Great Ape Update Continued ...

Orangutans:

I didn't post this in my last update, as I was going to wait for confirmation, but I'm pretty sure my process of elimination guess is correct, so I'm going to share this now as I think this will be my last update, until the new GAP (Great Ape Escape) yard is done, and/or the Orangutans (yes, they are both here!) are out of quarantine and on exhibit.

My guess, out of the Females at the Omaha Zoo, that it is this lovely teenager, Amoi, who is our new Orangutan.  She's a pretty girl!  This photo from the Orangutan SSP a few years back, celebrating her Birthday. 

I have finally heard rumor that there will eventually be work done on Triple Grotto!  Thankful for this, I was increasingly upset that the Orangutans would be living in a sixty year old enclosure without any renovation.  I hope whatever work is done, its brought up to date and not some band-aid attempt.  I still think its curious that the AZA would allow Orangutans to occupy TG as is, when they would not send additional Chimps in its current state.  That said, with the new Dayroom and Yard as part of the GAP Project, I can't imagine the Zoo would leave the ancient TG as is as part of the third leg of the passage. Time will tell.  And I'm keeping my eye on one specific thing, that I hope not to have to write about.  ... The Zoo wanted Orangutans for along time.  Now they have them, they need to pony up some funds for Triple Grotto.  I haven't heard whether this NEED was part of the annual recent fundraiser ZooFest, but it should have been. 

Chimps:

Full integration is complete between our three long-time residents Cobby, Maggie and Minnie, and our new addition Qadeer!  I am beyond happy and moved to tears every time I think about these precious Friends.  Not only happy for the three I have known my whole life, since I know what this whole adventure has meant for them, but also, and maybe even more so, for Qadeer.  Qadeer lived at the Oklahoma Zoo for twenty-five years, and remained on the bottom of the social group the whole time, even suffering some injuries as a result.  Seeing him and Cobby form the tight bond that they have, is wonderful.  Qadeer has a big brother in Cobs!  Maggie has been cozying up to Qadeer, but Minnie is taking a bit longer.  It's a beautiful thing!

Here's a video from the week before last of all four together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiBpDv1wdsk&t=217s

And another of Cobby and Qadeer having morning BroTime :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIdSO-2hkdI

The new yard made some great progress over the past week.  You can see that the poles for the boundary mesh are up (the mesh will be like what is used on the skytrail) and the second skytrail that links the new yard and the south grotto, is almost half done.

Interesting happenings on the Zoo's social media.  By habit, I don't look at the Zoo's platforms regularly, because something always irks me.  I'll take a look every few weeks or if I'm looking to see if they posted something specific.  For some reason, their Twitter posts are popping up in an email alert recently.  If anyone read my last update 4.14.19 I mentioned how I had not seen any mention of  Qadeer anywhere, even though he has been on exhibit for months, or much about the Chimps at all for that matter.  

Well, the tweets have been curious, as the Chimps have been posted about three times in ten days!  Still no mention welcoming Qadeer/"Gombus" . Sad.