Gorillas welcome babies
Zoo Knoxville pregnant gorilla Kowali has gained 40 pounds, isn’t scarfing down as much lettuce and could give birth in the next few weeks or even days.
Kowali, 38, is the park’s third lowland gorilla to become pregnant since August 2014.
That’s when the zoo’s three female apes became a family group headed by male silverback Bantu.
Kowali’s infant will be the third born at the zoo in 16 months.
Gorilla Hope gave birth to her daughter Obi on May 28, 2015. Female Machi delivered her son Ubuntu five days later.
Obi and Ubuntu will be half-siblings to Kowali’s baby. Bantu, 18, is father to all the offspring; these are his first children.
While Obi and Ubuntu continue to be crowd-pleasing attention grabbers at Gorilla Valley, the zoo is readying for Kowali’s delivery. The 282pound Kowali is due “technically any day now,” said gorilla keeper Leigh Rickey. Her expected delivery date is Sept. 16, but Kowali could give birth any time between Monday and Oct. 16. This will be her sixth — and likely last — baby.
Being home to a family group with three infants is a major step in caring for gorillas at Zoo Knoxville. An American Zoological Association species survival plan oversees where captive zoo gorillas live and breed. Zoo Knoxville housed bachelor male apes for 20 years before being approved for a breeding group.
Obi and Ubuntu were the first Western lowland gorillas born at Zoo Knoxville and the first born in a Tennessee zoo in 30 years. The last gorillas were born at the Memphis Zoo.
Keepers watch Kowali to see if she’s pushing hay into nests, stretching, moving uncomfortably or not eating. All could be signs she’s ready to deliver. For now the food-loving ape is still eating and appears relaxed, content to sit or nap in the Gorilla Valley courtyard. Kowali often collects food the other gorillas leave, but in recent months hasn’t munched as much leftover lettuce, Rickey said.
Keepers, experienced now in gorilla pregnancies, have learned to “expect the unexpected,” Rickey said.
Motion-activated cameras inside the gorillas’ indoor habitat will send zoo staff text alerts on Kowali’s movements when the park is closed. A popup camper is set up behind the Gorilla Valley building if keepers need to watch overnight.
Supplies, including blankets and formula, are ready if Kowali can’t care for her baby and keepers have to remove it from her. Keepers hope that won’t happen, Rickey said.
Kowali successfully raised her last baby, a son, born in 2005 at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Her four earlier infants, born from 1986 to 1997 at Lincoln Park, were taken from her for reasons not in her Lincoln Park records.
Before Hope and Machi gave birth, keepers were concerned about how Bantu would react. The young silverback had never been around infants. But he’s a playful father whose interactions with Obi and Ubuntu are carefully watched by the infants’ mothers.
Now keepers worry about how those active, curious toddlers will react to their smaller half-sibling.
“We’re concerned about the kids overstepping their bounds, and Kowali then being aggressive to them,” Rickey said. “Our family is growing. We are hoping all goes well.”
Contact Amy McRary at amy.mcrary@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6437.