bruce

i really think that zoo + jeans = rain.
haha but this time it rained before we arrived today.
it did rain while we were at the enclosure,
but it provided us a chance to see them in their own harems.

it's cute when they cuddle together on the clifts while it rains.

AND OMG it's our first time seeing two baboons hug!
they just erm. hugged!!
so sweeeet. ahaha~

i'll upload the pics by thursday i hope.
fred better rmb to pass me the thumbdrive,
cos he alr pissed me off just now.
it's ok fred. if u quit bugging me,
i'll forgive u when im no longer pissed.
just DONT bring it up agn.

Meet Bruce.
Dont you think he has such sad eyes?
As if he had tears welling up in his eyes?

A few wks ago,
we witnessed him kidnapping an infant from another harem.

And ever since,
we noticed that he's always alone.
which is unusual, cos baboons are actually quite social imo.
They groom each other a lot.

but nobody grooms Bruce.

and from the picture, you can see that he's losing hair.
so we thought that he's an aging baboon.

but we found out from the zookeeper today,
that he's not that old.
he used to have 5 females in his harem.
and at one point in time, all 5 gave birth.
as female baboons lactate and care for their infants,
they would not ovulate.
or in their terms, they do not go in heat.
and Bruce actually murdered one of his infants,
so that its mother will stop lactating and resume her normal cycle.

scary.

but then again.
that happens in nature.
because the zoo lent us an article once.
i rmb that some females can actually fake ovulation.
so their butts will swell, and they'll appear to be in heat.
but it happens only if some other male overtakes the harem, if im not wrong.
because when they do, they might kill the infants,
so that the females will mate with them.

but 3 yrs ago,
bruce was involved in a fight.
and he was so severely injured,
they didnt think that he'll make it through the night.
but he did.
however, though he survived, he lost all his females.

so now, he's always alone.
and he always has that sad look.
and everytime i see him i feel sad as well.
because nobody grooms him and nobody interacts with him =(

that's why he kidnapped the baby.
i suppose.

sigh. why cant some harem accept him?