I can't get enough baby gibbon

I gotta hand it to the folks at Zoo Boise. They hyped the heck out of the birth of their new baby gibbon (that's a primate for those who haven't been exposed to the gibbon media bonanza here in Boise) and it seems to be working.

We're talking two front-page stories in the Idaho Statesman, numerous TV news spots, and coverage throughout the Northwest. About a monkey. It seemed silly, trivial, and altogether un-newsworthy. Nevertheless, as the father of two four-year old girls, I'm a fairly regular visitor to the zoo and thus I admit to paying some attention to the media coverage, though almost reluctantly (this is news???).

It's not a bad story, actually: an endangered species, two gibbons who zookeepers felt were unlikely to get it on, and a surprise pregnancy. And a mother who unceremoniously dropped her on the ground shortly after birth. The baby monkey, the stories reported, will be sequestered from public view or display for a number of months.

So what's the big deal? Well, I didn't think there was any. Until I went to the zoo on Saturday with my daughters. As we passed the gibbon exhibition, I explained to the girls that a baby had been born but that we wouldn't be able to see her for a while. They didn't quite get it so I explained to them all about her fragile state and how she needed human caregivers and that needed to strengthen her immune system, etc.

Later, I'm sitting on a bench watching my girls go up and down the slide outside the rainforest exhibit when suddenly, a sight to behold. Without even thinking, I exclaim, "Oh my God!" as if I've just spotted Julia Roberts. Sure enough, it was the baby gibbon, clinging to one of her human handlers, completely out in the open but just behind the off-limits chains. My girls heard me and all three of us ran over to see. It was a remarkable moment--the tiny, diapered primate was beautiful. We couldn't take our eyes off of her. I kept asking the handler questions just so she wouldn't walk away and we could continue to marvel at this astonishing creature. And for the rest of the day, I couldn't stop talking about the fact that we got to see the baby gibbon.

Why am I telling this story here? It's a PR homerun. Zoo Boise has created buzz. They've created suspense. They've told a story that has many great dramatic elements: will the baby survive, will the mother bond with the baby, will the baby eventually grow up and leave Boise so that she might reproduce elsewhere in the interest of saving the species. Even cynical, old me looked to the little monkey as if she were a celebrity--and now that I've caught a glimpse of her, I feel so privileged that I'm telling everyone I know. My prediction: just like people recently flocked to buy the iPhone when it came out (after months of ubiquitous and tantalizing publicity), people will flock to baby gibbon (who should have a name by then) when she goes on public display.