Saturday, April 9, 2011

National Zoo Gorillas

For my Camera Critters I have some photos of the Gorillas seen at the National Zoo. I thought it would be neat to show baby Kabibi taken 03/21/09 after she was born Jan 10, 2009 and some shots of her just last month.  Kabibi's daddy is a silverback named Baraka. I read that the name Kabibi means "Little Lady " in Swahili. The first two photos show her in the arms of her mommy Mandara. Kabibi is one of 7 Gorillas living at the National Zoo. Mandara is mom to six of the Gorillas at the zoo.


Kibibi , a baby gorilla.  Kabibi seen below being carried in her mommy's arms.




Some interesting tips on watching gorillas. Did you know they consider staring rude? If Gorillas stare at each other, it is a challenge to fight. It is a courtesy they extend to each other to look away if their eyes meet. Each animal has a retreat to go to if it feels too many eyes.



Now, here is Kabibi two years later.


Kibibi and her mommy Mandara. Sorry there is bad reflection on the glass in this photo.



I am not sure if this gorilla below is the daddy. Kabibi does have older brother and sisters. I did read that the daddy Baraka has a pronounced crest on its head. While we were watching them this one below grabbed the bamboo from the hands of baby Kabibi. After that happened Kabibi walked over to her mommy and shared some bamboo. The male can grow up to 6 feet tall and weigh up to 400 pounds.


The 7 Gorillas at the National Zoo in DC are Western Lowland Gorillas. And the Western Lowland Gorillas were listed as endarngered. The Western Lowland Gorillas live in Cameroon,  Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola and Nigeria. The gorillas are vulnerable to ebola, deforestation, and the horrible poaching.

I hope you enjoyed my Gorillas and to see more critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post. I hope your weekend is wonderful.

20 comments:

  1. How wonderful that they can reproduce in captivity, so that they don't die out. The baby is cute.

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  2. They are wonderful. Wonder, if like chimps, smiling is also a sign of aggression.

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  3. It is fun to be able to follow these zoo creatures as they grow up.

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  4. Beautiful moments for the gorillas.

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  5. Hi Eileen, When I lived in California, I sometimes would go to the San Diego Zoo and see a lot of the more exotic animals. Where I lived there was only a very small, but good zoo park, and that was about 40 miles up the road. I like your pictures very much. Have a super nice Sunday tomorrow!

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  6. Grandiose immagini !
    Grazie della condivisione e buona giornata :)
    Myriam

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  7. Such precious pics of the baby. So glad she is doing well.

    Carolina Mts

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  8. How fun to be able to watch the baby grow -- thanks for sharing with those of us too far away to do that.

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  9. I did enjoy gorillas... and your story about baby Kabili.

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  10. Great series. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  11. Staring at a monkey is also a way of challenging it.

    Don't do it.

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  12. did I tell you that in 1993, I took my girls to this zoo?

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  13. Thanks for sharing these photos. The baby grew a lot in two years! Sweet photos of him and his mother together.

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  14. Such interesting information. Gorillas are amazing creatures.

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  15. Great photos! I'll bet they wish they were back in the wild :-)

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  16. So cute! Glad you took photos to share with us, Eileen. Thanks...Christine

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  17. This is such a treat for me to see, since I haven't been to the zoo, oh for so long now..

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  18. Thank you for this interesting post, Eileen! We know so little about these beautiful, wild animals.

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  19. They are so human like in some ways; that sometimes freaks me out,

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  20. That is so interesting! I had no idea that gorillas might consider staring to be rude! The babies are so sweet looking. :D

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Hello, Thanks for stopping by my blog. I appreciate all your visits.

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Have a great day, Eileen

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