Sunday, July 22, 2018

Ndume's Sister Lives at SFZoo! + Blog Comment Supporting SFZoo Idea

"NOT rolling my eyes! These are good ideas and presented realistically. I am sure some of the triple grotto could be used; years ago brothers Barney and Shango were placed temporarily in one of those enclosures before they were moved to another zoo."  - Joanne Tanner

I received this comment to my previous blog post, where I presented ideas as to how the San Francisco Zoo could help Ndume.  This comment came from Dr Joanne Tanner.  Highly regarded, Joanne has observed the San Francisco Zoo Gorilla Family for many years, starting in the late 1980s. She has also worked with Koko and Michael at The Gorilla Foundation.

Please view her site for wonderful documentation on her observations and links to her published works on the subject.


I thank her for this information.  It not only confirms that my ideas can be done, because they have,  but it also confirms my memory of seeing Gorillas in the South Grotto!  No one else I've talked to ever remembers this.  Before Gorilla World, the Gorillas lived in the exhibit where Mandrills currently are, but I knew I had seen them at triple grotto!

I also want to include this, as I forgot to in my previous post. 

This is Bawang.  

She has lived at the San Francisco Zoo since 1981, when she was 18 months old.  She was born at the Cincinnati Zoo.  Ndume is her half-brother.  He was just two months old when she was transferred to SFZoo, but they were living as Family.   Ndume is Bawang's Family.

Bawang was also Kubie's life mate.  They had three babies.  Barney, Shango, and Nneka.  Kubie was Koko's brother.  If Koko had not been kidnapped and sold, she would have grown up with her brother and his Family. 

I've made a video to support the crusade to get Ndume a new home.  Please Share. 

Free Koko the Gorilla's Friend - Ndume Needs A New Home.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 comments:

  1. AndieJuly 25, 2018 at 7:13 PM

    It's exciting to know Bwang and Ndume are related. I would love SF Zoo to step up and take Ndume in. He simply cannot live the life he has been living in solitary confinement. He needs to be with other gorillas or if he cannot be socialized at least be in a zoo environment with enrichment and grass beneath his feet. Thank you for bringing the Ndume situation to light. Let's see this happening for him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. leo811 (twitter)November 11, 2018 at 9:30 AM

    @Andie ... Thank you for your comment. I apologize for the delay in reply. I never received the comment notification and was just now going over some settings and saw this. Your comment is valued, thank you for your time. ... Thank you for reading and commenting on this issue. From time to time I need to use this forum for non-sfzoo Animal issues. Ndume's situation does have relevance, with the Koko connection, and now Bawang, and the proximity to the Gorilla Foundation. Things are in motion regarding his living situation. Unfortunately I have to assume that SFZoo did not offer a place for him. I understand that because Ndume needs out asap, and there is no ideal current situation for him there. It is too bad that there isn't immediate space for Animals in need, Ndume or others.

    ReplyDelete

*Thank you for your comment. All comments are appreciated and I try my best to reply back in a timely manner. Sometimes timely isn't possible, but I will reply to all comments at some point. Please check back.
*If you have a problem commenting, don't see your comment (within 24 hours), or want to contact me for any other reason, please use the about.me link on the sidebar.
*You can be a Voice for the SFZoo Animals by Contacting the San Francisco Zoo Director Tanya Peterson at tanyap@sfzoo.org
*Thank You for taking the time to read about things that matter to me.




Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)