Samantha, the Gorilla, arrived at the Erie Zoo in 1992. She is often seen hugging a small stuffed monkey, which she treats like her baby, as seen in the top photo.
Samantha may still be mourning her long-term mate who died just a few years ago. In some of the photographs published in Picasa, she looked somewhat depressed, eyes cast downward. Samantha also spent a lot of time tweezing her eyebrows, staring at them, and popping them in her mouth. She also did a lot of scratching, making us laugh when I said, "I think she ate a flea!"
Most of the time Samantha completely ignored the visitors watching her, especially those of us with cameras. She kept to herself, sitting in a sunny corner of her cage, occasionally picking up and hugging the dirty, matted, stuffed monkey. Although I believe I was able to capture several interesting photos (considering they were through a glass window), I left the exhibit feeling a bit sad for Samantha's loneliness.
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