Strollerderby : gorillas

Morning News: Rare Baby Gorilla Born in D.C.

Shannon LC Cate — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:33:00 GMT

Upstaging the President-Elect and his little inauguration is an as-yet unnamed, as-yet, unsexed baby gorilla. Born to experienced mother, Mandara, the baby is a welcome arrival to a population of animals considered critically endangered. You know what I found odd about this story, though? Apparently, the zookeepers usually feed Mandara birth control pills. I can see that you wouldn't want babies born too close together, but her next one up is seven. Odd to me that they would use birth control for an endangered animal. But what do I know? Maybe gorillas nurse until they're six. Anyone out there a primatologist? More photos and a link to a video of mother and baby after the cut.

For that matter anyone out there a conflict-free doctor? It seems those are so few and far between that the FDA can't be bothered to sort them out when it comes to drug trials. Almost half of doctors participating in drug trials don't fill out paperwork indicating their conflicts of interest--their investments, for example, in the companies whose products they are supposed to be testing--and as for the doctors who do fill out the paperwork, the folks responsible for collecting the data don't bother to read about said conflicts.

That doesn't reassure me one bit about ethical quandries like the increasing "hope" for a prenatal autism screen. According to researchers, mothers who bear children later diagnosed with spectrum disorders tend to have higher than normal amounts of testosterone in their amniotic fluid. This leads them to think a screen for such disorders could be around the corner, as might in-utero treatment. If it's a matter of testosterone causing spectrum disorders, they might just block the hormone. Of course this is all completely dodgy guesswork at the moment. And autism advocates are concerned that selective pregnancy terminations could wipe out autism and its cousin, the autistic savant, which, as those of us who admire Albert Einstein can agree, can be pretty darned useful. As can folks with lesser gifts than Einstein's. Dare I say I'd rather have autism in the word than not have it, if it means I get to have the various autistic people in my life whom I love and enjoy--and who bring the human population a unique perspective on the meaning of our existence. Of course, the screen wouldn't only lead to terminations. And I'm sure parents of children with spectrum disorders would have been glad to have more knowledge, earlier on, so they could prepare the proper treatment and therapy for their children. And therein lies the ethical quandry.

Finally, as promised, Here's more of that baby gorilla. And here's the page with the video.Is it just me, or is this whole baby gorilla thing really awesome? I don't know about you, but I needed a bit of happy news.

images: washingtonpost.com and nationalzoo.si.edu

What Do You Mean the Guinea Pig Isn't Living on a Farm in Ohio?

JeanneSager — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:32:00 GMT

I finally stopped holding my breath near cemeteries on a trip to Cape Cod when I was a teenager. We were stopped in traffic for a half an hour somewhere in New England, and cemetery on either side of the road. I think I'd gotten over the belief years before that the ghosts would enter my mouth if I breathed, but holding my breath had become a force of habit. I still blame my cousins.

Most of us had diehard beliefs when we were kids that we've fortunately learned to accept just aren't so. Remember your dog who got taken to the farm where he could run after chickens all day long? What about the baseball card collection your mom donated to the children's wing of the hospital for the really sick little boys who have nothing to do all day but lie in bed and shuffle through them?

I Used to Believe is a site devoted entirely to the beliefs we just couldn't shake when we were kids. There are your basic "out of the mouths of babes" quotes on there (yaaaawn), but there are quite a few that make you wonder, "Guerilla warfare isn't a bunch of gorillas attacking guys with guns?" So check it out - see if you recognize yourself . . . or your kids.

Image: I Used to Believe

An Obama Your Kids Can't Resist: Make the President-Elect in Cupcakes

Baby Dies After a Game of Airplane

The Stick's In, But What Toys Did They Miss?

Alllllvin! Everyone's Favorite Chipmunk is Fifty

Spain Extends Human Rights To Great Apes

Amy S.F. Lutz — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:31:00 GMT

In a controversial move decried by groups as diverse as the Catholic Church, human rights organizations and scientists, the environment committee of the Spanish parliament voted to grant limited human rights to chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos.

Experts predict the law will be approved by the parliament as a whole, at which point it will become illegal to kill one of the protected animals except in self-defense. They couldn't be used in medical experiments (which has AIDS researchers up in arms) or forced to perform in circuses or movies. Apes in zoos wouldn't be freed, but their quality of life would be substantially improved. Naturally, they wouldn't be given all rights, such as the right to vote, but The New York Times says, "Their status would be akin to that of children."

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I know that we share a little less than 99% of our DNA with chimps, but I would never put one of them on the same level as a human child. So I guess I agree with the deputy program director of Human Rights Watch, Joseph Saunders, who believes that while human rights are still being threatened all over the world, "We're going to keep our focus there."

Gorillas Do It Like We Do

Karen Murphy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:31:00 GMT

Now when was the last time you heard a nice gorilla-romance story? It's been too long, hasn't it? That's how we're here to help: new risque photos show that wild gorillas have sex pretty much like humans do, at least missionary-style humans anyway. I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or chagrined that our family ties to gorillas are so evident in such an...intimate way.

Oh, you're looking for technical terms here, aren't you? I thought so. See, the face-to-face position is known as ventro-ventral copulation (you're waiting to spring that term on someone special for Valentine's Day, aren't you?), but until now (and somebody's voyeuristic tendencies) no one knew that gorillas did anything but the "other" way, *cough* the dorso-ventral position. Though zoo gorillas have been known to ventro-ventral it, though I suspect they were influenced by some magazines somebody left around or something. Other than that, only the Bonobo, aka Pygmy Chimpanzee, is known to ventro-ventate. So we're in good company. Or something.

What would Gary Larson have done with this information?

Photo: img.dailymail.co.uk