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Baby Gorilla Healthy, Hanging on to Mom at Lincoln Park Zoo

By Paul Biasco | February 27, 2015 11:35am | Updated on March 2, 2015 8:39am
 Lincoln Park Zoo is celebrating the birth of a female western lowland gorilla.
Lincoln Park Zoo is celebrating the birth of a female western lowland gorilla.
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Todd Rosenberg / Lincoln Park Zoo

LINCOLN PARK — Lincoln Park Zoo's baby gorilla girl is healthy and has a nice tight grip, according to researchers.

The female western lowland gorilla was born Tuesday and has stayed tucked close to her mother, Bahati, since her birth.

"She's got a strong tight grip and is nursing like a champ right now," said Maureen Leahy, curator of primates at the zoo. "It's a sign they are strong. When mom is walking around climbing, that infant has to hold on by itself pretty much from day one."

The baby was born weighing about 3½ pounds, tiny in comparison to her 250-pound mom.

The new baby, who is yet to be named, is 27-year-old Bahati's third child.

The infant's tiny hands can be seen grasping onto Bahati as she moves around the habitat.

"The first life for a gorilla is very risky," Leahy said. "In the wild, 42 percent don't make it to their first birthday."

The baby joins a troop of six, including 2-year-olds Nayembi and Patty, who have been examining, sometimes touching, and keeping watch over the baby.

"Thay are very curious," Leahy said. "If they get a little too playful or too bold, dad will come over and settle things down."

The baby's father, silverback Kwan, has been very protective and attempted to block the view of a handful of reporters and TV crews Friday morning that were trying to get a shot of his daughter.

One of the zoo's two young gorillas born in 2012, Nayembi, suffered a serious facial injury in early 2013, but has since fully recovered.

In 2011, a 9-day-old gorilla died at the zoo from head trauma.

Both instances were thought to be accidental trauma.

"For the first 72 hours we have been doing around the clock watches to make sure mom and daughter are doing well," Leahy said.

"As with any birth, we are cautiously optimistic about the latest arrival," Leahy said. "Bahati is an experienced mother whose maternal instincts are what we would hope to see with a newborn gorilla."

The baby is the 52nd gorilla born at Lincoln Park Zoo and the third for Bahati.

There has been a 10-year gap between Tuesday's birth and Bahati's last baby, which was intentional.

Her two adult offspring reside in other Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoos.

As part of the Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan, 25-year-old Kwan and Bahati were recommended for breeding.

Although they had been "breeding" since Bahati moved to Kwan's group several years ago, the recommendation was to take Bahati off contraception.

The survival plan is in place to achieve a genetically diverse population among gorillas at zoos nation-wide.

A gorilla gestation period is between 255 and 260 days, so the zoo had known of the pregnancy for months.

"We amazingly kept it under wraps," Leahy said.

Surprisingly, the researchers became aware of Bahati's pregnancy the same way humans do, with an EPT pregnancy test that can be bought at Walgreens.

“There’s been a little bit of a baby boom in accredited zoos the last couple of months, but in general there aren’t a lot of breeding recommendations," Leahy said.

 

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