Zoo animals show 'wild side' of love

As the chocolate, flowers and champagne flow this Valentine’s Day, you won’t have to look far to find a wilder, yet simpler, type of love. 

At the Birmingham Zoo, animals of different species provide everyday proof that love doesn’t need to be reserved for one day, or be measured in sparkly gifts.

“There are lots of different types of love,” said Cindy Pinger, a curator of birds at the zoo. 

For 19 years, Pinger has witnessed firsthand how love can also come in the form of friendship. Since she arrived at the zoo, Pinger has watched a group of American flamingos care for and protect Pink Beard, a Chilean flamingo. Pinger said that despite not being the same species, the group works together to keep the nearly 36-year-old, blind bird fed, bathed and healthy. 

“It’s really nice to watch them,” said Pinger. 

Visitors can easily spot Pink Beard, she said. He is stockier and less pink than the American flamingos, said Pinger, and you can often spot him in the middle of the others.

On average, she said, flamingos live to be about 40 years old. Pink Beard’s sight impairment, which the zoo believes was caused by an injury years ago, has only gotten worse with age.

“The rest know he is blind and old,” said Pinger, “so they put him in the middle of the group to help guide him to his food, to make sure he takes a daily bath.” 

Pink Beard was the only Chilean flamingo the zoo kept when it transferred the others to the Atlanta Zoo in 2003. There were more of them there, said Pinger, so they had a better chance of reproducing. 

“We decided to keep Pink Beard here because he was already familiar with his surroundings,” she said. “Since he already had difficulty seeing, we didn’t think it would be fair to transfer him to unfamiliar settings.” 

Pinger said that although it’s quite obvious the birds aren’t necessarily “family,” none seem to mind.

“They work together,” she said, “taking care of one another.”

Just around the corner from the flamingos, another group of animals is also busy taking care of one another. 

Inside the primate building, a family of four De Brazza’s monkeys swing from ropes, lounge on the rocks and groom each other.

“This is a pretty special group,” said primate keeper Dane Jorgensen. 

The young family, made up of 15-year-old mom Brittany, 8-year-old dad Huey, daughter Poppy and the not-yet-named baby, are getting along better than expected, said Jorgensen. 

As he spoke, Poppy, born on Memorial Day in 2014, swooped up her baby sister and took her for a climb on the ropes.

“She loves being a big sister,” said Jorgenson. “Poppy had to grow up a bit faster when the baby arrived, but she’s handled it really well.”

The sisters climb, chase each other and wrestle for hours on end, said Jorgenson. Now that this is her second baby, Brittany has relaxed a bit as a mom, he said.

“She lets the girls figure things out on their own,” said Jorgenson. 

Although Huey is usually off doing his own thing and is a typical hands-off primate-world father, it doesn’t stop Poppy from trying to get in some snuggles with him too. 

“Poppy is definitely a daddy’s girl,” said Jorgenson. “She is constantly trying to interact with him and get his approval.”

Huey doesn’t seem to mind, said Jorgenson. 

“Huey will sit back and watch as his girls groom each other, combing through each other’s hair,” he said.

De Brazza’s monkeys do live in groups in the wild, said Jorgenson, but because there are so few in zoos, the staff wasn’t quite sure how mom and dad would react to one baby, and then two.

“So far,” said Jorgenson, “it has been great.”

In the coming months, the zoo will host a naming contest to help name Poppy’s baby sister.

“They’re a family,” said Jorgenson. “Figuring it out together.”