What’s Your Favorite Great Ape?

What is your favorite great ape?

  • Total voters
    34
I really can't decide. Its a big challenge to narrow down favorites, as I feel like if I choose one it means I dislike the other, which I don't want to imply. It would be gorillas in general, but I choose the western lowland gorilla since its the only one I've seen as of yet. But just looking at them makes me feel empathetic and remorseful for gorillas. They are beautiful animals head to toe, and can really make a connection with you at the zoo. Looking at the animals through the glass, gives me a feeling like the gorilla and I know something that no one else knows, but Im not sure what. They are remarkable animals.
 
I voted for the (Common) chimpanzee; though Bornean orangutan come a VERY close second.

Chimpanzees have the edge due to their complex social structure; which offers endless hours of observations, even within smaller troops. I love hearing the anecdotal stories about their antics and the many similarities they share with our own species. Their personalities really shine through and they are highly expressive in their emotions.

One of my favourite stories about chimpanzees comes from Taronga Zoo:

The keepers had spent several weeks demonstrating tool use to the chimpanzees, cracking Walnuts with blunt stones and handing the opened nuts to the chimps. The chimps were let out on exhibit, where they found several nuts (and the tools needed to open them). The chimps knew exactly what to do. They scooped up nuts by the handful and raced inside to hand them to the keepers to open for them. :)
 
I voted for bonobos, though Sumatran orang-utan and Eastern lowland gorilla come in close second and third. Bonobo's social structure intrigues me, and since Planckendael opened it's new world-class exhibit (in which they plan to house 2 fission-fussion groups in one exhibit I believe) I've spent many hours observing them there. I might be negatively biassed towards chimps due to the abnormal behaviors in my local zoos chimps (history of hand-rearing, some brought up as human kids, ex-pets, ...).

Sumatran orang-utans also interest me due to their social or rather semi-social nature. Eastern lowland gorilla's come in third due to Amahoro and Victoria, the last and second-to-last ones outside Africa for the foreseeable future that live(d) in my local zoo.
 
I love all primates, especially apes, so I'm gonna list them in order from most to least favorite (just because a species is lower on the list it doesn't mean I don't like it :))
List:
Eastern Lowland Gorilla, Bornean Orangutan, Common Chimpanzee, Western Lowland Gorilla, Bonobos, Mountain Gorilla, Sumatran Orangutan, Cross River Gorilla and Tapanuli Orangutan
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
I really can't decide. Its a big challenge to narrow down favorites, as I feel like if I choose one it means I dislike the other, which I don't want to imply. It would be gorillas in general, but I choose the western lowland gorilla since its the only one I've seen as of yet. But just looking at them makes me feel empathetic and remorseful for gorillas. They are beautiful animals head to toe, and can really make a connection with you at the zoo. Looking at the animals through the glass, gives me a feeling like the gorilla and I know something that no one else knows, but Im not sure what. They are remarkable animals.
Click to expand...
That was... an eerily similar description of the connection I feel with animals in general. Well said, well said :)
 
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