybody else's child, again, normal. It's important not to attribute negative human behavior to these creatures. As much as they share with us, they are still their own species with their own versions of "normal", and for a gorilla, that wasn't out of the realm of normal.....even though it would be harsh behavior in the human world.

I saw a video of Momotaro almost backhanding Kintaro but he stopped himself or was bluffing but my dad would do that to me sometimes! I’m always amazed at these humanlike conditions!

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you! Annie and Shabani's story is really special.

He is a wonderful dad!