That's my friend, Kutai, a teenage orangutan who died of heart failure just a couple of months ago. RIP, Kutai. Since working with Kutai and his grandmother Inji (currently 58 years old) at the zoo, I have focused more of my wildlife studies on apes, orangs in particular, and am likely applying to a graduate program where one of my advisors would be the director of the Orangutan Foundation. I am very grateful for the time I've spent with these two phenomenal creatures.
One of the things that makes me proud of the Oregon Zoo is that they welcome older, often disabled, animals into their care. The sea lion above was one of two giant (and blind) stellar sea lions who would surely have been euthanized had the zoo not taken him in from a marine rescue team. He lived a long life and, like Kutai above, died recently holding the record for the oldest sea lion in captivity within the United States.
That's auntie pushing the little guy into the pond.
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