For decades, the purpose of the San Diego Zoo has been conservation and the success of the program has resulted in enough financial support to build environments for animals that make the ten-foot square, barred cement enclosures of my experience look stone-age.
The gorilla enclosure is huge and natural. The animals are engaged with activities to keep them interested and active. Signs ask us not to make troubling eye-contact with the inhabitants but we get a tiny bit of an idea of the personalities as we watch them interact - the smart, tricky one, the playful youngster clearly at the bottom of the pecking order, and the worldly dominant silverback. We laughed to see the oldest breeding female stretched out in the sun around the corner away from the others - getting her few moments of quiet.
The gorilla enclosure is huge and natural. The animals are engaged with activities to keep them interested and active. Signs ask us not to make troubling eye-contact with the inhabitants but we get a tiny bit of an idea of the personalities as we watch them interact - the smart, tricky one, the playful youngster clearly at the bottom of the pecking order, and the worldly dominant silverback. We laughed to see the oldest breeding female stretched out in the sun around the corner away from the others - getting her few moments of quiet.
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