Domestic Abuse...Orangutan Style

On our trip to the zoo we spent a lot of time in the Orangutan exhibit, mainly because it was inside and we could see them up close. Who would have thought we would witness a daytime soap opera that would rival Days of Our Lives? It was so fascinating, and sad, that I could hardly look away. First, you must meet the "actors".
*Note, Eli is the baby's dad. Eve is the female. These three are all in one space, while Talukan, the other male, has a pad all to himself. These two dwellings are completely separate, with only a small clear plastic window connecting them. Also a side note- orangutans are the same size as gorillas. The males are BIG!

When we first took a look at the orangutans all we could see was the cute little baby jumping and hanging all over the place. He would stick pretty close to his mother and hang all over her. Then, after a few minutes of blissfully observing the cute little guy, we noticed the BIG daddy, Eli, start to stir and awaken from his nap. This primate was huge, hairy, dirty, fat and just oafish. He marched over to Eve, the mother, roughly picked her up and lets just say we viewed an intimate moment. I was shocked.

Eve then slinked off to the opposite corner, feeling embarrassed and violated, where the window connected her to the other male, Talukan. He was a very fit, clean cut, handsome guy. He came right over to his side of the window and they held their hands up to each other. It was clear that they were totally in love. It's like she said, "Help me!" and all they could do was gaze at each other through the glass. Well, then Eli, the ugly guy, caught sight of her at the window and clearly was not happy to see her with "the other man", so he trudged over there and physically shooed Eve away. She was clearly afraid of him. You could just see the frustration on Talukan's face...unable to help his woman!

She then ran to another corner and proceeded to cover herself up with a sheet (see picture) feeling helpless and trapped, while Eli just plopped down and scratched himself. And baby witnessed all this drama and was just jumping around the whole time. Poor kid...what kind of emotional effects will this kind of home life have on him later on?

Brian and I could not tear ourselves away. I may be exaggerating a little bit, because maybe this is normal for orangutans, but I do know that she looked pathetic and depressed...seriously. She was not happy. It really was so sad to watch her. She just huddled in corners and literally tried to be wherever her Eil was not. She tried to avoid him the whole time. And this Eli, well, he was gross and ugly and completely arrogant. And he was big-headed...in all senses of the word.

Kind of a weird post, but I just had to share what exciting things happen at the zoo. While we were there I did start to feel sad for the animals, having to be locked in such tiny quarters their whole lives while people just walk by and stare at them. Kind of sad. And poor Eve, having to have everyone see the abuse she endures all the time. I'm sad to say this drama didn't have a happy ending. We left as Eve was still huddling under her sheet, trying to be invisible and Eli began to playfully wrestle with his baby. Hey...at least he's a good daddy.

Haha...I'm laughing that this is so long and all about orangutans!