Zoo Atlanta

WORDS BY TRACY WALSH

The Zoo Story

Go ape at Zoo Atlanta, where the primates run wild.

Charles Horton seems like a respectable kind of guy, the type who always speaks in quiet, even tones. So it comes as a surprise when he starts grunting like a gorilla in the middle of an interview.

He lets out a low, throaty growl: “I call that rumbling.” Next comes a series of choked, staccato yelps. “A lot of us call those pig grunts.” The curator of primates at Zoo Atlanta demonstrates an impressive command of gorilla language—from the “don’t steal my banana” bark to the “c’mere, lady” courtship hoot. Surely Horton is one of the best speakers of Gorilla this side of the Serengeti?

As a zoo curator, Horton has every reason to talk to the animals. But there’s another explanation for his simian outburst: Kuchi, the zoo’s 21-year-old western lowland gorilla, has given just birth to twins. With these adorable babies around, there’s little wonder why the curator is so loopy.

Kuchi and her two offspring are doing well. Along with 18 other gorillas, they live in one of North America’s preeminent primate habitats. Zoo Atlanta’s African Rain Forest consists of 1.5 acres of lush, fertile, hilly green space. A gorilla couldn’t ask for anything better.

But the 117-year-old zoo wasn’t always an exemplary model. In the late 19th century, it housed a grim collection of laid-off circus animals displayed in small, sad cages for gawking crowds. Like many zoos of the time, conditions were shoddy. In the 1960s, Zoo Atlanta kept its most beloved resident—a charismatic silverback gorilla named Willie B—locked up in a cramped cage with only a television and a tire swing to keep him amused.

But in 1985, Zoo Atlanta undertook a massive, multimillion-dollar redevelopment campaign. Today, the zoo is a leader in conservation initiatives and education. Out went the barred cages, in came naturalistic habitats—painstaking recreations of plains, valleys and rainforests, complete with native vegetation. Last year, Child Magazine named Zoo Atlanta one of “America’s Best Zoos”.

It’s hard to imagine a more stunning comeback. Nestled in Grant Park, the zoo is one of only four North American institutions chosen to host Chinese Giant Pandas. Thousands of visitors fl ock to the zoo each year to see cuddly Lun Lun and Yang Yang as they climb trees and doze in the sun.

Other must-sees include dozens of Chilean pink flamingos in Flamingo Plaza, the Sumatran Tiger Forest and the Reptile House—home to the world’s rarest reptile, the Guatemalan beaded lizard. The zoo’s newest addition, the Living Treehouse, features America’s only breeding drill colony (a rare species of primate).

But like doting parents, the staff members at Zoo Atlanta are eager to talk about the family’s new additions. Speaking of the baby gorillas, their joy is palpable. “The little guy, he has the least amount of hair. He has what looks like a bowl haircut,” says Horton affectionately. “The little girl is always nursing. They’re very strong little babies.”

“They’re the first set of mother-reared twins in North America,” says Zoo Atlanta’s Susan Elliott with pride. “Most mothers can’t handle the strain of two babies at once but Kuchi is a proven mother. She’s nursing them, she’s cuddling them, she’s vocalizing to them.

It’s wonderful.”

“You often see her rocking her babies,” Horton adds. “She just bobs her head and you can tell she’s having a great time.

We see her smooching them a bit.”

The interpersonal world of the gorillas rivals that of a soap opera for complexity. Characters include Toomba, the stately matriarch; Taz, a silverback gorilla and the group’s only male; and Lulu, Kuchi’s over-protective daughter. “Lulu actually grabbed her mother, Kuchi, around the waist and tried to pull her away from the zookeepers,” says Horton.

Zookeepers were especially interested in how Taz, the first-time father, would react to his offspring. “We weren’t sure how well he would behave in a group of females with babies, even though they’re his babies,” Horton explains. “But he’s done very well.”

The curator recounts Taz and Kuchi’s emotional reunion after the birth. “Kuchi walked right up to him and she put her head in between his arms. It was very touching.”

Open 364 days a year, Zoo Atlanta is one of the city’s top family destinations. Visitors in January may also get a peek at Kudzoo, another female, who is, in Horton’s words, a “very, very pregnant gorilla.” She is due to deliver early this month.

Looks like zoogoers will soon have another reason to go ape.