Frank makes a winsome sight as he hitches a ride with Imani.
Life After Five How Is Frank Doing? By Karyl Carmignani STAFF WRITER
Photos by Ken Bohn SDZG PHOTOGRAPHER
A gorilla growing. Clockwise: hanging out with father Paul Donn; striking a pose; showing wrestling moves to Monroe.
BORN AT THE SAN DIEGO ZOO IN 2008, little lowland gorilla Frank captured the hearts of visitors and keepers with his impish antics and fearless frolicking with his gentle, gigantic dad, Paul Donn. Though Frank’s birth mother, Azizi, was not able to care for him properly, his aunties stepped in to help raise him while keepers bottle-fed him for the first several months. “Frank the Tank,” as he was affectionately known, flourished under all the attention. Adult female Imani developed a special bond with him, so when it came time to join the five-member troop at the Safari Park in early 2013, Frank and Imani moved together. The integration process took time, but after a few months, the newbies had the confidence to join the troop. The social dynamics have gone well, especially with Frank getting to play big brother to Monroe, the Park’s energetic two-yearold. “Having a broad range of ages in a troop is how gorillas live in the wild,” said Peggy Sexton, lead keeper at the Safari Park. “And Frank and Monroe play together a lot, which is great enrichment for everyone.” Imani is politically savvy with the troop’s social undercurrents and rarely starts a ruckus. “Imani is socially intelligent and remains calm and collected when things heat up,” said Danielle Leffler, keeper at the Safari Park. Frank still sleeps next to Imani in the bedrooms at night, but she is also giving him the freedom to find his own way in the group by day. Frank is gaining confidence and continues to test the waters with the silverback, Winston. Occasionally, Winston has to “let Frank know he’s still in charge,” said Danielle, “and Frank will tuck into a submissive posture,” which is how gorilla social order is maintained. Other aspects of growing up gorilla are much more nuanced. For instance, keepers noticed that all the gorillas stayed out of the moat while Monroe was a baby, but once he could climb in and out of the moat, the area was fair game for the rest of the troop again. “Gorilla behavior can be so subtle that sometimes we don’t realize they’re tending to the little ones, but they are,” Peggy explained. It would seem that youngsters bring out the best in everyone. As Frank matures and continues to show Monroe “the ropes,” we can all count ourselves lucky to have these glorious great apes in our midst. SAN DIEGO ZOO GLOBAL
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