jungle fever

My Memorial Day weekend involved a trip to the Detroit Zoo, an excursion that's never anything but a good time. On the way there, I remarked on how great the Columbus Zoo is, and how lucky I was to grow up in such close proximity to one of the country's best zoos. I haven't been there since I was a kid, but from what I understand it's still a great zoo and one of the best things about it is its gorilla exhibit.

Coincidentally, today my mother forwarded me this slideshow of the gorillas of The Columbus Zoo. In 1956, The Columbus Zoo made history by being the first zoo in which a gorilla gave birth in captivity. The baby's name was Colo (a combination of Columbus and Ohio), and her and her offspring have all since become local celebrities. The link will take you to some great pictures of Colo and her clan, but these three pictures are my favorites:

Young Colo has her first playdate with Bongo, her future mate:

Colo's granddaughter, Jumoke:

Colo in 2006, "Queen of the Zoo":

And now I think I may have just developed an itch that only a trip to C-bus can scratch. This summer, perhaps.