Critically Endangered Gorilla At New Orleans Zoo Is Pregnant With First Baby

Jul 19, 2020 by apost team

Tumani, a 13-year-old an endangered western lowland gorilla, is expecting her first child. Audubon Zoo in New Orleans made the announcement on their website on July 6.

Audubon Zoo announced the news of Tumaini’s pregnancy on Facebook earlier this month, explaining that the birth will be a first for the zoo after 24 years and for the 13-year-old gorilla. The announcement also pointed out that the young gorilla came to Audubon Zoo from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, approximately three years ago. 

According to CNN, the doll is made of canvas firehose tubing, has similar proportions, and the same weight as the average baby gorilla, which is roughly four pounds.

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Audubon Zoo is taking every possible precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the first gorilla baby in the zoo after 24 years. The zoo's curator, Liz Wilson said:

"The animal care team is working with Tumani to give her additional tools in her tool belt to aid her after birth should she have difficulties with lactation, positioning of the infant, etc."

"Her relationship with the animal care team is crucial for success," Wilson added. "We work diligently to have the environment be nurturing and comfortable. We are essentially the nursing and coaching team that we experience as new parents."

Tumani’s pregnancy was a product of the success in breeding her with another silver-back gorilla named Okpara. Okpara is 26 years old and was moved to the Audubon Zoo in 2017 from Franklin Park Zoo. Okpara, Tumani, her expected infant and other gorillas in the zoo are part of a survival plan instigated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan. In an explanation by the zoo, it is apparent that the survival plan was put into place to ensure the safety of 354 gorillas from 48 North American zoos.

"Western lowland gorillas have a population decline of more than 80%, mainly due to illegal hunting, disease, habitat loss, such as commercial logging. There are roughly 340,000 western lowland gorilla left," Wilson cautioned. The zoo has taken additional measures to aid Tumani in her pregnancy, including giving her regular ultrasounds and fetal heartbeat monitoring on a daily basis. She is expected to give birth later this summer. 

The zoo announced this great news with the world and added details about the expectant mother and the father to her baby. Let your family and friends know about the hope in conservation with stories about Tumani the gorilla and give us their feedback.