S. M. Garver - Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens - Jacksonville, Florida
Page 4 of 13

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Primates include a variety of monkeys, bonobos, mandrills, and gorillas.

Howler monkey
[This monkey with very long golden fur is crouched in a tree branch. Its face is much darker than the fur surrounding it in a heart shape.]

Squirrel monkey
[A close view of the monkey on all fours looking up to the front right such that two-thirds of its face is visible. The fur on its face and ear are light peach in color while its mouth area is dark brown. The top of its head and its forehead are the same medium brown as the rest of its body.]

A Guereza colobus keeps an eye on its buddies on the ground below.
[This small, monkey-like creature has a long hairy tail which is black from its body to half-way down the tail. The rest is all white. Its body is also a mixutre of all black and all white parts. It has white fur around its face. The one lies on a platform holding the edge of it and peering over the edge down at the ground.]

This group of colobus monkeys share living quarters with the gorillas. (They are eating from the same hunk of greenery.)
[Four colobuses sit on the rocks with three on the right and one on the left. At least two of them are pulling greenery from a branch from a leafy bush. The one on the left has its tail spread out behind it showing the bushy white end to the black tail.]

An Angolan colobus and her 13-day-old baby
[The mother with black fur except for white stripes down her arms and around her dark face sits facing the camera with the baby in her lap. The baby has all light-colored fur and sits facing left.]

Bonobos are related to chimpanzees.
[This chimpanzee-like creature is walking on all fours. It has very muscular arms and not a lot of fur over its skin.]

Bonobo mother Jo-T is on the second level while her nearly two-year-old son Lukuru swings from the ropes on the first level.
[The bonobos are on a multi-level rope and wooden structure. There are wooden ladders between the levels. There are also ropes strung between the pole supports. There are also several rope hammock structures. The adult is sitting on the second level eating while the youngster, who is only about a quarter of her size, is standing on a rope holding a different rope above his head.]

Jo-T went to the very top of the structure, but Lukuru was too small to reach. After Lukuru called to his mother repeatedly, she finally flug a long arm down and pulled him up. (Jo-T and her son have quite a bit more hair on their heads than is usual for bonobos.)
[The mother has her arm around her son as they both sit in the rope hammock. The mother is eating some greenery.]

The young female mandrill on the left was doing her best to get the male on the right interested in her.
[These primates have long fur and primarily walk on all fours. The male is not only significantly larger than the female but also has white patches beside his red nosebridge and nostrils and white around his mouth. While the female has a pink/red nosebridge and nostrils, she has no white patches. She does have yellowish fur on her cheeks and neck.]

The female on the left is the same one as in the prior photo. Here she glares at the older female who has a baby mandrill hanging from her. The baby's father is the male in the prior photo.
[The yellow fur is visible on both females. The baby mandril has his mother's fur grasped in all four limbs as he hangs under her. She is walking toward the younger female.]

Not long after I shot this photo, the train which circles the zoo went by. After it passed, the gorilla turned away from the window and went to a grassy section inside this exhibit. Apparently he heard the train coming and went to watch.
[In a cement wall is a window opening with bars and wires across it to keep the gorillas inside. A gorilla stands in the grass beside this window staring out of the exhibit.]

While the lighting on the photo on the left makes this silverback look more silver than he was, his silver back is definitely visible in the photo on the right. (I don't believe this is the same gorilla as the one watching the train in the prior image.)

A younger gorilla enjoying a snooze on a hot afternoon.
[A gorilla lies on the ground with his back against a wall and one foot perched on the wall as he holds a small tree branch against his chest. His eyes are closed.]

There are multiple water spouts in the gorilla exhibit so Kumbuka and the others can stay hydrated.
[Two photos are spliced together. On the left is a close view of a short pipe sticking out of a stone wall beside a door. On the right is the gorilla sitting on the ground with her hand around the pipe and her face at the end. It appears one pushes the inner section to open the water flow.]

The large gorilla in the back of the image is Bulera who is the mother of five-year-old George in the front. She is the foster mother of baby Gandai sitting in the middle.
[The mother and son gorillas lie with their backs on the straw and their legs up the wall which contains the viewing glass. The mother gorilla also has her head leaning against a thick tree trunk so she's propped up a bit to be able to see the baby gorilla. George in the foreground has head head flat on the ground looking up. The baby gorilla sits upright looking through the viewing glass.]

Gandai's first birthday was the day after I took these images of her.

Continue to reptiles and amphibians. (page 5 of 13)

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