The facility “was the first zoo in the world to welcome the birth of a baby gorilla” in 1956, according to the release. The surprise discovery builds on a history of gorilla conservation at the Columbus Zoo. Their population has been depleted due to habitat loss, deforestation and hunting for bushmeat. There are an estimated 100,000 left in the wild across central Africa, says the Columbus Zoo. Western lowland gorillas – the subspecies that lives at the Columbus Zoo – are critically endangered, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The new mother and baby will be on display for guests at the zoo’s gorilla habitat starting Friday, according to the release. “The veterinary and animal care teams have not yet approached the infant, giving them time to bond with one another and with the rest of the troop, but will conduct a wellness exam soon,” the facility said in the release.Ī DNA test will be performed later to determine the newborn’s father. The zoo says the adorable infant appears to be a healthy female. Western lowland gorilla born at Fort Worth Zoo The Fort Worth Zoo has announced the birth of a western lowland gorilla. With the gestation period for gorillas being eight and a half months, the zoo estimates Sully became pregnant in the fall. The pregnancy was also missed because “gorillas rarely show outward signs” they are carrying because “newborns are smaller than human babies and gorillas naturally have large abdomens,” the release notes. When Sully arrived in Columbus, she was a “young and healthy animal” and didn’t require any medical procedures that would have led to the discovery sooner, the zoo said.

Well, gorillas “don’t have prominent sex organs” and males and females look mostly alike until around age 8, the zoo said in the release, noting it’s only later in life that males develop their large size, silver backs and distinctive head bumps.Īlong with the hard-to-distinguish features, veterinarians at the zoo where the gorilla was born took a “hands-off approach” with their care and allowed the primate to be cared for by its mother, the Columbus Zoo noted. The Buffalo Zooīuffalo Zoo in New York welcomes four newborn lion cubs All cubs were born to their mother, Lusaka and father, Tiberius. On June 2nd and 3rd, the Buffalo Zoo's African Lion Pride grew when they welcomed the birth of four active lion cubs.

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