Gorilla theater and the next generation: It's all happenin' at the zoo!

There are a few advantages to being unemployed. Mind you, they are only advantages if you already have some money, or have already paid for something you can use later. We had already paid for a membership at the Cleveland Zoo, so we went to the zoo in the middle of the day on a Monday. It was pretty quiet -- some parents with toddlers, but no huge crowds. The gorillas were in rare form and put on quite a show. I got the uncanny feeling that they had rehearsed -- especially when the three of them performed the same maneuver, involving climbing, running, jumping, and classic gorilla chest thumping, all in a specific formation and in a specific location in one corner of the enclosure -- twice in the space of ten minutes. In between they staged a simpler but more dramatic display in the center of the enclosure, the one in the middle striking an absolute pose after thumping his chest, while his buddies, one to either side, looked on admiringly. One or two onlookers actually applauded following the "performance." Did they have the same feeling I had? I can just hear the gorillas plotting behind the scenes:

Gorilla 1: "What'll we do today, mates?"
Gorilla 2: "Oh, I dunno. Lie around in the sun and listen to the silly humans?"
Gorilla 3: "I know, let's do something really different! Let's put on a show!"
Gorilla 2: "Oh, capital idea! I've got this great chest-thumping routine."
Gorilla 3: "Right. And I do this great run and leap near the back corner of the enclosure, on those big rocks."
Gorilla 1: "Great! But you know humans, they get bored easily. Let's give it a plot, something that'll grab their attention."
Gorilla 2: "I know, him & me will chase you all around the yard. We'll do the rock jumping and chest thumping by the door, then head west and stage a tableau by the fence, then more jumping and thumping...."
Gorilla 1: "And then I'll do my big 'poo' routine right near the observation window. That'll put 'em in stitches!" [and he did, too....]
Gorilla 3: "And for the finale, I'll strike a pose right in the middle of the yard, with some chest thumping for good measure..."
Gorilla 2: "Oh, no you don't, the chest thumping is my bit!"
[For a brief moment Gorillas 2 & 3 have a standoff; then Gorilla 1 breaks the tie]
Gorilla 1: "Knock it off, you two. I'm the alpha male, and I can out-thump the both of you. I'll do it."
Gorillas 2 & 3 (sotto voce, abashed): "Right, right, of course...."
Gorilla 1 (to smooth things over): "And for an encore, we'll do the run-jump and chest thump back by the door again."
[The three hi-five it and get ready to hit the boards.]

I wouldn't be surprised to find out it was something like that.

There were several primate babies out and about today. We also saw quite a bit of information on zoo babies as well as animal health. Since we had missed going yesterday for the first day of viewing of the new veterinary facility, we went today (members only previews were scheduled for yesterday, today, and tomorrow; opening day for the general public is September 30). The facility is not quite finished (why is this not surprising?) but they had the members previews as scheduled. There was a very nice exhibit area with some video presentations on zoo veterinary care, which you could avoid watching if you're very squeamish (I didn't see anything too gruesome), and some nice static and interactive displays. There was one video on animal enrichment which was mildly entertaining, and a very nice one on animal babies, showing recent arrivals as well as pointing out some interesting facts about various species' offspring and parenting behavior. We were delighted to see footage of the baby warthog which we had seen playing with its parents on a previous visit.