gorillamom

One of the gorillas I used to work with at Woodland Park Zoo gave birth last Saturday. How unfortunate for this new baby to have been born in captivity. This breeding in zoos needs to stop. Captivity is no life for any animal, I should know as a former gorilla keeper. I had to laugh when I went to the zoos website because they have a picture of the father Vip saying it's Amanda the mother! And these are the people breeding them for money not conservation as they claim.

New gorilla born at Woodland Park Zoo
Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Born Saturday, October 20, 2007
A western lowland gorilla was born Saturday about 3:30 a.m. (PST) at Woodland Park Zoo. The newborn represents the twelfth successful gorilla birth for the zoo and the third offspring between 37-year-old Amanda and the father, 28-year-old Vip. The infant is a female.

The infant and mother are indoors off public exhibit while they remain under round-the-clock observation. “The first 72 hours are the most critical for a newborn gorilla,” explained the zoo’s Interim Associate Veterinarian of Animal Health, Dr. John Ochsenreiter. “We need to ensure that mom and her infant are bonding, the infant is nursing properly and she is receiving adequate milk. We want to provide Amanda and her newborn the best chance at a healthy start.”


Mother: Amanda
Father: Vip
The baby

Photos: Ryan Hawk
WATCH THE VIDEOS!
Click to watch the baby at 1 days old
Click to watch the baby at 2 days old

According to gorilla keeper staff, Amanda is showing excellent maternal care. “She’s holding the infant close and keeping her warm, fed and clean, all expected behaviors of a healthy mother gorilla,” said General Curator Dr. Nancy Hawkes. “And the infant is gripping her mother firmly, nursing and vocalizing, all signs of being healthy. There is a very strong maternal-infant bond.” All the gorillas in the group are very interested in the newborn, especially Amanda and Vip’s other two daughters, 9-year-old Ngozi and 5-year-old Calaya.

The gorilla birth is significant for the Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP) because Amanda is a “founder” animal, meaning she was born in the wild, and Vip has only two other relatives outside of Woodland Park Zoo. These combined factors make the baby gorilla’s genes particularly valuable to the zoo population in North America.

The group’s access outside into their exhibit and visitor viewing of mother and baby will be dependent on outdoor temperatures.

The Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP) is among 33 SSPs that Woodland Park Zoo participates in, including the Asian elephant, Aruba Island rattlesnake, red-crowned crane and orangutan. Under the auspices of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), the cooperative breeding programs work to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability in North American zoos and aquariums. Additionally, SSPs involve a variety of other collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education, reintroduction and field projects. AZA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation, with more than 210 zoos and aquariums as members.

Visit the Species Spotlight Archive for previous editions

gorillamom

Here's the link with the pictures. Another baby born into a life of animal slavery for human entertainment. Bet our adult male Vip didn't know he just gave birth! They can't even get the right picture of the mother gorilla! Note how tiny the cages are. There are a total of 6 gorillas in those tiny cages. That's where they spend their nights from the time they are let in about 4"30-5"00pm until they are let outside again about 9:30-10:00am. By the way, there is not enough genetic diversity to be breeding them in captivity. There are only about 380 gorillas captive in the US. Most of them are related in some way. All they are doing is repeting genes in a few more years if they keep breeding at the rate they are. One good thing for the baby, Amanda is an excellent mother and Vip is a good father and leader for being in captivity.
http://www.zoo.org/spotlight/ss.htm

dadakarma

So sad. The reckoning for what we've done is going to be a motherfucker...

gorillamom

What upsets me is the way the Mountain Gorillas are used politically. They are a genetically dead species and were when Dian Fossey studied them. So much for human intelligence huh!

Ouroboros

She has her mom's eyes and her dad's nose.

Refuge51

That is sad because this baby will be a prisoner for as long as she lives.

gorillamom

Actually she has her mom's heart shaped noes, but when they are first born they haven't developed their nose prints yet. But the top of the nose is definatly Amanda's. It may change as she grows like Amanda's second baby Ngozi's did. Goz now has her dad's nose so you may end up being right, but we hope not because he's got quite the honker on him!

Heretic

Yes, but the painful part will be reasonably quick. That's how ants work. We don't notice them for most of the time, and not until they very last strike, do we start to say, "Awh shit!"

__________________
"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!

gorillamom

I think the bees need to kick our asses like in that movie!

Heretic

Trust me, it'll be the ants. They're better organized and some species of ants can actually take out both bees and wasps. This and some ant colonies reach upto 20 million individuals with a better division of labor manifesting in their caste systems. Grass cutter ants are- currently, the most complex species. but it's still early.

__________________
"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!