Today I wandered over to the National Zoo and saw the baby golden lion tamarins, who are just about a month old now. I've never seen anything so cute in a zoo in my life. The babies leap on any adult in reach and cling as the adults scramble across branches - clearly raising these babies is a team effort. This photo by RoxandaBear captures the excessive cuteness.
Shortly afterward, an orangutan climbing along the O-line dropped feces on the crowd (he missed). You can trust primates to bring the cuteness and the grossness, in rapid succession. . . they are our cousins, after all.
photo via DCist.
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I used to live right near the National Zoo when I was a DC resident (16th Street), and the golden tamarins were my absolute favorite animals. That, and the Bat Cave....
I need to go back and visit the zoo before the warm weather goes away.
I wonder if the orang enjoys trying to rain feces on visitors. I figure they're smart enough to know what they're doing. I guess we should be thankful they can't aim well.
The crowd laughed loudly and gasped in mock horror wth each falling fecal unit, so I wouldn't be surprised if the orangs have learned that they can elicit funny sounds and motions by doing this!
At a few zoos here in the UK they have these or other marmosets and tamarins at liberty - as they are territorial they will stay permanently in a suitable patch of woodland. At Jersey zoo I once saw a troop of about 10 or so run past me along the hand rail. It is the male and older juveniles which carry the babies - they only go back to Mom to feed for the first 6 weeks or so before they are feeding on solids