Frauline C. Tadle 2011-04813 Anthro 1: WFU 1 August 2012 Primates of Avilon, LIVE!

An Up-Close Observation with Humans Closest Relatives Upon entering the place, the Arapaima greeted us. After a few steps, we spotted some strange birds and had picture with them. Continuing with our adventure we were surprised with the turtles, horses and birds minding their own lives. We went further upward when we were shocked by the presence of the Tiger, Puma, Jaguar and Hyena! We were at the Avilon Wildlife Conservation Foundation or popularly known as Avilon Zoo. It is now considered as the biggest zoological institution in the country as they continuously keep an estimated number of 3,000 species of reptiles, birds, amphibians, mammals and fishes. Its really a great opportunity to visit a zoo after more than a decade of not being able to do so. One of the best features of the zoo is the different kind of species of primates that resides in it. Some of those are Cotton Top Tamarin, Redhanded Tamarin, Bornean Orangutan, Black-Tufter Marmoset, Common marmoset, Capuchin Monkey, Muller Gibbon, Concolor Gibbon, Larabibbon and Philippine long-tailed macauque. The collection is diverse that our three-hour visit was not enough to fully appreciate this vast collection of well cared animals. Among these, we decided to pay attention on the two orangutans named Joey and Regine. The male adult orangutan is Joey which is around 30 years old while the female juvenile, Regine is 7. It is easy to recognize which is which because of their difference in size and appearance. Joey is a lot larger than Regine and the flaps on its cheek made it more noticeable and interesting. We decided to observe Joey more because it seems that its more fascinating to witness him move and interact with his environment. Throughout the entire one hour of observing Joey and partially, Regine, we have notice some distinct behaviors that were intriguing. Most of the time when we study them, Joey was just sitting or lying in one corner while observing the spectators come and go. Sometimes we thought that its sleeping but its not. When we gave a banana, Joey, without more ado get it and peel it off with the help of his mouth and hands or sometimes feet. They could also recognize which of the things in their place were edible and not. Their feet and hand are prehensile were used for climbing the branch-like structures that occupy their house as it was seen from Regine whenever it is going around their place. Joey showed us how orangutans and other primates like him groom themselves. He used his forelimbs to scratch his own body and putting it straightly to the mouth afterwards. He also did this

to his forehead and the part behind its flaps. To have a comfortable scratching session with his front body, Joey decided to lie down and ease the itchiness with his forelimbs. It also showed an innate capability of utilizing the momentum to get up and sit again. They are just like us. During the time of our activity, we had a hard time to get the two orangutans together. It came to us later that Joey has the dominance or the superiority on their shelter over Regine. It seems that there is an unwritten rule that Regine should avoid or respect Joey all the time. This attitude can be observed when there was a time that Joey changed his place with the location being occupied by Regine and the latter moved hastily to the other side as soon as Joey is in its sight. Joey, the same with other animals, possesses a sense of territoriality as it tried to spit at people who seemed to threaten his area or spits to those who are possible threats to its safety. It also throws things to the zoo guard who teases him much. We really had great time bonding with our closest relative. The Avilon Zoo is truly making a good performance in taking care of the animals as well as keeping to their advocacy of restoring the normal population of rare animals in the wild. The increase in number of animals needed to be kept in sanctuaries and zoos like this also give another important message to all: That the animals are in need of our help to save their species before their existence completely vanish from this world.