Lion Country Safari

Continuing on the animal theme, the next day we visited the Lion Country Safari, the first “cageless zoo” in the States, where we observed a wider diversity of animals. My favorite animals were the white-handed gibbons, the only primate to move upright on two legs while running and walking, and the chimpanzees, the most closely related primate to human beings (we share  97% of our DNA make-up with chimps). I loved watching the gibbons groom themselves and the chimps interact with one another in the shade. There’s something comforting about witnessing such closely-related mammals move and interact: it’s like an opportunity to go back in time and observe our own evolutionary history. M’s favourite animals were the gentle giraffes.

P.S. I’ve got primates on the brain after having just finished reading “Sex at Dawn” in Cancun which spends the introductory chapters discussing human beings’ biology and evolution in relation to bonobos, chimps, apes, etc!