Humans and primates share many similarities, in fact, such behaviors of humans are greatly reflected in primates. Even though, there are still many primates in the wild the easiest way to observe primates is at a local zoo. For the purpose of observing two primates, I made a visit to Los Angeles Zoo on a very sunny day, September 4, 2016 at 1pm. My visit to the zoo was a quite exhausting one since the weather was almost 90 degrees and I was quite hungry. Luckily, at the zoo they had water misters by a children’s playground that really helped out with the hot weather and they also had food stands. Although, the food was expensive I was satisfied with the burger I got for six dollars. Once I refreshed a little and wasn’t hungry anymore I decided to go look for the two primates that I would be looking at. The two species of primates that I chose to observe were two kinds of apes, the Western Lowland Gorilla, scientifically known as Gorilla gorilla gorilla and the chimpanzee also known as, Pan troglodytes.
The Western Lowland Gorillas are apes that can be found in tropical jungles and forests of western and central Africa, along with lowland swamps and secondary forests. The Gorilla’s face, hands, and feet don’t have any hair but the rest of their body is completely hairy. There are two main types of gorillas, the western lowland gorilla which tends to be brownish-gray in color and the eastern gorilla which is black. However, in both types of gorillas, adult males tend to have their backs covered with silvery-white hair allowing them to stand out. Gorillas are very large in size, males weighing around 400 pounds and females weighing about 200 pounds. Male gorillas are twice as large as females and also have longer canine teeth and on two feet they may stand up to six feet tall. Since Western Lowland Gorillas are very large in size they have a greater advantage against predators than any other primate. However, because of contributing factors such as, hunting, trade, habitat loss and disease,“ the western lowland gorilla is classified as one of the world 's critically endangered species with an estimated 95,000 western lowland gorilla individuals thought to be left in the jungles of Africa.” According to the Saint Louis zoo, gorillas generally give birth to just one baby at a time which most of the time weighs just four or five pounds, considerably less than most human babies. “The little one holds tightly to the mom’s hair and hitches a ride with her for the first three to four months of life. The mom will then continue nursing her baby for at least three years.” According to Livescience website, at around 7 to 10 years, the young gorilla will become mature enough to have its own offspring. At this point, the gorilla will leave its mother 's group to find a mate. Gorillas can live around 35 years in the wild and more than 50 years in zoos. There were about five gorillas in the exhibit, an appropriate number because Western Lowland Gorillas tend to live in family groups that are fairly small, usually about five individuals, and rarely more than ten. “This group size is smaller than among eastern gorillas, and is probably due to the particular nature of the western gorillas’ diet: they eat a lot of fruit, and since fruit trees can be widely scattered, a given area …show more content…
Just like humans, chimpanzees communicate with each other through a complex system of vocalizations, gestures, body postures and facial expressions. “They can communicate with each other even over long distances with loud calls called pant-hoots, or by drumming the buttresses of trees.” The most remarkable physical similarity between chimpanzees and humans is the opposable thumb, which allows chimpanzees to grab objects and use tools much like we do. Chimpanzees use tools such as “ rocks that they use as hammers, anvils to pound open nuts, as well as leaves as napkins and sponges, and sticks break open beehives for honey.” Something interesting I got to observe was George utilizing a stick to hit a metal wall, as if he was playing the drums. However, George only did this for about 3 minutes
The Western Lowland Gorillas are apes that can be found in tropical jungles and forests of western and central Africa, along with lowland swamps and secondary forests. The Gorilla’s face, hands, and feet don’t have any hair but the rest of their body is completely hairy. There are two main types of gorillas, the western lowland gorilla which tends to be brownish-gray in color and the eastern gorilla which is black. However, in both types of gorillas, adult males tend to have their backs covered with silvery-white hair allowing them to stand out. Gorillas are very large in size, males weighing around 400 pounds and females weighing about 200 pounds. Male gorillas are twice as large as females and also have longer canine teeth and on two feet they may stand up to six feet tall. Since Western Lowland Gorillas are very large in size they have a greater advantage against predators than any other primate. However, because of contributing factors such as, hunting, trade, habitat loss and disease,“ the western lowland gorilla is classified as one of the world 's critically endangered species with an estimated 95,000 western lowland gorilla individuals thought to be left in the jungles of Africa.” According to the Saint Louis zoo, gorillas generally give birth to just one baby at a time which most of the time weighs just four or five pounds, considerably less than most human babies. “The little one holds tightly to the mom’s hair and hitches a ride with her for the first three to four months of life. The mom will then continue nursing her baby for at least three years.” According to Livescience website, at around 7 to 10 years, the young gorilla will become mature enough to have its own offspring. At this point, the gorilla will leave its mother 's group to find a mate. Gorillas can live around 35 years in the wild and more than 50 years in zoos. There were about five gorillas in the exhibit, an appropriate number because Western Lowland Gorillas tend to live in family groups that are fairly small, usually about five individuals, and rarely more than ten. “This group size is smaller than among eastern gorillas, and is probably due to the particular nature of the western gorillas’ diet: they eat a lot of fruit, and since fruit trees can be widely scattered, a given area …show more content…
Just like humans, chimpanzees communicate with each other through a complex system of vocalizations, gestures, body postures and facial expressions. “They can communicate with each other even over long distances with loud calls called pant-hoots, or by drumming the buttresses of trees.” The most remarkable physical similarity between chimpanzees and humans is the opposable thumb, which allows chimpanzees to grab objects and use tools much like we do. Chimpanzees use tools such as “ rocks that they use as hammers, anvils to pound open nuts, as well as leaves as napkins and sponges, and sticks break open beehives for honey.” Something interesting I got to observe was George utilizing a stick to hit a metal wall, as if he was playing the drums. However, George only did this for about 3 minutes