Visitors watching the chimpanzees frolicking in their outdoor enclosure were dismayed to see one of the chimps grab a bird that had gotten a little too close. The chimp seemed more curious than anything else, and although he was holding it tightly, the bird appeared to be unharmed.

A keeper, seeing what had happened, went in to try to rescue the bird. Knowing that it is impossible to simply take something away from a chimp if it doesn’t want to give it up, the keeper grabbed a banana to offer as a trade.

The chimp was tempted by the banana, but apparently wasn’t convinced. He looked longingly at the banana and then back at the bird. He wanted the banana, but wasn’t ready to give up his prize. He looked back and forth from the bird to the banana several more times. Each time he reached for the banana the keeper made it clear that he could only have it if he handed over the bird.

Eventually the banana won out. The chimp lifted up the hand with the bird in it and took one last longing look at the struggling bird. Then he calmly bit the bird’s head off and nonchalantly handed the body to the keeper in exchange for the banana.

A keeper hand-raising an infant gibbon was in the habit of transporting it inside her shirt to keep it warm and contented.

One day while driving home the keeper was stopped at a stoplight and became aware that someone in another car was looking at her. (Apparently she was used to people noticing the zoo patch on the shoulder of her uniform.) Just as she turned to look, she felt a small, furry arm reach out of her shirt and touch her gently on the chin. The man’s expression, as she pulled away, was priceless.

It was time for the Barbary macaques to undergo their annual physical examinations. Keepers entered monkey island, nets in hand, to herd the monkeys into their underground holding facilities where they would be crated for the trip to the animal hospital. The staff had this procedure down to a routine; it had been done many times without mishap.

One energetic juvenile male, however, wanted no part of the holding cages. Instead, he climbed the rock-work to the top of the waterfall. Seeing an avenue of escape he made a tremendous leap, cleared the moat with room to spare, and landed in a baby stroller right in the lap of a very surprised child.

Neither the monkey nor the child were injured, and after a brief, stunned moment the macaque dashed away. After leading the pursuing keepers on an extended chase through the zoo (including a shortcut across the top of the jaguar cages) the monkey took refuge on the loading dock of a restaurant on the zoo grounds. After several minutes of searching among the piles of large boxes stored there, the keepers safely captured the macaque and returned him to monkey island. The irony in this story is that even after such a spectacular demonstration of his athletic abilities, the monkey still had to endure the physical.

A keeper hosing out a row of outdoor ape cages let the trailing hose get too close to the cage front and an adult orangutan pulled it into his cage. A protracted tug-of-war ensued—to the obvious delight of the crowd of visitors that rapidly gathered.

Finally, determined to win the hose back, the keeper put his foot up on the cement foundation wall and hauled back with all of his might. The orang, of course, let go of the hose completely. The keeper landed flat on his back in the grass, unhurt and in total possession of the hose, but without a shred of dignity remaining.