happy birthday cobby!

today was the celebration for cobby's birthday! earlier in the week when i got to doing the chimp bio's, i notice that the date listed for cobby's bday was 7.10.58. i emailed a zoo contact and asked if there would be a special celebration during enrichment that morning since it was his 50th bday! got a reply after she checked with the primate staff and yes there would be! so my friend andie and i decided to make cobby a big bday card. it turned out really cute, she did the lettering and photo framing, i did the photo and 3D balloons. when we got there we were able to put it in front of the tree thats in front of the north chimp grotto. the keepers were still putting out the party goods, so the chimps were in the west grotto watching and vocalizing about it. they are sometimes so funny to watch. it truely seemed like cobby knew it was all about him! he had a big ol smile on his face and he was telling the girls "look, its my birthday, don't horn in on my goods!" the girls just looked at him and went "whatever." the photos of that scene just make me laugh. all four chimps had a grand time looking thru all the boxes for the bday treats (fruits and veggies). cobby took apart his boxes straight off, got in one and then retreated to his usual spot on the very top. as the party was winding down, the gals were cleaning up the place, maggie was slurping up the melting icee cake, minnie and tallulah were emptying the boxes, miss tallulah not only cleaned off all the fruit roll up dots that decorated one box, she made sure not to leave any frosting on the pole! ... there was a nice little gathering there for the festivities, so that was cool. people seemed excited to be a part of it. ... i will add this to the bio section as well, but since it relates to his bday i'll note here as well. i found out that the date is an estimate of his actual bday and that he is probably a few years older than 50!