Created and Written by John Bonnett Wexo

Scientific Consultants Frederick A. King, Ph.D. Director, Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center Harold M. McClure, D.V.M. Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center Richard Tenaza, Ph.D. University of the Pacific

ON THE COVER: A Mountain Gorilla Courtesy of the FREE Zoobooks eSafari. A silverback male mountain gorilla races through the forest beating his chest in a ritual charge to show dominance. EExx p p l l o o r r ee books.co even more! Come wander om oo m Q: What is the first thing an orangutan learns in school? zothrough our Virtual Zoo, finish up your homework with the A: The Ape-B-C’s. Animal Directory, and then relax Q: Why didn’t the banana snore? with some Games & Activity Pages. A: It didn’t want to wake up the whole bunch. Best of all, visit the Q: What do you get when you cross your pet parrot with a gorilla? u To find out, sign up for your free ret Jung eSafari at www.zoobooks.com. ec at le S When you sign up for your FREE zoobooks.com eSafari at www.zoobooks.com/safari, for printable activities, online games, you’ll discover: •• WhatWhat Chest-Chest- live action videos, and drawings and • Best wildlife sites on the web beating Means poems done by kids like you! • Animal jokes, puzzles, games, activities beating Means It’s a secret online hangout just for • Wildlife and zoo news PagePage 1111 kids. Only Zoobooks subscribers like • Animal cams you can get in! Find your password • Green tips, save-the-animals sites and causes on our Kids Zooworks page. See an eSafari preview at www.zoobooks.com/safari. So! You’ve just finished reading your eSafari is part of your Zoobooks membership, so sign up today FREE! Zoobooks, and your head is full of new fun facts. Come on over to www.zoobooks.com/twenty and impress us with what you’ve learned— and we’ll reward you with some laughs. Mailing by January 25th (please allow 1-2 weeks for delivery) See you there! tigers At night, when the deer and the antelope play, a tiger becomes a stealthy hunter looking for, perhaps, its first meal in weeks. For a sneak peek of this issue, flip a few pages at www.zoobooks.com/digital-subscription.

January 2012 Volume Twenty-Nine Number $7.00 in U.S. funds per year. Add $15 in U.S. funds Three ZOOBOOKS (ISSN 0737-9005) is published per year for other foreign addresses. Single copy: ten times a year by Wildlife Education, Ltd., P.O. $5.99 plus $2.50 postage/handling. Box 447, Peru, Illinois 61354. Periodicals postage Subscription orders, inquiries and address change paid at Peru, Illinois and additional mailing offices. requests may be sent to PO Box 420235, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Zoobooks Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. PO Box 420234 Palm Coast, Florida 32142-0234. Address Changes: Please include old and new PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40032441 addresses and ZIP Codes. Enclose address label • King Kong Wrong? REGISTRATION NO. 3905136 RETURN from last issue and allow six to eight weeks for • King Kong Wrong? ® UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: change to become effective. Published by Wildlife Education, Ltd. PO BOX 875, STN A, WINDSOR ON N9A 6P2. Internet Customer Service Form: TM © 2012 Wildlife Education, Ltd.® All rights reserved. No part of Subscription Rates: (U.S. funds only): $29.95 for www.zoobooks.com/subscriber_services PagePage 1414 App this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form 10 issues. For Canadian addresses please add or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, From time to time, Zoobooks mails to its subscribers advertisements for other Zoobooks products or makes recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without its subscriber list available to other reputable companies for their offering of products and services. If you permission in writing from the publisher. prefer not to receive such mail, write to us at Zoobooks PO Box 420235 Palm Coast, Florida 32142-0235. Get the Jungle to Go! 7th printing, printed by M&D Printing in Henry, Illinois, December 2011. Printed in the U.S.A. ZooWhowww.zoobooks.com/fun FREE he apes are undoubtedly the animals bonobos—are known as the great apes. that fascinate people the most—and The smaller gibbons and siamangs are the T the reason is not hard to see. Of all the “lesser” apes. world’s creatures, the apes are closest to us in Great apes can be very large. On occasion, form and behavior. They can stand upright, they gorillas have reached a height of 6 feet 2 inches, have fingernails and fingerprints, large brains, and although the average height for an adult male is expressive faces. Most of all, they have an obvious 5 feet 8 or 9 inches. Gorillas are massive animals, intelligence that both amuses us and puzzles us. with corresponding strength. An average male in So great is the resemblance of the apes to the wild weighs about 350 pounds. In captivity, Si a m a n g Wh i t e -h a n d e d Gi b b o n Hylobates syndactylus humans that they are called anthropoid, or “man- they may weigh 200 pounds more. Bonobos and Hylobates lar like” apes. The resemblance seems to be more chimpanzees—the smallest of the great apes— than superficial. The DNA of humans differs can weigh more than 150 pounds. from that of chimpanzees and bonobos An adult male is three to four times (also called pygmy chimpanzees) by stronger than a man. Great apes can less than two percent. live for 50 years or more. The larger anthropoids—gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and

Lo w l a n d Go r i ll a (m a l e a n d f e m a l e ) Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Bo r n e a n Or a n g u t a n (m a l e a n d f e m a l e ) Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus Ch i m p a n z e e Bo n o b o Pan troglodytes Pan paniscus he anatomy of apes is obviously like human Although the bodies of all apes are similar in general pattern, each anatomy in many ways. Like us, apes have two The arms of apes are type of ape exhibits modifications to the pattern. A comparison of legs and two arms, five fingers and five toes, always longer than their the hands and teeth of the lightest and the heaviest apes shows T legs. Orangutans and how each is adapted to its specific life requirements. large heads with two forward-looking eyes, 32 teeth, gibbons have longer arms and ears that have the same kinds of wrinkles and (in relation to the sizes of their bodies) than gorillas Apes are very strong. In the Gibbons let their lobes. Sometimes the way that apes move their bodies, and chimpanzees. And this wild, they take on very little fingers do the walking. is only fitting since orangs fat as a rule, and the energetic the postures and gestures they use, can seem very As this trapeze artist and gibbons spend more lifestyle of orangs, gibbons, and human indeed. swings from tree to tree, or time swinging than the chimpanzees keeps them in very brachiates, the ends of its long These are all important similarities—but there are others, and longer arms good shape. A massive gorilla, fingers lightly grasp each branch— important differences as well. As a group, apes are make swinging easier. of course, walks around all day just enough to keep the animal lifting the tremendous weight made for life in the trees, while we are suited to life on from falling, but not enough to of its own body. In general, apes slow its movement through the the ground. Even the gorilla, which has become so are many times stronger than forest. The gibbon’s thumbs are heavy that it must spend most of its time on the ground, human beings of similar size. extremely short and don’t get in the way when the fingers grasp a has a body that is really shaped for climbing and branch. This ape’s bones are thin swinging. (Young gorillas still do these things.) and light in weight, aiding its travels above the ground. With the hair removed, various skin colors are revealed for the different apes. Chimpanzee skin can range from black-brown to almost white Fruit is the main food of gibbons. on the body. Gorillas, gibbons, Their teeth follow a basic ape pattern and siamangs have black or but are rather small. The jaw is not gray skin. The gray skin overly muscular, because soft foods of orangutans is often don’t need much chewing power. All apes are covered with thick hair that tinged with blue. insulates their bodies and protects them from rain. But certain spots on the body are without hair. A typical chimpanzee has little or no hair on its face, upper chest, fingers, or ears. The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are also Gorillas are very bare. Gorillas have similar bare spots, heavy and must while orangutans and gibbons are move carefully. usually more fully covered. Strong bones are required throughout their bodies. Because they often use their knuckles to support them as they walk, the hand bones are large and sturdy.

Tough and stringy plants are the major part of a gorilla’s diet. Large muscles, running from the crest on the gorilla’s skull to the lower jaw, supply plenty of power for chewing and grinding. The teeth are massive.

2 3 himpanzees are the most social of the great All great apes build nests for sleeping. Chimpanzees build theirs high in the apes. They like company, and temporary groups trees—sometimes 80 feet above the Cmay include 45 or more chimps. Females and ground. Chimpanzee nests their young tend to wander from group to group, are made of leaves and twisted branches. It takes so the composition of groups is always a chimp only 5 or 10 changing. But males usually stay with a minutes to make a nest. How long does it take you single group. When chimps arrive at a new to make your bed? place and meet old friends, they sometimes Play is important to chimpanzees of all ages. As with human children, hug and kiss in greeting. young chimps learn behavior and skills through play. Mothers often Most chimps By human standards, spend hours playing with their Because chimps eat only plants, Ea s t e r n Ch i m p a n z e e s bonobos and chimpanzees babies. One favorite game spend as much as but some hunt are probably the most animals and eat We s t e r n Ch i m p a n z e e s is tickling. 1/3 of their day on intelligent of all animals the ground, they meat. No other Bo n o b o s after man. Scientific do quite a bit of apes are hunters. tests (DNA) show that all walking. They prefer There are chimpanzees are more to walk on their feet three different closely related to humans When they want to carry and the knuckles of populations of than they are to gorillas something with two hands, their hands. Babies chimpanzees living and orangutans. chimps can walk upright. commonly ride in three separate areas of But they don’t really from place to place Africa. Eastern and western feel comfortable in by clinging to their chimps look much alike, but this position and mother’s hair. the smaller bonobos are darker cannot move in color. The bonobos live in very fast. an isolated area that is cut off from the other two groups by a wide river. As they grow older, chimpanzees often start to lose their hair. Females usually become balder For a long time, than males. humans were thought to be the only tool users on earth. Now we know that many animals use tools. The chimpanzee is probably the best tool user of them all.

No two chimps look alike—every face is different. Chimps also have a wide range of facial expressions.

Among the tools that chimps have invented is a “leaf sponge,” which they use to absorb drinking water from narrow spaces.

Chimps in search of a meal use blades of grass to pull tasty termites from their nests. They also get honey Ex c i t e m e n t Fe a r Sa d n e ss out of beehives with sticks. 4 5 rangutans are only found in Southeast Asia, on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Unlike other apes, they live alone most Oof the time, with the exception of mothers and their young. This solitary lifestyle is probably related to the orangutan’s need for large quantities of fruit. Orangutan mothers may keep their young Orangs are the largest animals in the world that survive mainly on with them for 6 to 10 years—until a new baby arrives. A baby is carried almost all fruit. In their lowland forest habitat, trees with ripe fruit are few and the time, clinging to the hair on its far between. There may not be enough fruit on each tree to feed more mother’s back as she swings from place than one or two orangs. Most of an orang’s time is spent moving slowly to place. Males only stay with females during courtship and mating. through the trees from one food source to another.

Pa s t Ra n g e

Pr e s e n t Ra n g e Ma l a y Pe n i n s u l a

Bo r n e o So u t h e a s t As i a The younger an orangutan is, the higher he is likely to swing in the trees. Young orangs are light in weight and active, so they are able

Su m a t r a to move on the highest levels of the forest canopy. Older and heavier animals need sturdier branches to support their weight. They must be more careful about falling, so they are usually The range of orangutans was once much larger than it is today. As humans have destroyed found on lower branches or on the ground. forests to make room for farms and to harvest valuable timber, the orangs have been forced into smaller and smaller pockets.

Although they are closely related, orangutans from Borneo and Sumatra can look quite different. This is often easiest to see in the faces of mature males. Bornean males usually have large Sumatran orangutans are forward-curving flaps on their faces. They are also likely to taller and more slender have balding, rather pointed than their relatives in heads. Sumatran males Borneo. Their hair may usually have flatter be longer and finer and Bo r n e a n flaps, a flatter Or a n g u t a n is sometimes lighter in head, and a Pongo pygmaeus color. Their “human” long, flowing appearance makes mustache. them the most likely representative for their name: orangutan means To zoo keepers around the world, Su m a t r a n “man of the forest.” orangutans are known as “escape Or a n g u t a n Pongo abelii artists.” They are very clever with their hands and often open cages just for the fun of it. As male orangutans grow older, the shapes of their faces can change a great deal. Babies have As impressive rather flattened, human-like faces. as their cheek Older males start to develop a pads can make larger snout. Fully grown males them look, male grow large flaps on the sides of Bornean orangutans do not usually grow to be their faces, and pouches of extremely large in the wild. Their average weight is pebbly skin on their chests. only 160 pounds. The heavy individuals sometimes As the orang’s appearance seen in zoos are well fed and overweight. changes, so does his behavior. The once-active baby becomes a slow-moving adult. 6 7 Adult female orangutans tend to forage only with their most recent offspring. orillas are the largest of the great There are three basic types of gorillas— Mo u n t a i n Go r i ll a apes, but despite their great size they In the wild, western and eastern lowland gorillas and Gorilla beringei gorillas eat are generally shy and peace loving. mountain gorillas. In the shapes of their G only plants. bodies, all three types look much alike, These gentle giants live together in rather They spend but the heads of lowland and mountain small groups, with one mature, or dominant, about half gorillas are quite different from each of each day other. The hair on the head of a lowland male as the leader. There may be from 5 to 30 looking for food type is short and may be brown-orange members in a group, but the average is 11. and eating it. in color. On a mountain gorilla, it is Their diet can long and is as black as the rest of the Young gorillas are small enough to swing in include leaves, body. Males of all types have crests trees like the other apes, but heavier adults bark, vines, on their heads, but mountain bamboo shoots, gorillas have higher crests. rarely leave the ground. and other tough and Lo w l a n d Go r i ll a chewy materials. Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Gorillas rarely stand up in the Gorillas yawn wild. They prefer to move about like people, and on all fours. When they do stand they can shed up, males often beat their chests. tears. They are Interestingly, when mature males usually silent, but beat their chests, it is either sometimes they a threat or a sign of curiosity. will huff, cough, When young gorillas do it, it is burp, and hiccup. an invitation to play. When they are not looking for food or eating, gorillas take it easy. They get up late and often go to bed early. In between, they love to sunbathe and lie around. Ea s t e r n Lo w l a n d Go r i ll a s

We s t e r n Lo w l a n d Go r i ll a s

Mo u n t a i n Go r i ll a s

The undisputed boss of each gorilla group is a mature male with silver hair on his back. Silverbacks may be more than 6 feet tall and may weigh between 300 and 400 pounds. They have an arm span of at least eight feet and are incredibly strong. It has been estimated that a All known gorillas in the world have been silverback has the strength dark in color, except one. Discovered in of four to eight strong men. 1966 in West Africa, “Snowflake” grew Yet, with all their brute up in the Barcelona Zoo. The rarity of his strength, they are remarkably white skin, blond hair, and blue eyes put docile and gentle most of the him on the cover of National Geographic time. They will patiently Magazine, gave him worldwide fame, and endure all kinds of playful made him the mascot of Barcelona. His torment from baby gorillas fair coloring also may have contributed for hours at a time without to his death. In 2003, at the age of 40, losing their tempers. Snowflake died of skin cancer. None of his many offspring shared his coloration. 10 11 ibbons and siamangs are known as “the lesser apes,” and scientists have placed them in a separate category Gfrom great apes. They are much smaller, weighing less than 17½ pounds as a rule. Unlike great apes, both sexes of each species are about the same size. These graceful little apes spend Gibbons are born with an urge to move. They are by far almost all of their time high up in the forest canopy, as much as So u t h e a s t As i a the best acrobats of the apes. 180 feet above the ground. Not long ago, gibbons were Gibbons and siamangs don’t found in a larger area than like water and usually will Gibbons swing so rapidly they now occupy. There were that they sometimes appear not cross a water barrier. gibbons in much of China For this reason, zoos often to be flying. They can leap as 1,000 years ago—but now far as 50 feet in a downward keep them in displays that they are mostly confined to are surrounded by water. direction, and they are so well Southeast Asia, as shown here. coordinated and quick that they can even catch flying birds!

Bo r n e o

Su m a t r a Ja v a Scientists disagree about the number of types of gibbons. Some say there are six species, Gr a y Gi b b o n Hylobates muelleri but others say there are nine, Ho o l o c k Gi b b o n (not shown) Hoolock hoolock or more.

The basic gibbon social group is the family, Si a m a n g made up of one male and one female, and Hylobates syndactylus up to four of their young. Within each family, food is generously shared and fighting rarely occurs. Members of the same family will unite to drive off strangers. Si l v e r y Gi b b o n Hylobates moloch Bl a c k -c r e s t e d Gi b b o n Hylobates concolor

All of the lesser apes have loud voices and can make quite a racket. Usually, they call at dawn and at Ag i l e Gi b b o n several other times during Hylobates agilis the day—probably to tell Kl o ss ’s Gi b b o n other apes to stay away from Wh i t e -h a n d e d Gi b b o n Hylobates klossi Hylobates lar their territory. Siamangs are larger than gibbons and Gibbons wear coats of many colors. Some come in several different colors across their range. Males and have a large throat sac that females in some species are colored and patterned differently. And colors sometimes change with age. gibbons lack. The throat Gibbons may start life with a light color, turn dark as they reach adolescence, and become light again sac inflates to magnify their as they mature. The fur of a gibbon is very thick. A gibbon has more than 2,035 hairs per square inch, hooting call, which can be compared to a gorilla’s 307 per square inch—but who’s counting! heard throughout the forest. 12 13 he great apes have not benefited from their resemblance to man. They often have been exploited as fearsome creatures because of their T size and strength. But in the last half of the 20th century, scientists and the public learned more about these interesting animals. Field biologists studied their habits and behaviors in the wild, while anthropologists and behaviorists charted their abilities in captivity. And zoo scientists learned When gorillas raised in captivity first began to reproduce, they didn’t know how to care for their young because they more about breeding them and keeping them contented in captivity. hadn’t seen an infant fed and cared for by its mother. Now, Increased knowledge has swept away the myths. We know apes are captive female gorillas learn to mother because they live in large groups and see other gorillas taking care of their young. intelligent, that they can master communication skills, and that they may To find out how a young gorilla’s parenting skills helped a think creatively. The more we get to know them, the more we like them human child, go to www.zoobooks.com/learnmore. and want to assure their continued survival.

Rumors about large, manlike creatures spread Chimpanzees have shown great enthusiasm for from Africa to Europe painting. When given paints and brushes, they centuries before any produce paintings that are filled with bright color European finally saw a real and seem to express the joy of life. One scientist th gorilla in the 19 century. Without actual claims that chimps follow the same patterns in specimens to use for reference, artists during art that young humans do. the 17th and 18th centuries drew apes as large and hairy people.

Some scientists have been able to teach chimpanzees and gorillas to express themselves to humans in a shared language. Penny Patterson of the Gorilla Foundation signs to Koko: “How do you feel?” Koko signs back: “Fine.” Many of the exchanges between humans and apes in both sign language and computer- based language have been complex. A gorilla that had been taught to use appropriate signs at one zoo was later transferred to another zoo, where she was seen signing to another gorilla.

In the original (1933) horror film, King Kong, all of man’s ignorance about apes was wrapped up in one colossal and destructive image. In the 2005 remake, Kong is viewed with some sympathy and compassion. Is this because people today have a more positive image of gorillas?

Great apes are so closely related to man that they easily catch many of our diseases. Because they do not have the same resistance to these diseases that we have, they can even die from the complications of a common cold. To avoid stomach upsets and disease, it is important to keep human food, which might contain harmful germs, away from gorillas, chimps, and orangutans. 14 15 Photographic Credits Front Cover: Andy Rouse (Getty Images); Page Four: Upper Right, Charles Van hreats to apes and efforts to save them continue to grow. Valkenburgh (Wildlife Education, Ltd.); Lower Left, Tom McHugh (Photo Researchers); Page Five: Lower Right, all by Tom McHugh (Photo Researchers); Page Six: Left, Forty-eight percent of primate species are in danger of Royalty Free (Getty Images); Right, Royalty Free (Getty Images); Page Seven: Royalty Free (Alamy Images); Pages Eight and Nine: Royalty Free (Alamy Images); Page Ten: extinction in the next ten years. As with many other animals, Top Right, Science Picture Library (Photo Researchers); Left and Middle Right, T Charles Van Valkenburgh (Wildlife Education, Ltd.); Page Eleven: Middle Right, Joe McDonald (Photoshot Holdings Ltd.); Lower Left, Tom McHugh (Photo Researchers); the lesser apes suffer mostly from habitat destruction. Clearing Page Twelve: Lower Right, R. Van Nostrand (Photo Researchers); Page Thirteen: Middle, Royalty Free (Getty Images); Right, Royalty Free (Alamy Images); Page Southeast Asian rain forests for timber is deadly for the gibbons and Fourteen: Middle, Ron Cohn (Gorilla Foundation/koko.org); Bottom, Courtesy of Forest Ackerman; Page Fifteen: Left, Ron Austing; Top Right, K&K Ammann siamangs that forage and swing through the high forest canopy. (Photoshot Holdings, Ltd.); Page Sixteen and Inside Back Cover: Royalty Free (Alamy Images); Back Cover: Royalty Free (Alamy Images).

Art Credits The great apes also live in the disappearing forest, but they are Inside Front Cover and Page One: Barbara Hoopes; Pages Two and Three: Barbara Hoopes; Pages Four and Five: James Teason and Mark Hallett; Pages Six and plagued with additional problems. Despite laws, guards, and Seven: James Teason; Drawing by Mark Hallett; Page Ten: Barbara Hoopes; Page Eleven: Lisa French and Barbara Hoopes; Page Twelve: Middle, Lisa French; Lower Left, Karl Edwards and Mark Hallett; Page Thirteen: Top, Drawing by Walter Stuart; dedicated wildlife observers, poaching continues to be a problem. Bottom, Lisa French; Page Fourteen: Upper Left, Drawing by Walter Stuart; Page Logging roads provide poachers with easier access to the forest. Fifteen: Karl Edwards and Mark Hallett; All Maps by Andy Lucas.

Now is a critical time for orangutans. At the same time that wildlife biologists work to extend orang habitat in national parks and push to have existing laws enforced, adult orangs are killed so their infants can be smuggled to neighboring countries for the pet trade. The Bornean orangutan population has declined more than 50 percent in the last 60 years. For the Sumatran orangutans, the decline has been 80 percent over the last 75 years.

The decline in chimpanzee populations in the last 30 years is expected to continue at the same rate for the next 30 to 40 years. Because they are genetically close to humans, young chimps are sought after for biomedical research. It’s estimated that for every chimp successfully traded from poacher to final destination, 10 other chimps die. Increasingly, chimps are killed for food, as well as for trade. As if poaching, logging, and bushmeat hunting weren’t enough, the Ebola virus also decreases chimpanzee populations.

Lowland gorillas are also poached for trade and for bushmeat. They, too, suffer from Ebola. There is some cause for hope for western lowland gorillas, with the recent discovery of about 125,000 individuals in a largely unexplored region of northern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

During Rwanda’s civil war, fighting factions kept the war away from the mountain gorillas, and none were killed in the fighting. Unfortunately, in 1995, poachers began to kill mountain gorillas again for the first time in 10 years, and the population is in decline. But the Africans who live near mountain gorillas are proud of them and welcome the visitors who come to see the gorillas. The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo also encourages tourists to visit the gorillas. Local children love the gentle gorillas in their midst and grow up knowing that gorillas are special. People all over the world need to learn that all animals are special.

A chimpanzee