End of daily milk as Afia turns four

A GORILLA born by emergency caesarean has celebrated her fourth birthday – marking the end of zookeepers giving her daily milk.

Afia, whose name means ‘Friday born child’ in Ghanaian, was delivered by emergency caesarean section in February 2016 after her mother showed signs of pre-eclampsia.

It was the first time a gorilla had been born by the procedure at Bristol Zoo Gardens and one of only a handful of instances of it happening worldwide.

After her birth, the western lowland gorilla received 24-hour care from a team of four keepers at the zoo as her mother Kera remained critically ill.

She was fed formula milk every two to three hours and spent her days near the gorilla troop, before travelling in a car seat to one of her keeper’s homes for overnight care.

Kera recovered but showed no maternal interest in Afia, with another gorilla at the zoo stepping in to act as a surrogate mother.

Keepers continued to give Afia, who was fully integrated in the troop at 10 months old, milk each day but that will end now she has turned four.

Lynsey Bugg, curator of mammals at Bristol Zoo, said: “She only has 200 millilitres each day so it’s really just a token gesture but it will come to an end on her fourth birthday as she doesn’t need that sort of help from us any longer. “She has done really well.”

Meanwhile, a baby chimpanzee from a critically endangered subspecies has been born at Edinburgh Zoo.

Mother Heleen gave birth to a baby girl, following her first child Velu in 2014.

The Western chimpanzee infant, who was born at the zoo’s award-winning Budongo Trail, will be named in a public vote in the coming days.