Two-fur Tuesday, Hugging benefits fractious Chimps

Almost everyone loves a hug :) Maybe everyone does I just don't know what a.. Shark's hug would look like (wouldn't want to find out really! :) )
Goodnight Monkey Monday, hello Two-fur Tuesday- go hug somebody! :)

Mother's Arms
Originally uploaded by Paul Farrell..

Hugging benefits fractious Chimps
By Jonathan Amos Science reporter, BBC News, Liverpool
The consoling arm of a good friend

If you have just had a big falling out with a colleague, there is nothing better than the comforting and consoling arm of a good friend.
Chimps, it seems, feel the same way, according to a study at Chester Zoo.
The research is said to provide the first evidence that consolation in primates, such as hugging and stroking, can reduce stress levels after a fight.

The behaviour could indicate some level of empathy, Dr Orlaith Fraser told the British Association Science Festival.
"We can't actually say what's going on in a chimpanzee's mind; we can only deduce from their behaviour what's going on," the Liverpool John Moores University researcher said.

Dr Fraser and colleagues spent 18 months observing 22 adult chimps at Chester Zoo. They watched closely what happened immediately after the animals had a scrap - perhaps a fight over food, a mate or simply where to sit.

In about 50% of cases, the victim in the fight would be consoled by another member of the group. The soothing was always done by a valuable - or best - friend, a chimp with whom the victim would routinely play or share food. The consolation usually took the form of a kiss or embrace, a grooming session or even play.

Caught in the Act!
Originally uploaded by bpark_42.

"This is something often thought to be a unique trait to humans, so understanding the link between consolation and stress reduction in chimpanzees is an important step towards understanding whether or not chimpanzees are capable of this level of empathy."
Read the whole article here

monkeys hugging tails
Originally uploaded by grendelkhan.

I love this huggy twisty tail action :)

Fruit Sweet Loris and Friends

"I am a Loris :)"

"I like fruit. Do you like fruit?"

"I know I do!"

"OOooo Can I have some of that fruit?"

"Thank you!!"

Would you like to know something cool about fruit?

"I would!"

Read here for a gorgeous slideshow on fruit and how ingenious they prepare their seeds to make more delicious fruit to eat. Some seeds have wings for the wind to carry them and spikes to hitch a ride on animal's fur to travel far and wide- and it's just pretty to look at.

"Like me?"
Awww yes like you :)

Monkey Monday, Beautiful Binti Jua

"Who me?"
Yes you, you are beautiful! :)

Naptime
Originally uploaded by Rigib.

You may have seen this in 1996, I never did (where was i?) :) I don't care that it happened in the past, an article just yesterday brought this up and I had to share it. Have a wonderful Monkey Monday.
Barbara J. King: Great apes aren't the brutes you expect

A toddler falls over a railing, 24 feet down, into the gorilla enclosure of the Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago. There he lies, unconscious, among seven apes, some with poundage and power exceeding that of an adult man. As one of them approaches the boy, onlookers tense.
But Binti Jua, an 8-year-old female gorilla, picks up the boy and, carrying him along with her own infant, gently hands him over to zoo staff.

This stunning event in 1996 earned Binti Jua global headlines (and can be seen, if in grainy video, on YouTube). It was an incident that no one who witnessed it – in person or online – could forget. But there was nothing about Binti Jua, or any of the chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas or orangutans that exhibit reasoning and empathy, in freelance writer Russell Paul La Valle's op-ed column in the Washington Post, "Why they're human rights."

It's clear that La Valle hasn't spent much time with apes lately – or looking into any of the major findings by primate scientists over the past two or three decades. In expressing reasoning and empathy, Binti Jua was not unique; nor was her behavior an artifact of zoo life. Wild chimpanzees plan ahead and carry tools to work sites, where they crack open hard-shelled nuts with wood and stone hammers. They choose sides thoughtfully in ongoing competitions for status and reward friends' loyalties while exacting revenge on their enemies. When close companions suffer wounds or injuries, wild chimpanzees groom and care for them.
Read the whole article here Check out the Great Ape Project



(There is background noise, talking at the end, turn the sound off if you like)
"Binti Jua, is a female Western lowland gorilla. On August 16, 1996, a young boy fell into the gorilla exhibit of Tropic World, and Binti Jua carefully cradled the boy and brought him to her trainers. The incident received international attention, inspiring a lively debate as to whether Binti Jua's actions were the result of the training she received from her keepers (who had taught her to bring her own baby, Koola, to zoo curators for inspection) or some instinctive sense of animal altruism."

Baby Gorilla Wonders...

"Papa will I grow up big and strong like you?"

"Of course you will baby."

"Papa said I will be big and strong one day."

"Yes you will but you'll always be my little baby."

Gorilla in the Grass

Gorilla in the Grass
Originally uploaded by thru_myeye.
Looking for fun huh? LOL This baby is a cute troublemaker you can tell!

Koko the loving Gorilla

Frum mah frenz on da LoLCat site Icanhascheezburger :)

Read all about Koko the kitty loving, sign language using sweet gorilla here and get more info on the Gorilla Foundation.

Have you had your hugs today?

Have you had your hugs today?
Originally uploaded by tammyjq41.
Well have you? :)
Remember you can give them too! :)

cute baby monkey

cute baby monkey
Originally uploaded by CHeitz.
"MMMm itchity scratchity on my furry backity!!"

Monkey Monday! Orang utan mother

Orang utan mother
Originally uploaded by Junglefrog.
Okay after a day of giving dads their due moms go back to reality jugglin' babies literally and figuratively!! :)

Father and son

Father and son
Originally uploaded by jormungunda.
I hope you had (or are still having) a great Father's Day! Monkey Monday is soon upon us.. don't worry I am sure you will have a great one :)

Snowflake the Gorilla

103-0313_IMG
Originally uploaded by venguyen.
"Hmmm I think we can all agree I am goorrgeous yes? Yes!
*knuckle knock!*" :)