Tumai has died

Tumai is one of the Memphis Zoo lowland gorillas, an endangered species. He died Thursday.

The Memphis Zoo has changed a lot since I was a child and could feel the tongues of giraffes as I fed them, throw popcorn to the bears, wonder how many of the monkeys would escape from Monkey Island during the year and watch the big cats pace in their cat house cages. Now the exhibits are much larger and more natural-looking. I miss the Sun Bears and Spectacled Bears, but I'm glad we have the Polar Bears back. There are photos of the polar bears in their new Northwest Passage exhibit here.