Optics and Exposure

Unnamed 2-week old Mandrill reaching for the stem of a bunch of grapes

On December 14, 2009, the Jacksonville Zoo was greeted by the birth of a baby Mandrill, the second female born there in almost three years (although this one has a different father from her older sister).  The zoo now has four Mandrills.  Deanna, the adult female and mother to the other two, Mandisa (sometimes called ‘Gucci’…I don’t know which name is stage and which is in-house), a 2-year old female, and Gunnite (called Gunner by his trainers), the recently arrived 19-year old male and father to the newest addition.

The baby Mandrill is unnamed because the zoo is waiting for one of their benefactors (who paid for the rights to pick the name) to tell them what he/she has decided.  Until then, the caretakers will be using an in-house name that I’m not allowed to tell you.

While home for the holidays, I was lucky enough to get a back stage tour of the zoo from my brother’s wife, an ape and monkey handler, who let me backstage in the Mandrill exhibit for a few quick shots.  They’re not great (I was afraid to use flash on the little girl, and the lighting was pretty tough inside), but it’s certainly the youngest wild animal that I’ve had the fortune to photograph.

I was also given some close-up photo opportunities with Quito, one of the zoo’s Silverback Gorillas, Sport and Boston, the two Siamangs, and the family of Lemurs (both white and striped).  It was quite a trip, and she has promised to bring us back again another time for more back stage shots with the Bonobos and Gorillas.  For now, enjoy what I’ve posted here.

Be sure to check out some of these photos on flickr: Reaching, Fingers, and Grape Stem.

-aigulf

EDIT: This is a re-post.  I accidentally deleted the first post after publishing it, and in re-writing this one I discovered some important details and changed the content a bit.  Sorry if this confused anyone.