Watching Gibbons with Mom

I went to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens with my mom on my birthday. We took the bus to Caine Road on the hillside in the Mid Levels and brought her wheelchair, as the path is quite steep. She had to walk a few steps–the sidewalk wasn’t entirely wheelchair accessible. The first animals we saw were the gibbons, which I had also seen swinging gracefully in Cuc Phuong National Park in Viet Nam. I admire their strength and agility, and was especially interested in two gibbons with a social connection. It was fun to watch them lean against each other, climb and swing together. They seemed to to back and forth with ease between solitary activity and hanging out together. We spent a lot of time watching them.

The first animal exhibits opened in the gardens in 1876–their age shows. Some of the orangutan’s enclosures were small relative to their size. I did notice a walkway connecting two enclosures, which I don’t remember seeing before. There seems to be an effort to improve conditions. I am drawn to the orangutans because I remember them from childhood. The signs indicate the same ones have been there since I visited as a child. When I mentioned to my mom they looked sad, she didn’t want to hear it. I sometimes wonder if she holds a lot of memories inside her, and there’s no space left. Some of the smaller primates, like the tamarins, looked like they could use more space too.

The gardens are located just above the former Governor’s mansion. There’s evidence of fighting from World War II. I didn’t think my mom would be interested in this chapter of history, so we focused on the animals. She likes the flamingoes, with their bright pink feathers, more flamboyant than their light pink relatives at Kowloon Park. There were a lot of interesting looking flowers, trees and vines as well. We’ll have to come back with a book and identify some of them. My mom says this is one of her favorite parks.