- Nothing is more painful to me than insomnia. It's not
just the wall-eyes, nausea, and short-term memory loss that I hate. What
bothers me most is the invariable WEIRDNESS of my thought processes (even
more so than unusual) when I've gone a long period of time without a good
night's sleep.
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- At an ungodly hour this morning, I was so bored and exhausted,
I decided to get on the internet, and begin performing novel word searches
on Google News. Again and again, I entered combinations like "strange
lights," "bizarre death," and even "bigfoot captured."
Finally, I knew I was at the end of my rope when I submitted these two
words for a search: "GORILLA RAMPAGE." (It just seemed so funny
at 2 AM, after my twelfth cup of cappuccinno.)
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- Surprisingly, I did find a story of some interest. Perhaps
I only find it of interest because I am still suffering some lingering
effects from my insomnia. But...
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- I found an ACTUAL NEWS STORY about a "gorilla"
named Jabari, who went on a rampage in March at a Dallas, TX zoo. This
alleged gorilla went berserk and then shocked his handlers by pulling a
Carl Lewis and long-jumping over a twelve-foot moat. The zoo director offered
this statement: "...it was a tremendous feat of athleticism that heretofore
was not known to this species."
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- All of the experts quoted in this story say the same
thing: they never would have thought it possible that a 340 pound gorilla
could perform such a feat.
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- Why do I find this of interest? You may remember an alleged
chimpanzee by the name of Oliver who created quite a firestorm of controversy
back in the 1970's. Oliver had a totally hairless head, he walked completely
upright, and he was quite adept at mixing drinks and smoking cigars. The
bizarre characteristics of this exceptionally ugly alleged chimp led many
to speculate that he was either a bigfoot, a monstrosity of genetic experimentation,
or perhaps even the missing link. Initially, DNA tests performed on Oliver
in Japan showed that he had 47 chromosomes. Chimps have 48 chromosomes,
while humans, of course, have 46. These tests were scoffed at by scientists
around the world, and in the United States, another DNA test on Oliver
revealed his chromosomes to be a normal 48.
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- So getting back to the "gorilla" Jabari, there
might be a prosaic explanation for the beast's world-record setting long
jump...and that is, it never happened. Jabari did attack a small child
in the middle of his rampage, so perhaps his handlers are just covering
their rear-ends after making a really dumb mistake...like leaving the door
to the gorilla's cage open. OK, I concede that is more likely than my insomnia-induced
theory that Jabari is a Bigfoot, or even the grotesque result of some cross-species
hybridization experiment gone terribly wrong.
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-
- BTW, I am smiling BROADLY as I write this... But the
story below REALLY IS an AP story, which I pulled from CNN's website: http://cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/06/18/leaping.gorilla.ap/
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- Gorilla's amazing leap puzzles zoo experts
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- Friday, June 18, 2004
Posted: 10:12 PM EDT (0212 GMT)
- Jabari, a Western Lowland Gorilla, is thought to have
leaped across a 12-foot moat to escape his zoo confines.
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- DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A cheetah
could do it. So could a chimpanzee. But no one expected a stocky, knuckle-dragging
153-kilogram (340-pound) gorilla to leap across a 3.5-meter (12-foot) -wide
moat and a wall that separated him from visitors at the Dallas Zoo.
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- But zoo investigators say that is exactly what happened
the day 13-year-old Jabari escaped and went on a 40-minute rampage in March,
snatching up a toddler with his teeth and injuring three other people before
being shot to death by officers.
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- The gorilla's flying leap has astounded primate experts
and is leading some to rethink the design of the gorilla exhibits at zoos
in the United States.
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- "All it does is give you pause and you think, 'This
may be one championship gorilla here, but I've got to be careful because
maybe I've got one too,"' said Terry L. Maple, former director of
Zoo Atlanta for 17 years, who has written about gorilla behavior.
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- At the Dallas Zoo, animals in the gorilla enclosure are
roughly at visitors' eye level. Zoo officials who conducted a three-month
investigation announced this week that they believe Jabari got a running
start and sailed over the trench, clearing the four-meter (14-foot) wall
and an electrical wire atop it that is supposed to give a mild shock.
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- Some experts speculate Jabari may have been doing a "display
run," a showy charge that younger males perform for females or other
audiences. Others say he could have been motivated by fear, anger or desire
to breed.
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- Dallas Zoo officials believe he leaped because they could
not find evidence of human error, such as open doors, or any objects that
could have aided his escape. But zoo director Rich Buickerood acknowledged:
"We still have not had anyone come forward yet to say they actually
witnessed the event."
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- As a result, some experts are a bit skeptical that the
gorilla made such a leap.
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- Whatever happened, Jabari's escape moved the zoo to renovate
the exhibit where younger gorillas stay, raising the walls to at least
4.5 meters (15 feet), adding "gorilla speed bumps" to break up
long, flat stretches, and installing "hot vines," electric wires
that resemble plants.
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- "Everybody who knows anything about gorillas is
concerned about this, and everybody should be re-evaluating their safety
mechanisms as we speak," Maple said.
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- Before Jabari's escape, a 3.5-meter (12-foot) wide moat
was considered an adequate barrier, said Dan Wharton, director of the Central
Park Zoo and chairman of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Gorilla
Species Survival Plan.
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- Gorillas -- though powerful, quick, agile in the trees
and believed by some experts to be as intelligent as chimpanzees -- are
heavy-boned and were thought to lack the ability to leap long distances.
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- "I think we probably have underestimated the ability
of these animals," Maple said. "I'm not saying he did it, but
if he did do it, it was a tremendous feat of athleticism that heretofore
was not known to this species."
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- Wharton said he has not yet seen the zoo's review of
the incident, but he and other officials plan to study it to determine
whether the association should change exhibit guidelines for accredited
zoos.
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- Karen Killmar, associate curator of mammals at the San
Diego Zoo, said zoos will adapt to whatever changes are ordered. She noted
that change is part of the game in keeping wild animals.
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- "The one thing in this business: You never say it's
impossible," Killmar said. "Just about the time you say, 'No,
an animal can't do that,' it'll happen."
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