Amber & Lucy

Lucy, the orang utan, is a crowd favorite and definitely the orang with the most character. Her bio on the National Zoo site states simply:

"Lucy, a Sumatran-Bornean hybrid, was born at the National Zoo in March 1973. She has been on loan to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

"At more than 200 pounds, Lucy is overweight. She will be put on a diet to return to a healthy weight. She is very clever and engaging. She has had a lot of human interaction and positive reinforcement training."

Poor Lucy gets called a fatty in her bio. I learned on Sunday, from Curator Lisa, that Lucy is an aging actress which explains some of her Diva-ness. Lucy born back in the days when they hand-reared apes, so she was raised by the wife of the Pittsburgh Zoo director. Then, somehow, Lucy found herself on a stage at something called "Monkey World" (not the UK sanctuary) as an entertainer. When she returned to the zoo, she was more interested in people than the other orangs, and had developed a hand bag fetish. Lucy whistles, blows kisses, and likes to spit water on strangers. She doesn't travel on the O-Line and has issues getting along with Iris. She likes to spend time with Kiko and is a much better behaved orang in his company. She also likes to sit in her window and stare out at the people.


Fine animal, Lucy.