{"id":1704,"date":"2012-02-02T09:17:56","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T09:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/gorilla-named-rwanda-bore-a-baby-boy\/"},"modified":"2012-02-02T09:17:18","modified_gmt":"2012-02-02T09:17:18","slug":"gorilla-named-rwanda-bore-a-baby-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/gorilla-named-rwanda-bore-a-baby-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"Gorilla Named \u2018Rwanda\u2019 Bore a Baby Boy"},"content":{"rendered":"

{{The 5-pound male baby gorilla was born Jan. 23 in his mother\u2019s cage at the Gulf Breeze Zoo in Florida, according to Griffin and zoo veterinarian Natalie Dyson who performed a cesarean section on the baby\u2019s mother, a western lowland gorilla named Rwanda.}}<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

\u201cI loved it,\u201d said Griffin, who has a practice in Gulf Breeze. \u201cIt was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be that close to such beautiful creatures. I was just in awe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The baby, who has not been named yet, may be on display as early as Saturday. Zoo workers are wrapping up renovations to a building near the train station that will serve as his nursery for the next five months.<\/p>\n

His mother\u2019s pregnancy caught the staff off guard. Rwanda had rejected a number of young male gorillas loaned to the zoo for breeding purposes through a Species Survival Plan approved by the American Zoological Association, said Kayte Wanko, the zoo\u2019s director.<\/p>\n

Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered. When the zoo changed hands two years ago, those gorillas were returned and all that remained were the zoo\u2019s gorillas 25-year-old Rwanda and a 19-year-old male named Babuka, who had been living alone.<\/p>\n

Because primates are social animals, the decision was made to reintroduce Rwanda and Babuka in the hopes they would keep each other company.<\/p>\n

They did more than that. Nine months ago, zoo employees walked in on the couple when they were mating.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a private matter that we happened to interrupt,\u201d Wanko said. \u201cWe knew almost exactly when we were expecting our baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gestation period for gorillas is eight and a half months, which zoo staff members used to research and prepare for the birth and for the possibility that Rwanda, who has spent most of her adult life at the zoo, would not know how to nurse or care for her infant.<\/p>\n

The gorillas, which share an island on the zoo\u2019s reserve, spent the entire pregnancy together until the last month, when they separated at night. <\/p>\n

\u201cRwanda decided later in her pregnancy that she did not want to spend the night with him,\u201d Wanko said. \u201cShe was getting agitated when he would bother her.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Rwanda went into labor Jan. 22, staff members monitored her behavior closely. She did well for the first six to eight hours, after which her labour stopped progressing. Griffin was called in and the c-section was performed in Rwanda\u2019s cage. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe gorilla and human anatomy are very similar,\u201d Griffin said. \u201c(Dyson) took care of the anesthesia. She took care of the baby. We both did the c-section.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Griffin who reached in and pulled the baby gorilla out, feet first.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Dyson had to give the baby mouth-to-mouth,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a very courageous act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wanko said the baby will stay in the nursery until he is 5 months old, at which point he can be safely reintroduced to his mom.
\nIn the wild, gorillas nurse their babies for the first four or five years. Rwanda was unable to produce milk and showed behavior that were potentially threatening to the infant.<\/p>\n

Wanko said that at 5 months, the baby will be old enough to get supplemental feedings, but young enough so he and his mother can bond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not concerned that she won\u2019t want to take care of her infant,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s extremely maternal. But it\u2019s always a concern with a first-time mom that they don\u2019t understand breastfeeding. The sensation, they don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rwanda and Babuka were back together several days after the delivery, although they continue to maintain separate bedrooms.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to slowly introduce them back in the house at night,\u201d Wanko said.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s up to Rwanda to decide when the two will resume other activities. \u201cWhen she\u2019s ready, she\u2019ll let him know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{{The 5-pound male baby gorilla was born Jan. 23 in his mother\u2019s cage at the Gulf Breeze Zoo in Florida, according to Griffin and zoo veterinarian Natalie Dyson who performed a cesarean section on the baby\u2019s mother, a western lowland gorilla named Rwanda.}} \u201cI loved it,\u201d said Griffin, who has a practice in Gulf Breeze. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[158],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-1704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-b_igi_adm1n"],"bylines":[{"id":158,"name":"b_igi_adm1n","slug":"b_igi_adm1n","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":1}],"contributors":[{"id":158,"name":"b_igi_adm1n","slug":"b_igi_adm1n","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":1}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1704"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=1704"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=1704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}