Meet Ernestine and Mahina

Dear Honolulu Zoo Friends, 

My name is Ernestine and I was 35 years old in July 2000 a grand old lady in siamang terms.  (As you may know, a siamang is a large, black gibbon native to southeastern Asia, particularly the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra).  You can recognize me by the silver dollar I have in the middle of my head some would call it a bald spot, but I think of it as a mark of distinction.  I am considerably smaller than massive Mahina, my daughter who was born at the Honolulu  Zoo thirteen years ago.  She loves to eat and muscles in on all the treats and enrichment items that our keeper puts onto our island.  I tend to let her have her way, and try to sneak a treat when she isnt looking.  I open my mouth pretty fiercely sometimes, but she just stands up tall and flexes her muscles at me.

We are both terrific acrobats and can brachiate for long periods, swinging dramatically over the poles and tree branches of our beautiful island home, hooking onto them with our fingers and toes as we move around.  The visitors think well fly off into the water, but of course we never do. Our arms are very strong, and they are so long that we have to hold them above our head or out to the side when we walk upright. We have periods of calm when we forage for bugs together on the ground by the rocks, look at the fish in our pond, and tenderly groom each other.  

Then we launch into song, and what a song it is! the loudest in the forest, a magnificent duet, amplified by our great throat sacs, which swell and magnify the boom.  We are actually vocalizing to let the other siamangs in the forest know who we are, our gender and number, the location of our territory and how powerful we are.  Our voices can surely be heard in Kahuku, but up to now we havent had any contenders for our home.  And if any other siamangs dared to approach, they would surely back off once they caught a glimpse of Mahina.

We have free access to our indoor quarters, except when they are being cleaned. I like it in there as its quiet and cool and sometimes I get to enjoy a special treat a personal grooming from our keeper.  Pure bliss!

In the evening, we are served a delicious supper of assorted fresh zoo-grown fruits, vegetables, leaf-eater biscuits, and monkey chow (although were not monkeys), and  then we fall asleep on our built-in mattresses the horny pads on our okoles, known as ischial callosities. At sunrise we wake up and sing. You can hear our song and see pictures of us on the web page, or better yet come visit us at the Zoo, where youll see and hear us in all our dramatic glory.

Aloha, Ernestine

Back to Siamang