The animals gave my wife and I wonderful memories at the Toronto Zoo.
The gorilla children were misbehaving, and mom had seen enough.
The game of tag between the young brothers had devolved into a hissing, spitting, and teeth baring match, while mom and dad had been chilling in the shade.
Mom was having a nap, and dad was sitting against a post, absent-mindedly chewing some grass. The large, grey female raised her head, looked at the kids, then turned to the larger, Silverback patriarch of the family.
Every person in the crowd had either given that look or received it, and we all knew what that look meant. So did Charles, (I’m 98% certain that was his name) the oldest member of the zoo’s gorilla population.
After the look that clearly told the crowd who was really in charge, Charles ambled over to where the kids were fighting. He delivered a swift backhand to the back of the closest kid in reach. The young gorilla squealed and fell back, watching his father carefully in case another smack was coming. There was not. Dad had zero intention of hurting his son, this was delivering a message.
Before he could receive the same fate, the other youngster scurried to the far end of the enclosure, up a tire swing and onto a high platform, watching nervously from afar. We could see the apprehension in his face, his very alert dark eyes, and the way he rubbed his hands together. (Yes, hands.)
Dad took a long look at both young (think teenager mentality) gorillas, one then the other. He had delivered the needed message. Bad behavior was not going to be tolerated, and there would be consequences.
Satisfied, he ambled over to the same spot he had vacated, sat down, and resumed chewing on some grass. Mom looked up for a moment, seemingly nodded her approval, and resumed her nap.
My wife, Ivana, and I stayed at the gorilla habitat for some time, with most of the other zoo visitors. We were all in amazement of the parenting we had witnessed, and curious as to what would happen next. It took a few minutes, but eventually the two young gorillas resumed their game of tag. They had received dad’s message loud and clear. Time to play nice.
Plenty of comments were heard in the crowd, all in praise of the gorilla’s parenting skills. I commented that I had seen a lot worse in the cereal aisle of our local grocery store, to many nods of agreement.
Always a surprise!
Ivana and I loved going to the Toronto Zoo. It was a favorite date of ours, we would pack a picnic lunch and go every couple years. A great day together, and we were always treated to a surprise of some sort.
Want to see 40 kids on a school trip go hysterical? I swear this elephant was waiting for a big audience, and went to the bathroom right in front of a huge group of visitors. It looked and sounded like a firehose, lasted a full 30 seconds, and made a heck of a puddle!
The kids went nuts! Laughing and screaming and pointing, while their teachers or leaders tried to keep them in line while laughing themselves. I guarantee that every one of those kids mentioned that highlight first when they were met by their parents!
The Toronto Zoo has since relocated its final elephant to a warmer climate. It was the right thing to do.
The Siberian Tiger Cubs
The Zoo is involved in many conservation and breeding programs, some with other zoos and some in-house. One of those breeding programs was with Siberian (Amur) Tigers. By sheer luck, we happened to be at the zoo the day the two newborn tigers, one male and one female, were let into the main habitat with their mother, Tatiana.
So ridiculously cute! The little cubs had a bunch of extra skin, like one of those wrinkles dolls from years ago. They would wrestle and play, a bundle of orange and black fur. Mom lay in the shade near by, one eye always on her young charges. Every few minutes, one of the cubs would wander a little far for mom’s liking. She would slowly rise, stretch, and saunter over to the cub.
Tatiana would use her massive paws to commandeer the youngster, and pick it up by the scruff of its neck. She would carry the cub back to where she was laying, drop the cub, and lay back down. The cubs would resume wrestling, until the next time mom had to go get one of her young adventurers.
Ivana and I watched for some time. Mom was displaying plenty of patience as she took care of the kids. Never a growl, but often a look of “Again, really? I just got comfortable.”
A Conversation with a Bighorn Sheep
I’m not crazy. I talk to the animals because they listen, and acknowledge the conversation. On our last trip to the zoo together, the summer after covid, Ivana was talking to one of the keepers, as she often did. Always curious, she would ask the keepers all kinds of questions.
While I waited, I had a conversation with a bighorn sheep. I was leaning against the fence of their habitat. “So how are you doing?”
The big animal gave a snort, nodded his head, with two long curved horns, and scuffed the ground with his front left hoof.
“Yeah, me too. Could be better, but no point in complaining.”
Again, a snort, his head nodded and the hoof scuffed the ground. Exactly as if he was listening. I remember asking the animal if he minded the gig, and a couple other questions. The big animal responded every time with the same nod and scuff.
I saw Ivana walking over. I said something like, “Well, here comes my wife, so I’ll be moving on. Good chat, you have a nice day.”
The bighorn sheep snorted and nodded once again. But instead of scuffing the ground, he turned and sauntered over to a feed station. Our conversation was over.
Ivana had seen such things before, and was not surprised at all when I told her the story. She laughed, and remarked, “The animals always understand you.”
“They understand us all, if we would take the time to realize it.”
Ivana laughed some more. She had seen and heard a few other instances when it seemed that the animals were actually listening and paying attention to my conversations with them.
I once had a few people look at me weirdly after convincing a dromedary camel to pose for a photo. Other people had tried. It listened to me, and turned to face the crowd.
I explained my success. “They were talking to it like it’s a camel. I was talking to it like it was a person.” I don’t think anyone bought my story, but no one challenged the results.
I love the zoo. It was truly one of our favorite places. I hope I can find some pictures from our time at the zoo. Lots of the animals, but none of us.
The Toronto Zoo had a program where you could sponsor a bench in someone’s name. I have been told that that program has been suspended but would start up again. I plan on dedicating a bench to Ivana.
In the meantime, I sponsored a Sumatran Tiger in her name.
I miss Ivana so much.
