Untitled Document
 On
the 11th of October, I had an interview with a zookeeper named Woo Kyung-mi
in Gwacheon Seoul Grand Park. Woo has worked for almost 10 years with monkeys,
gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and other primates. She is an expert in primates and quite
famous as a female zookeeper -- a rare occurrence in this field. I am interested in
endangered animals such as
gorillas and orangutans.
I wanted to learn about the similarities and differences between humans
and primates. This motivated me to interview
her. Through this interview, I was surprised to discover the fact that the gorillas and
orangutans in the Grand Park are among the longest living animals
and that they have been living since my parents were children and
saw them!
Kang: How can monkeys, gorillas and orangutans
be distinguished and what
is the longest life span on record?
Woo: Gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees
are anthropoids. The longest
life span known among anthropoids is a 55-year-old gorilla. In zoos,
it can be said that they will normally live 5 to 10 years
longer. This is because there is not much stress from natural enemies
and they have enough food to eat.
Kang: Do monkeys grow faster than any
other animals?
 Woo:
It can be seen that way because of the differences between humans
and monkeys. However, in relation to the living cycle of monkeys,
it can’t be said that they grow that fast. There are monkeys who grow
completely in only one year,
but there are others who take 3 to 5 years to grow completely. It
is different for each monkey.
Kang: Aren’t there any problems when
visitors give food to monkeys,
orangutans or gorillas?
Woo: The monkeys and gorillas live in
a confined space where many people can
see them. So it is easy to get obese when they eat too much
because they are limited in activity. There was a case
in Japan in a zoo where animals died because of the food given by
visitors. This makes me very worried.
Kang: Have there been memorable moments that occurred
while raising monkeys or other anthropoids?
Woo: I once raised a white handed gibbon by artificial breeding and this monkey
was weak. So I devoted myself
to this monkey. And one day, this monkey started smoothing over my hair. I
was very touched because I think this
monkey might have done it because I cared for him or he might have
learned it from another monkey.
Kang: Is it true that Seoul Grand Park
has a lot of old anthropoids and monkeys?
 Woo:
Yes, it’s true. Gorillas are endangered and rare. In Seoul Grand Park,
there are only 2 of them -- a male and a female. The male
gorilla which is called “Gorirong” was born in 1969, so he is 40 years
old. Gorirong has lots of interest in humans and knows people’s minds
well. Excluding gorillas, there are even older ones. One is a chimpanzee
born in 1965 and another one is an orangutan born in 1968. This means
that you are meeting the animals that your parents have already seen
when they were in elementary school.
Kang: What is the most difficult thing
when raising primates?
Woo: It is important to close doors firmly because they are all
intelligent and can use their
hands and feet freely. Also, they do a lot
of things that are impossible to predict. So there are some
cases when their hands, feet, or tails may get hurt. However,
it is the hardest when visitors throw snacks or bread to them.
Kang: Aren’t gorillas fierce?
Woo: No, they aren’t. Gorillas sometimes remind people of
King Kong and look scary, but they are very
kind and gentle animals. They sometimes
throw rocks or soil if they misunderstand that people
are attacking them. |
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