This recent photo provided by Tobe Zoological Park in Ehime Prefecture shows Gorin, the stump-tailed macaque.

       TOBE, Ehime -- A gentle, warm-hearted monkey, whose name means "Olympics" in Japanese, is ready to lure people who can't attend the Tokyo Games due to a ban on spectators to a zoo in this western Japan city.

       Gorin, a female stump-tailed macaque at Tobe Zoological Park in Ehime Prefecture, was born in 2008 -- the year of the Beijing Games. Her name, which means "Olympics" in Japanese, was given to her by her then keeper. The zoo is reportedly the only one in Japan that keeps the macaque species native to southern China and Southeast Asia.

       Among her four family members, Gorin is particularly considerate. She is so friendly and gentle that she apparently has ways of calming down her peers, including with kisses and love bites on their arms when a fight looks likely to break out. Her name referencing the "festival of peace" seems appropriate to her nature.

       Gorin is the smallest of her family and has a beautiful coat. With most of us unable to see the Tokyo Olympics at venues due to spreading coronavirus infections, why not seek out Gorin at the zoo's outdoor space?

       (Japanese original by Tomoe Saito, Matsuyama Bureau)

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