Gorilla ✨Story of Frank🦋 Paul’s third child and second son💖

Photos from San Diego Zoo Paul has four children: his eldest daughter, Imani; his eldest son, Ajari; his second son, Frank; and his third son, Denny. Today, I would like to share the story of his third child, Frank. First, it is worth noting that there are actually two San Diego zoos: the San Diego Zoo, located in the heart of the city of San Diego, and the San Diego Safari Park, situated in the hills of Escondido. Frank was born at the San Diego Zoo on September 4, 2008. His father is Paul Don, and his mother is Azizi. Azizi is the daughter of Alvila, the very first gorilla born in San Diego. When Azizi gave birth to Frank, she was 11 years old, and it was her first time giving birth. Since Azizi herself had been raised on a bottle by human caregivers, she lacked the experience to properly care for Frank when he was born. However, his older half-sister, Imani—who was two years his senior—took an interest in baby Frank and immediately embraced him. Although Imani had no prior experience giving birth and was only 13 years old at the time, she constantly held baby Frank and looked after him, becoming a wonderful surrogate mother. It is truly remarkable that Imani—who possessed neither birthing nor parenting experience—stepped up to become Frank's surrogate mother. It is clear that Imani adores babies and possesses strong maternal instincts. Since Imani was unable to nurse Frank, he was raised by the zookeepers, who fed him milk from a bottle. The routine involved the keepers calling for Imani, who would then bring the baby to them; the keepers would feed Frank his milk via bottle, and then return him to Imani. In this manner, Frank grew up as a bottle-fed baby. Frank spent his first five years at the San Diego Zoo, living alongside his father, Paul. When Frank was five years old, the SSP (Species Survival Plan) recommended that Imani—his surrogate mother—be paired with Winston for breeding purposes; consequently, Frank moved to the San Diego Safari Park alongside Imani. Prior to this, the Safari Park had gone eleven years without a baby gorilla since the birth of Ajari. Monroe was born—the first baby in eleven years—and since Frank had been the only young male at the Zoo, moving him to join Monroe offered the mutual benefit of providing each other with a playmate. Thus, the decision was made to transfer Frank. Frank was five years old at the time, while Monroe was two; they grew up together, becoming as close as brothers. San Diego has been home to a lineage of five family silverbacks throughout its history. The first was Albert. Trib was adopted by Albert and raised under his care. When the Safari Park opened in 1972, Trib transferred from the San Diego Zoo to become the Safari Park's first family silverback. At the Zoo, the role was subsequently filled by a male who arrived from the UK. At the Safari Park, Winston—whom Trib had accepted into his family—succeeded Trib to become the Safari Park's second family silverback. Paul—Trib's son, who had served as the family silverback at the Zoo for many years—eventually returned to his original home at the Safari Park, where he became the new family silverback. Of this entire lineage of silverbacks, Frank is the only one who carries the bloodline of every single one of them—with the sole exception of Winston. Frank stands alone in this regard; he is, truly, a very special gorilla. Although Frank shares no biological ties with Winston, he grew up under Winston's tutelage, learning a great deal from him, and came to regard him as a second father. In my observation, I believe that among the siblings, Frank most closely resembles his father, Paul—both in personality and physique. He exhibits behaviors similar to Paul’s, such as catching food in his mouth, using tools like branches to retrieve desired objects. Both are exceptionally intelligent, yet they possess distinct traits—much like the difference between a mathematically-oriented mind and a linguistically-oriented one. It is truly fascinating how each gorilla possesses its own unique personality. Around the age of twelve, Frank began to challenge Winston. This is perfectly normal behavior for a teenage gorilla. In the U.S., young gorillas typically leave their parents' side around the age of 8 to 12 and join a "bachelor group." Gorillas are incredibly fragile creatures—so much so that they can actually die from loneliness. Currently, Monroe has entered his rebellious teenage phase and has begun challenging Frank. Frank not only handles these challenges from Monroe with grace but also successfully manages the three new young males who recently joined the group from the Bronx, proving himself to be an excellent leader. Personally, I truly hope that Frank will eventually become the resident "family silverback" here in San Diego. Frank—we love you always.