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.

Giant Panda at the National Zoo

For this weeks Camera Critter I am showing my favorite animal ..the Giant Panda bear seen at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. There are two Giant Pandas at the national zoo, their names are Mei and Tian.

      I am not sure which is Mei and which one is Tian, but this one really enjoyed eating the bamboo.

They are just so cute, you want to hug them!

 We were told they might find out in the summertime  if baby pandas are on the way.

This one looks like it was rolling around in the dirt, maybe this one is the male.

Hubby and I became Fonz members, which is Friends of the National Zoo. We plan on many more zoo visits thru-out the year. Mean time if you want to see lots more critters visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters.  Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun critter meme and thanks for stopping by to see my critter post. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

National Zoo lions

For my Camera Critters post I have some shots of the lion family at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. There were 5 cubs all playing with each other and their parents. It was not possible to get all five of the cubs in one shot. They were all over the place.  Naba is mommy to three of the cubs which were born in September and Shera is mommy to 4 cubs born in August. I read that one cub died so that should leave six but we only saw five playing outside.

I am pretty sure this was the first time for me seeing the lion cubs, they sure were so adorable It was really cute seeing the cubs interacting the larger male and female lions.

Cubs playing with daddy Luke.

This is one of my favorite shots, the daddy looks so proud and peaceful.

 I hope your enjoyed my Camera Critters this week and please visit Misty Dawn to see more wonderful critters.  Thanks to Misty for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post. Have a great weekend.

SWF at the National Zoo in DC

Happy Saint Patricks Day!!!!

For my skywatch I have a few shots I took while visiting the National Zoo in DC last weekend. It is one of my favorite zoo's to visit, the exhibits are just wonderful. 


                                   One of the budding trees at the zoo

This was the first time I caught the one of the orangutans using the O-line. The O-line is a transit system for the orangutans to use to travel from the Great Ape house to the Think Tank. It is wild to be there watching the orangutan climbing on these ropes that hang right above your heads. And that they can use these to go from building to building.

 We stopped to watch right under the O-line as the Orangutan climbed and hung on the ropes. This time the female used the O-line to go to the next tower and stopped to wait for the male to come along too.


                              Not the prettiest skies, but it was a nice day with warm temps.

But the male had other ideas and stayed in the yard outside the Great Ape house. We were told by a worker that the female will not go all the way to the Think Tank by herself .. so we watched as she made her way back along the rope to the tower in the yard.

She wasn't going anywhere without her man. LOL!

These are  for my Skywatch Friday  post and I hope you enjoy.  Click on my link to see more awesome shots from around the world. Thanks to the Skywatch host: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy

Also,  I appreciate your visit and comments. I hope everyone has a wonderful St Patricks Day and a great  weekend.

Critters from the National Zoo in DC

My camera critters are from my last visit (actual visit was this past spring)  to the National Zoo in DC. The National Zoo is part of the Smithsonian Institution and admission is free but you have to pay for parking.

I posted this entry as my Scenic Sunday but my actual post for Scenic Sunday is here Scenic Sunday Snow geese


I do not know for sure but I think Zoo's around the country are having trouble with funding in these hard times and I am sure they would appreciate any donations here is their website if you would like to check it out. Their website also has cool webcams. You can watch the Panda Bears, Organutans and some of their other animals.


Friends of the National Zoo

It is a big zoo and you can pick up a map which helps a lot in finding all the animals and your way around the zoo.

We were lucky to visit in the spring and see some baby animals. One of the coolest babies was the baby Gorilla with its Mom.

The Elephants are one of my all time favorite zoo animals.

                                           The monkeys are always fun to see too. 

The Panda bears are one of the National Zoo's main attractions. There is always a crowd of people around the Panda bears. The Panda bear is also my favorite animal at the National Zoo.

The Hippo, a closeup of the huge mammal.

One of the female lions. Have you seen the latest video of the National Zoo's lion and the deer on youtube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CbPzjhFY8Q

The Orangutans are cool to watch.

These are my camera critters and to see more cute critters go and visit the host Misty Dawn of

                                Camera Critters

Thanks for stopping by my blog and I appreciate your comments.