BROOKFIELD WELCOMES NEW BABY GORILLA
Visitors to Brookfield Zoo can now experience the rare sight of a mother gorilla caring for her newborn baby.
The Chicago Zoological Society, which runs the suburban zoo, confirmed the birth of a newborn western lowland gorilla to 23- year- old Koola on June 1.
The sex of the baby is unknown, as zookeepers refrain from interfering with the mother gorilla too soon after childbirth, according to Senior Curator of Mammals Amy Roberts.
The only gorillas that have handled the newborn, who has yet to be named, have been Koola and the baby’s sister, 4- year- old Nora.
A newborn gorilla isn’t an everyday occurrence for the zoo. The last birth at Brookfield was now- 2- year- old Zachary, born in 2015, and Nora before that in 2013, according to Roberts.
“Now that we’ve got three young ones out there … that are able to wrestle and play with each other, it’s going to be absolutely fantastic,” Roberts said.
Roberts said a few zoogoers were lucky enough to witness the birth.
The infant’s father is a 35- year- old gorilla named JoJo, who was brought from Lincoln Park Zoo in 2012 as part of the Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan.
Western lowland gorillas are considered a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There are currently about 350 in captivity in North American accredited zoos and around 200,000 living in their native West Africa.