Daily Zoo Animal: #13, Eastern Lowland Gorilla, "Kitombe"

[urbpan]

Western Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Between 6 and 8 million years there lived an animal that whose descendants would include both gorillas and humans. Gorillas are the largest existing primates, with big males like Kitombe weighing up to 400 pounds. Gorillas eat plant material and, occasionally, insects. They are the least arboreal of the great apes, spending most of their time foraging on the forest floor.

Kitombe is one of two three males at Franklin Park Zoo; he was born in 1986 at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. He is the father of Kira Kimani, who was born earlier this year. The whole group has their own website with information about each individual.

On this day in 365 Urban Species: Evening primrose.

Comments

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

It's three - don't diss Joe or Okie, they'll throw poo at you!! :P I miss those guys. I get to visit them every few months or so, though. What happened to you today? I was looking forward to your visit! :) Maybe next time.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Whoops! Gotta stop stating things like I know them!

We didn't go to Stone today because we had to deal with the surprise delivery of a huge freezer that took over two hours to get into the building. I was disappointed.

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't want to sound snotty either when I corrected you, but I couldn't bear to see one of them overlooked! :P

Yeah, lots of things end up not going as planned. Oh well. Next time!

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

So. allow me to be an ass-hat for a minute and dwell on semantics. If we're going by shear weight, wouldn't those lard factories that end up being featured in the Weekly World News (RIP) and buried in piano cases be the world's largest primates? If gorillas had access to an unlimited supply of twinkies and Krispy Kreme donuts, would they be able to tip the scales at a half ton or is there something hardwired into them that keeps them from being so stupid? I'm actually curious, are humans, and our pets the only creatures in the animal kingdom that eat themselves sick and obese, or does it simply not happen in nature because demand outweighs supply?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I'm sure if gorillas were given brain damage (as I assume 1000 pound humans have) and fed only Krispy Kremes, they'd get to huge proportions before they died of diabetes or kidney or hear failure.

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I started my question being an ass-hat, but I'm seriously curious now. Is there some mechanism that keeps wild animals from eating to the point of obesity?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Wild animals have to work for their food, and their food is much more calorie-poor than food made by humans (and that includes cultivated crops as well as Kripy Kremes). The richest sources of calories in the wild are other animals, and they require exercise to turn into food. (and things like coconuts and brazil nuts, which also require exercise and special tools--like a macaw's bill and jaw muscles--to open)

If humans had to live off of truly wild food (no corn, no bananas, no sweet potatoes, no cows, no dairy products, no flour, no white sugar etc etc etc) obesity would be rare to unheard of. Animals fed food made by humans, such as pets and livestock, get obese pretty easily. A misconfigured diet (or lack of exercise) can make a zoo animal obese.

The mechanism is evolution. Sources of food are living things, which have developed ways to make it hard for them to be eaten. Humans are clever monkeys, and we've figured out how to get around these defenses. Parts of the health care community considers the modern food supply to be a "toxic food environment" where calories are cheap and plentiful (especially calories from essential nutrients like fat and sugar, which taste great as an evolutionary ploy to get us to devour them, in the rare chance we should encounter them in the wild) to the point that it causes health problems.

Does that answer it? I think what you are asking is "is there something about a wild animal that makes it too smart to get fat?" and the answer is no.

[nutmeg.livejournal.com]

Even food that isn't truly wild, but has to be coaxed from the ground with your own two hands is going to leave you pretty thin.

I recall watching a stupid PBS tv show, pioneer house and one of the men insisted he was physically ill because he was getting so thin. That's because they were growing almost all their own food and despite having some "modern" conveniences he was WORKING hard. Finally a modern doctor saw him and said he wasn't ill, he was just extremely fit for the first time in his life.

I'd add salt to your list of essentials that taste great out of evolutionary importance. For many animals and plants, salt is one of the most limited resources.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

clearly he was hoping for a good reason for his belly.

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Me? Nah, I know why I've got a belly.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

is it because you're an ape?

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that sorts it all out.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

we are hard wired to want sweets and fats which is good evolutionary practice - fatten up during times of plenty so that the lean times are easier and you might actually survive. unfortunately, our times of plenty are pretty much permanent and evolution hasn't caught up with that.

[somniferum.livejournal.com]

I love lowland gorillas! And it only has a little to do with the fact that Gorilla gorilla gorilla is fun to say (rather like 'Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo').

the enclosure looks like a lot of fun; do the gorillas browse on the plants in there, or eat mostly from things that are provided every day?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

While I was watching him, he was picking at the weeds and grass a little bit. Today they were in the indoor exhibit (which is pretty spectacular) eating kale and other greens and veggies.

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

AWWW I love Gorillas! :) Koko lives right across the bay from me...I want to go see her, but I can't unless I volunteer...so sad...:(
But I do love seeing pics of them! :)