Mobi explores the outdoor enclosure of the Dja Reserve from the back of his mother, Duni. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
MOBI IS SWINGING ON A ROPE, GAIA IS STARTING TO CLIMB, AND HARAPAN WILL BE THREE MONTHS
Great ape hat trick – that’s how you could describe the trio of the most outstanding cubs born this year at the Prague Zoo. Both the small gorillas and the orangutan are thriving and showing themselves more and more to visitors. Mobi’s favorite thing to do is to play on the ropes and swing upside down on them, while her younger sister Gaia is sucking vegetables and starting to toddler. Orangutan Harapan, who will be 3 months old tomorrow, already regularly spends time in the outdoor enclosure.
“Never before have three ape babies been seen at the Prague Zoo at the same time,” says chief primate keeper Martin Vojáček. All small primates make him happy, but according to him, it is also interesting to observe the differences between them and also between their parents. “Mobi likes to ride on her mother Duni’s back, but Kijiva, on the other hand, only carries little Gaia in the palm of her hand, as if in an excavator spoon. None of her previous Kijiva cubs had been carried on her back until she had climbed onto them herself at a more mature age. In contrast, orangutans, as arboreal primates, carry their offspring only on their bellies.”
Seven-month-old Mobi’s favorite pastime these days is swinging upside down on ropes. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
The seven-month-old lowland gorilla Mobi, the first granddaughter of the famous Moja, is already moving away from her mother by a few meters these days. Duni is very careful with her first born, but she is now letting her interact with all members of the gorilla family. He also allows her more and more games and pranks. Mobi prefers to swing upside down on lower ropes.
Three-and-a-half-month-old Gaia is newly tasting adult food, especially pieces of cucumber or salad that her mother Kijiva drops while eating. Gaia, the goddaughter of the world-famous Jane Goodall, is learning to climb. Visitors can thus watch her first steps.
Kijivu with his three and a half month old daughter Gaia. Gaia is starting to toddler these days and is also tasting the vegetables that the other gang members drop when eating. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
Harapan will be three months tomorrow. A small Sumatran orangutan tries to grasp objects in its surroundings, such as play materials or vegetation in the enclosure. His mother Diri regularly “exercises” him – lifting him above her head, stretching his limbs, and cleaning his nasal cavity and eyes from sleeping pills. In the last days, she started putting her firstborn on the ground next to her.
Lowland gorillas in the Dja Reserve are best seen when feeding in the indoor exhibit at 10am or 3pm, in the outdoor enclosure the best chance to meet them is before the morning feeding around 9.30am or when the group is enjoying the early evening sun around 5pm. Male orangutan Harapan can be found inside the Indonesian Jungle Pavilion, where he goes to the outdoor enclosure every day after 3pm and spends the rest of the day with his mother Diri and father Pagy.
The small orangutan male Harapan can be seen by visitors to the Prague Zoo in the outdoor exhibit of the Indonesian Jungle every day after 3 p.m. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
All three cubs – Mobi, Gaia, and Harapan – belong within their species (in the case of gorillas within a subspecies), among animals critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.