The Philadelphia Zoo family recently got bigger with the addition of a newborn baby gorilla from one of their resident western lowland gorillas named Kira.
Seventeen year-old Kira gave birth to a bouncing baby boy gorilla on June 2. Her delivery was assisted by a team of professionals including veterinarians, an ob-gyn, surgeons, anesthesiologists and more. Each of these medical professionals came from esteemed institutions such as University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Penn Medicine, Presbyterian Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Image: Facebook/@philadelphiazoo
Image: Facebook/@philadelphiazoo
After 1.5 hours, Kira finally gave birth to a 5-pound baby. It’s father is the zoo’s 32-year old silverback named Motuba.
As for the baby’s name, Philadelphia Zoo is planning to work with the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center before choosing one. For the time being, the baby is being taken cared of by his mother Kira, with father Motuba close by to stand guard.
Western lowland gorillas are considered to be a critically endangered species. However, the World Wildlife Fund is unable to accurately determine an exact count of the remaining gorillas due to them being too spread out and given their elusive nature. JB