Baby gorilla delivers excitement at Louisville Zoo
Get out the crib and paint the nursery. The Louisville Zoo has a new baby gorilla.
The new primate is the second baby for Mia Moja, a 20-year-old western lowland gorilla. The little ape arrived Feb. 6 and was the first gorilla born in North America this year and the second ever at the 41-year-old zoo. (The first gorilla born in Louisville was Azizi, a male born Dec. 4, 2003, a year after Gorilla Forest opened.
The gender of the baby hasn't been determined because its mother is clinging so tightly to her offspring. Both mother and baby "are doing great and appear to be very healthy," zoo director John Walczak said in a statement issued by the zoo.
The father is 22-year-old silverback Mshindi. This is his first offspring and Mia Moja’s second. She gave birth in 1996 at Zoo Atlanta and successfully reared the baby Olympia, who still lives there.
The typical gorilla gestation period is about 8 1/2 months. Offspring usually weigh at least 4 pounds and are about the size of human babies. The baby will begin eating solids at two months and should begin to crawl and start exploring at four to five months.
Since there are only 353 western lowland gorillas in 52 zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, each birth helps preserve the species and is considered an important event.
"Every day more and more habitat for wild animals is lost due to pressures from human overpopulation, habitat destruction and poaching," Walczak said. The little gorilla "will help engage and inspire our visitors about conservation, which is at the core of our mission of bettering the bond between people and our planet.”
There are an estimated 100,000 Western lowland gorillas left in the wild, a population that has plummeted in the past decade. The species is considered critically endangered.
Mia Moja became pregnant as part of a recommendation from the Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP), a collaborative effort of North American zoos designed to encourage a healthy gorilla population in captivity and to ensure that the population remains viable, genetically-diverse and self-sustaining.
This birth brings the total gorilla population at the Louisville Zoo to 12. A naming contest for the baby will be announced later.
Even during cold weather, visitors can view the gorillas inside Gorilla Forest’s comfortable, climate-controlled sanctuary. The animals rotate through the exhibit spaces on a daily basis so the baby and its mother will not always be visible.
The zoo is operating on its winter schedule, with entrance daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- by Bill Wolfe, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
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Bill WolfeBill Wolfe is an experienced journalist with a broad background in writing, editing and photography. He has worked as staff writer at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., and the Atlanta Journal & Constitution in Atlanta, Ga., covering beats ranging from consumer news to religion and business.
