Meet Baby Nigel!

There's a new baby in the world and his name is Nigel. He was born on Wednesday in the Houston Zoo. At left you can see him at 2 hours old with his loving mother. Is he cute or what???

My friend Sharon sent the pictures. She works part time at the Houston Zoo and keeps me updated on all the goings on there. This is happy news --- especially for Mama Giraffe as she has lost her last three babies.

Sharon is one of the most devoted animal lovers that I have ever met. She takes in kitties and works for a spay/neuter program and also at the zoo. We met when I lived in Houston. I was working downtown at HNG (later Enron) and always caught the bus in front of the Entex building. I noticed a tall, attractive womnan with really great hair and one day --- Texas being Texas and everyone being very warm and friendly --- I struck up a conversation with her. We have been friends ever since. When Sharon began working at the zoo a few years back she often sent emails full of information of the things she was doing and the people she was meeting --- especially the four-legged people, and the ones with feathers and scales and fur. I wish now I had saved them because they were always full of fascinating stories about life in a very large and very well-run zoo. The births of new babies is always high on the list of excitement when she writes.

A few years back there was a new baby elephant that was rejected by its mother. It was a sad story because the little baby, named Bella, was so bereft and the zookeepers tried their best to care for her and keep her company and make her feel loved but, alas, poor little Bella was still motherless. Sharon bought polar fleece and made her little jackets to keep her warm. Everyone did their best to love her but eventually Bella didn't make it. Everyone was sad but the elephant experts said that things like that happen --- that Mama Elephant probably sensed that baby was weak and rejected her for that reason. In the wild no one would ever have known. But losing Bella was hard for a lot of people, myself included and I didn't even know her.

It is hard for me to imagine living in day to day contact with such huge and amazing creatures. I love it when Sharon sends a letter filled with description about a day spent with a new arrival. When the Golden Tamarind Monkeys had babies, she sent pictures that were these tiny, funny gold faces peaking out from the leaves of a tree. She once sent a picture someone took of her holding and petting a huge --- I mean HUGE --- snake.

At right is another of her giraffe babies, this one born a few years ago. Just look at that face! He's grown up now and living in another zoo. Let's hope Baby Nigel does as well.

Like most of us I have reservations about wild animals living in zoos but, with the world as it is today, even those who live in the wild are so constrained by human incursion that their lives aren't as wild as they were a century ago. Most of the animals in zoos now were bred in captivity and would have no chance of survival if returned to the wild.

The Houston Zoo had an old gorilla who died last year. He was one of the oldest gorillas in captivity and, when he passed on, Sharon said she often wondered if he dreamed of the jungles and plains he had never known. She wished that for him in the next life. As long as there are people like Sharon in this world to love and care for these beautiful animals, I guess I can feel okay about them being in captivity. I'm just really glad she shares her experience with me through her letters.

Thanks for reading.