The Life of a Zoo Gorilla
sitting around eating
yawning- adorable
another lady gorilla comes over to eat
lunch time!
yummy- delicious!
all the gorillas hanging out
The big silverback comes into the yard
the elder gorilla doesn't like the Silverback
"how far can I get away from him without falling off?"
The Silverback is gone- back to playtime!
Los Angeles isn’t really known for their Zoo- San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park usually get noted, but movie studio tours and sunsets over the Pacific usually get tourists first votes. But this week Bob and I were craving some kind of animal interaction and the LA Zoo was going to have to do. And I have to admit- it was awesome!
We were lucky to arrive right around lunch time and it just so happened to be overcast and gray- which might have helped in getting the animals to be excited and moving around (since it wasn’t so hot).
My favorite part was the gorilla reserve area, complete with a waterfall and flowing “river” like stream. These gorillas are Western Lowland Gorillas and are classified as critically endangered due to over hunting and diseases. They travel and live in “bands” with one leader or adult Silverback with several females, teenagers and babies. We were lucky to observe the band eating, playing and respecting the head Silverback for about thirty minutes. It was incredible to watch them interact.
If you are in LA for longer than a few days or live near the area, check out the LA Zoo and plant yourself in the Gorilla Reserve area. You’ll be happy you were able to experience such beautiful and interesting animals live their lives.
This photo series is for Budget Travelers Sandbox, Thursday Travel Photo- make sure to check out the other bloggers too!
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t generally associate ‘LA’ with ‘gorilla’.
Beautiful gorillas! I wonder if they’re happy in zoos…
Would never have considered this outing in LA. I also wonder how well the gorillas do in a zoo. Were they raised in captivity from the time they were infants?
Beautiful photo of the big guy!
Beautiful photos – I love watching gorillas (or apes or chimpanzees) interact with one another – it’s fascinating to see the similarities with human behaviour!
Childhood memories!! So glad you guys had a great time! And great day for it:-)
The gorillas get pretty tired out with all that eating and playing. They really are adorable. It looks like a nice habitat for them at the LA Zoo. I know that you love animals and would tell us if they weren’t treated well there.
Nifty!
They look pretty content. The second shot made me laugh.
These are beautiful, beautiful shots! What sort of camera did you use???
Being on a diet right now, I think I like the life of a gorilla. Seems like a lot of eating.
I love the gorilla pictures and your observations. I lived in LA for 9 years and have never visited the zoo. We always drove down to San Diego =) What a life they lead!
That silverback looks so scary! Looks like a nice and big area to hang out and watch the animals.
I have to admit that I didn’t even know that LA had a zoo, but this enclosure looks so nice (sooo much better than the one in Sacramento) that I will put this on my list for when we get down that way.
You got some great pictures! We’ll check out this out the next time we’re in LA with the kids, thanks!
I love those photos! they’re so cute!!
Nice insightful article –
Thank you!
I love gorillas as you know, good to see that they have what appears to be a good enclosure at the LA Zoo.