Monday was the first day of my internship at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Roseann, head gorilla keeper and my guide for the next three months, met me at the employee entrance just before nine a.m. and took me to the lunch room which also served as the morning meeting area. I was introduced to the various staff before the assistant curator began asking various keepers about the status of certain animals. Through her questioning and the keeper’s answers, I learned that a guinea pig had cleared quarantine and was ready for display, a rhino was suspected to be expecting, and a muntjac was feeling okay after injuring herself on a log. Obviously these morning meetings are an essential ingredient to a well managed zoo.
Ten minutes later Roseann and I were off to the primate compound to introduce me to the gorillas. The first bit of instruction I was given before I was led down the row of off-exhibit primate enclosures was, “keep out of reach.” These words are well heeded if you don't want your shirt to be ripped off of your body by a covetous orangutan. Orangutans love a good shirt.
As it turned out, the orangs posed a different sort of hazard for me: every time I walked past their cage that day, which was several times hourly, a young male found great pleasure in sending an eerily accurate quantity of viscous saliva into my face. I received this hazing good-naturedly as a necessary condition of my initiation and marched on towards the gorillas.
I have only had one day to get to know Pittsburgh’s gorillas and have yet to become fully able to tell them apart but allow me introduce these splendid beasts as I know them so far.
Zakula is an old girl that hobbles about patiently, loves men and is an incorrigible old flirt. She was certainly the most accepting of my new presence and I am grateful to her for it. She is a little slow on her feet and often has choice morsels scooped away from her as she shuffles after them. Tonight before leaving I slipped her two bananas when the others were otherwise occupied. She took the contraband, hid them in her armpits like a geriatric shoplifter, found a private spot and peered about suspiciously between secret bites.
Anju (Ah-nu) is the young lady of the bunch with a fuzzy head. I am told that she looks just like her father who is no longer with us.
Ibo (Ee-bu) is a sassy female that likes to send stick and sod missiles at my head. I haven’t yet decided if she does this for attention or because she hates me.
Harry is the smaller, but still imposing, silverback. That he is not the lead silverback and never will be obviously gives this gorilla little-man’s-syndrome. He derives endless pleasure in charging me when I am not looking and slamming into the bars. To have a four hundred-pound gorilla fly out of nowhere and crash noisily two feet away from ones face is enough to cause a man to jump out of his pants. Hopefully Harry and I can come to an understanding before too long.
Moka is a dark and thoughtful female. She was named for her parent’s places of origin: Miami and Oklahoma. She was brought to the Pittsburgh Zoo as the intended wife of the lead silverback though they don’t like each other one bit. Harry, on the other hand, is irreparably smitten with her.
Kiazi Kitamu, meaning sweet potato has a poofy hairdo and an adventurous character. She loves her mother, Zakula, and protects her from bullying. Kiazi is nice to me and is one of my favorites.
Lastly, but positively not least, is Mrithi. This mastodonic mass of sinew and hair weighs in at about 500 pounds. Luckily he has the serene confidence that comes with the job of king silverback. When he is pleased with his dinner he rumbles a deep boom of satisfaction that is both terrifying and thrilling to a new intern like myself.
In order to breed gorillas a zoo must have a recommendation from the SSP (Species Survival Plan). Every endangered species has an SSP and they are used to manage a species in captivity to insure genetic purity. Harry is considered unimportant genetically and has been forbidden to breed. The SSP recommended that Harry be moved to a bachelor group or isolated for the rest of his life. Pittsburgh knew that Harry would suffer from a move away from the group that he had known since he was two and so got permission to give him a vasectomy, an extremely rare gorilla operation. Imagine the urologist’s surprise when he looked at his appointment book that day!
Mrithi has been cleared to breed, but having nothing but a mother, a sister, and a half-sister to breed with, Moka was sent to Pittsburgh. We give Anju, Kiazi, and Ibo birth control that we shove inside a grape every morning (Zakula is 42 years old and so is post-menopausal) and slip the infused treats to them when Mrithi isn‘t looking (he feels that his position in the group entitles him to first consideration for treats). Moka doesn’t receive an infused grape because we want Mrithi to knock her up. Alas, Mrithi doesn’t feel the least inclined. Moka has offered herself, but Mrithi just walks away in disgust. To complicate matters, Harry jealously disciplines Moka for approaching Mrithi. Ah well, no young gorillalings for Pittsburgh in the near future.
Tuesday held more gorilla fun. After the distribution of birth control grapes I was asked to give Mrithi, Harry, and Zakula their medicated juices. This entails enticing the gorilla to the bars with the plastic coke bottle and pouring the prepared elixir into their proffered lips. Zakula was easy because she never misses a chance to flirt. Mrithi was simple but thrilling; pouring a bottle into such a giant monster’s mouth is something! Roseann expressed doubt that Harry would accept the bottle from me but I went ahead and tried it anyway. To both our surprise Harry dutifully scooted to the bars and began to sip. The moment the last drop fell into his mouth he chomped down on the bottle and tried to yank it into the pen though I somehow was able to hang on to the container. I was encouraged that Harry drank from my hands even if he was just trying to capitalize on my inexperience.
Wonder follows wonder here at the zoo. The activities of Tuesday included being challenged by a mandrill, having a 500 pound bear daintily slurp grapes and peanuts from my fingers, and mixing vitamin powder into ground horse meat for the painted dogs. I look forward to every day at the zoo and I feel relieved to have found the career that I was meant for.
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