Guest guest Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Sydney gorilla apes acrobats www.news.com.au October 12, 2007 ZOOS can be a boring place, but an inventive incarcerated gorilla from Sydney has taken to walking the tightrope, delighting hundreds of visitors at a Japanese zoo. Zoologists expected that Shabani the 10-year-old Western Lowland gorilla - who arrived in Japan from Taronga Zoo in June - would just hang on the rope, but he has started walking across it instead, flapping his arms to keep balance as onlookers cheer him on. " The rope is meant for hanging on but he started walking on it shortly after he got here, " said Hiroshi Kobayashi, head of Higashiyama Zoo in the central city of Nagoya. " Gorillas climb trees in the wild but we have hardly seen them walking a tightrope, " he said. Shabani, who weighs 110 kgs, was brought to Higashiyama Zoo to breed with the three females there. He already appears close with Nene, who at 36 is more than three times his age. " She might seen a bit old, " Kobayashi said, " but it is still fully possible to have a baby. " [Photo: Walking the rope ... Shabani delights zoo visitors with his tightrope skills. http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5697323,00.jpg] http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22569196-5006007,00.html Sick of deleting your inbox? 7 Mail has free unlimited storage. http://au.docs./mail/unlimitedstorage.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.