Third gorilla born in Knoxville
KNOXVILLE — The third gorilla born at Zoo Knoxville is only hours old. Zoo gorilla Kowali gave birth to the infant between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Saturday as most of East Tennessee was tuned to the University of Tennessee-Virginia Tech “Battle at Bristol” football game.
Zoo Director of Communications Tina Rolen said Sunday the baby appears healthy and was nursing.
She said Kowali, 38, was tired but resting with her infant in the back, off-exhibit den area of the zoo’s natural habitat Gorilla Valley. Both animals are with the infant’s father, Bantu, along with the park’s other female gorillas, Hope and Machi, and their 1-year-old offspring, Obi and Ubuntu.
The Gorilla Valley courtyard was off public exhibit Sunday to allow mother and infant to rest and bond and for the rest of the park’s lowland gorillas to start to become accustomed to a new member in their group.
Zookeepers were at the exhibit Saturday, watching to see if Kowali might give birth and if so, if she or her baby would need help. They continued to monitor the mother and baby Sunday morning, Rolen said.
The infant’s sex or weight aren’t yet known. But it was already attracting attention from curious Obi and Ubuntu. Both toddlers have meandered over to Kowali to try to see their half-sibling. If Kowali feels either young gorilla gets too close, Rolen said, the new mother gently puts one of her arms between herself and Obi or Ubuntu.
But the infant’s birth hasn’t disrupted the group, Rolen said. Normally serious and reserved, Kowali was “keeping to herself” and the other adult gorillas “are respecting that,” Rolen said. “She’s not quite ready to show off that baby yet.”
The infant is the zoo’s third gorilla baby in 16 months. Hope gave birth to her daughter Obi on May 28, 2015. Machi delivered her son Ubuntu five days later. While Kowali’s due date was Sept. 16, zookeepers expected she could give birth between Aug. 29 and Oct. 16.
The currently unnamed infant is Kowali’s sixth, and likely last, baby. Her other five infants were born at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, where she lived before coming to Knoxville in 2013.
Being home to a family group with three infants is a major step in caring for gorillas at Zoo Knoxville. The park housed bachelor male apes for 20 years before being approved for a breeding group by the American Zoological Association.