Ultrasounds show the gorilla fetus looks healthy and is “very active,” according to Malinsky. The Western Lowland Gorilla is very intelligent and can even learn to use sign language to communicate with people and other gorillas. Female Western Lowland Gorillas are able to give birth at 10 years old. Keepers said they have a 13-page birthing plan for Calaya that ranges from her medical history to what signs to look for when she goes into labor and delivery of the baby gorilla. Western Lowland Gorillas walk on all fours and use knuckles to carry the weight of their heads and torsos. But Malinsky said it’s all similar behavior to when Calaya was pregnant with Moke. At times, she shows she’s “not feeling 100%” by sleeping a little later or rejecting certain foods. Malinsky said Calaya is doing fine in her pregnancy. In the past two decades, experts said, the number of western lowland gorillas in the wild has dropped by 60%. They’re native to Africa and live in forests. In the wild, western lowland gorillas are critically endangered because of poaching, habitat loss and disease. At the National Zoo, there’s Moke, his parents and two other females – Mandara, 40, and her daughter, Kibibi, 14. There’s often a silverback male, one or more males and other females, plus offspring. Keepers will watch to see how Moke reacts to being a big brother. Baraka has a “relaxed and playful personality” and has been “very tolerant” of Moke’s playfulness. The specialists determine which animals to breed based on their “genetic makeup, health and temperament,” according to a statement from the zoo.Ĭalaya is protective and cautious, zookeepers said in the statement, and they expect she’ll again prove to be a good mother. “He’s rambunctious and full of energy,” she said of the soon-to-be 5-year-old gorilla.Įxperts at the zoo followed a species survival and breeding plan from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for Baraka and Calaya. Zookeepers report Moke is doing well and is “a handful,” according to Malinsky. “Gorillas in the wild are critically endangered, so every birth is incredibly important whether in the wild or in human care.”įor the parents, it will be their second offspring. “We’re absolutely excited about it,” Becky Malinsky, the primate curator at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, said in an interview on Monday. Experts said she and 30-year-old Baraka, a male silverback western lowland gorilla, successfully mated in September and the next month took a pregnancy test – like the ones used for humans – that showed she was positive. Other long-term threats to gorilla survival include climate change and the expansion of palm oil plantations in forests in African countries.An endangered gorilla is pregnant at the National Zoo in Washington, and keepers are ecstatic.Ĭalaya, a 20-year-old western lowland gorilla, is expecting her second baby gorilla between late May and early July. A couple days shy of six months old, in outdoor. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed western lowland gorillas as critically endangered in the wild due to habitat loss, illegal hunting and disease. Uzumma, a baby Western Lowland Gorilla and mother, Amanda, and sister Calaya at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Matches mostly are made based on genetics, although factors like social structure and personality also are considered for animals like great apes, she added. The program aims to ensure the sustainability of a healthy, genetically diverse, and demographically varied zoo population, Lombardo said. A western lowland gorilla named Kiburi made his debut at London Zoo after global logistics experts DHL Express flew the whopping 193kg silverback to London as part of an international breeding programme for the Critically Endangered species. The zoo works with the Association of Zoos & Aquarium’s Species Survival Plan Program to manage species’ population, zoo spokeswoman Dana Lombardo said. The others are 22-year-old Honi (Amani’s mother), 17-year-old Louis, and 14-year-old Kuchimba. Kira, Motuba and Amani are three of the zoo’s six western lowland gorillas. Keith Hinshaw, director of animal health. In-house keepers and veterinarians will monitor Kira’s health throughout her pregnancy, but the zoo also will call in some outside experts: Specialists from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University, Penn Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School will consult with zoo staff to prepare for a successful birth, said Dr. Honi’s baby Amani was born at the zoo in August (Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Zoo) We think she’s well-prepared to be a first-time mother.” And she was a great older sister to her younger siblings. She’s shown a lot of interest in baby Amani. Primary gorilla keeper Kristen Farley-Rambo said Kira “loves babies. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor
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