Tuesday, October 25, will mark adorable Aisha’s third birthday! We’re planning on some special enrichment for the “birthday girl” and her friends and family—so be sure to check out the fun on Ape Cam during the day.
The past year has seen big changes with Aisha. She is more independent, eating more, and interacting more with everyone in the exhibit. Aisha currently weighs 20 pounds. This time last year she weighed 12 pounds.
Our girl may be petite, but she is very active. Just this past month, she left her mom at the far side of the exhibit and came all the way to the toss area by herself. She came down to the ground and got food without her mom around—very brave! She will typically go back up the climbing structure if another animal comes near her, but on occasion she’s stayed near the ground and munched food right next to the siamangs. She is just like her mom, though, and will not let go of the ropes–she hangs by her toes and grabs food but she will not sit on the ground.
Recently, she was seen using the termite mound for the first time. She grabbed a stick and put it in the mound and when she pulled it out, it was covered in applesauce! Her hard work was rewarded.
She is entering the ‘troublemaker toddle’ stage. Recently, she grabbed and pulled on Satu’s dreadlocks! But the big guy stayed very calm and didn’t react. Before this, she would run to her mom any time Satu came in her direction. She pulls on Karen’s hair, too. Everyone is very tolerant of her—all primate kids are ‘spoiled’! I’m waiting for her to start harassing the siamangs to pay them back for pulling on her hair when she was a baby.
We continue to train Aisha for husbandry behaviors and she is very engaged in her training. She likes the one-on-one keeper interaction—and of course, we deeply enjoy the special time with her!
Tanya Howard is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous blog, Remembering Janey.
Cute photo of Aisha checking out new baby Siamang yesterday. Wish there was news on this site about the new baby.
Why can’t the camera get in focus? It is disconcerting to see Aisha playing with another orang but I can’t tell which.
Aisha and Satu seem to be spending more time together. He’s being (when I check) a good dad. Is there any way you could post an easier way to find Aisha turns 3?
Blog Monitor’s note: When you get to the main blog page, if you type her name in the “Search the site” box in the upper right hand corner, it will bring up any blogs about her and this particular one is the most recent so it shows right up. Once you have the blog open, you might bookmark it so you can always return to it in as few clicks as possible.
Are there any pictures from Aisha’s 4th party? Every time I checked in all I could see was Indah playing with streamers and Satu being Satu.
Blog Monitor’s note: I wasn’t on grounds for the party, but I’ll ask around.
Is there a party planned for Aisha’s 4th birthday? Time goes so fast and she is getting more athletic by the day.
Blog Monitor’s note: The keepers have plans for special (festive-looking to humans!) enrichment on Wednesday, October 25. 🙂
What is wrong with Aisha today? She is not herself today. She has been with mom all day. Seems like she is not feeling well
Yesterday on Facebook there was video of MS Aisha up at the window posing for her adoring fans. I’ve never seen her do that before. Then on the Facebook page “Adventures of Janey” Aisha is walking on the ground. Our little girl is really growing up and changing. What fun.
thank you for the post. I have not kept up with the orangutans.
today I had a chance to visit the SDZoo. in the past I have tried to alternate years visiting the zoo or safari park. this year my top priority was visiting the orangutans as I’ve been following Aisha since she was on cam but never seen her in person. she looked very tiny indeed (not much larger than when I watched her on cam at the age of 1year, also everything looks larger on the cam). at first I thought Indah had had another baby.
I dearly enjoyed watching Aisha’s acrobatics (she moves with confidence and skill). she was also engaged with the termite mound and practiced getting treats from it with a branch. she and Indah also engaged a little bit and Aisha did not even climb on Indah one bit. it was hard to get a photo of Aisha b/c she prefers to be on the climbing structure and did not come near the window. but the exhibit was relatively cool and the orangutans were fairly active so it was a joy to watch.
Satu looked as philosophical as ever. he walked about dragging a burlap bag by each foot behind him. he came to nestle his face into the observation window and study the visitors.
Karen was really a ham. she seems to really know how to get responses out of the human visitors and is very sociable. she came up to the window first and studied the visitors while finishing a lettuce snack. later she did body rolls on the path along the window. she also climbed up the bamboo poles against the window and gazed down at the visitors who were mostly focused on Satu still sitting next to the window. while I think these are all known behaviors for people who read past blogs about the orangutans or who watch the cams regularly, getting to watch it in person was really a treat. I have spent so many hours watching the orangutans on the cam that even though I don’t watch as much currently, they do feel a sort of family to me.
Are Indah and Aisha separated at night? Also are the two siamangs housed together? Enjoyed seeing the party goodies.
?✨Happy Birthday Aisha!!✨?
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)’･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*