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

Aug 22, 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. And this month, the Audobon Zoo has created a baby shower registry for the endangered pregnant gorilla.

Audubon Zoo announced the news of Tumani'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. Tumani is currently using a doll to practice being a mother, and according to CNN, the doll is made of canvas firehose tubing with similar proportions and weight when compared to 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, as CNN reports. 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 percent, mainly due to illegal hunting, disease, habitat loss, such as commercial logging. There are roughly 340,000 western lowland gorilla left," Wilson told CNN. 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.

In a late August update, the Audobon Zoo announced that it had created a baby shower registry for the endangered gorilla.

"Audubon spends more than $70,000 a month to feed more than 15,000 animals in our care," Steve Marshall, the zoo's vice president, said in a news release on August 12. "Caring for our animals is a top priority for Audubon. Your support will provide nutritious diets and premium veterinary care to our animals like Tumani to ensure they are as healthy and happy as possible."

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. And don't forget to let us know what you think!