Hi Everyone!
Today I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of the Bowmanville Zoo family. Her name is Penelope and she is a 18 month old white handed gibbon.
Currently the zoo has 2 gibbons, Sandy and Fufu. Sandy is the oldest gibbon in captivity at 51 years of age and going strong, while Fufu is almost 8.
Years ago Sandy had a mate named Ebony. They spent their entire life together, over 45 years! Sandy would share his bananas and cherry tomatoes with her, even though these are his two favourite foods! As she got older it was hard for her to open the door to go outside. Sandy being the gentleman that he is, would hold open the door for her. Theirs was a very special relationship. Unfortunately, 3 years ago she died of cancer. In an attempt to find Sandy a companion Fufu arrived on loan from a sister zoo. When we introduced Fufu to Sandy we hoped that they would form a bond like his with Ebony. Although Sandy has enjoyed her company, Fufu was ambivalent towards Sandy. She would take food out of his hands and hogged the heat lamp (so we gave them two) and was generally less than the perfect mate. This is where our new gibbon Penelope, comes in. Over the next few weeks, Fufu will be returning to her original home and we will be introducing Penelope to Sandy. I can't wait to see how it goes. You should come and see how the quest to find Sandy a new mate rolls out! We open April 25th. I will keep updating you with the latest zoo information so keep checking back!!!
Talk to you soon,
Stefanie
Where did the blog go?? I guess things are crazy at BZP so maybe it will have to wait a while.
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