I don’t know how you feel about it but there is something very appealing to me about baby monkeys.
In 2011 Melbourne Zoo had a baby Spider Monkey, Estela. She had been rejected by her mother but was raised by the keeping staff and then entrusted to the care of her Grandmother, Sonya. Now, baby monkeys are cute but baby spider monkeys are impossibly, unbelievably, ridiculously high on the cuteness scale. Added to that they are so funny to watch.
We were thoroughly enjoying Estela’s antics and could have stayed there all day. Along came a mother and daughter. Although the daughter was captivated by Estela, the mother barely glanced sideways. She was too busy on her mobile phone doing some sort of real estate transaction. I wasn’t eavesdropping, it was loud enough for everyone in the immediate vicinity to hear.
We moved on to the Gorillas and they were very active and very close to the viewing areas. Mother and daughter were already there as the mother had hurried them along from the Spider Monkey. The scenario was the same; captivated daughter, totally disinterested mother with a phone glued to her ear.
It was like that every time that we saw them. She was missing out on personal enjoyment but she was also missing out on what could have been some lovely interaction with her daughter. It reminded me of the importance of trying to be engaged not just for my own sake but also for the sake of others. I don’t always find that easy, particularly if it is relation to something that I’m not overly interested in, but it is so important. More so when it involves interaction with those that are close to us like friends and family.