{{The 5-pound male baby gorilla was born Jan. 23 in his mother’s cage at the Gulf Breeze Zoo in Florida, according to Griffin and zoo veterinarian Natalie Dyson who performed a cesarean section on the baby’s mother, a western lowland gorilla named Rwanda.}}
“I loved it,” said Griffin, who has a practice in Gulf Breeze. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be that close to such beautiful creatures. I was just in awe.”
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.
His mother’s 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’s director.
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’s gorillas 25-year-old Rwanda and a 19-year-old male named Babuka, who had been living alone.
Because primates are social animals, the decision was made to reintroduce Rwanda and Babuka in the hopes they would keep each other company.
They did more than that. Nine months ago, zoo employees walked in on the couple when they were mating.
“It was a private matter that we happened to interrupt,” Wanko said. “We knew almost exactly when we were expecting our baby.”
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.
The gorillas, which share an island on the zoo’s reserve, spent the entire pregnancy together until the last month, when they separated at night.
“Rwanda decided later in her pregnancy that she did not want to spend the night with him,” Wanko said. “She was getting agitated when he would bother her.”
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’s cage.
“The gorilla and human anatomy are very similar,” Griffin said. “(Dyson) took care of the anesthesia. She took care of the baby. We both did the c-section.”
It was Griffin who reached in and pulled the baby gorilla out, feet first.
“Dr. Dyson had to give the baby mouth-to-mouth,” she said. “It was a very courageous act.”
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.
In 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.
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.
“I’m not concerned that she won’t want to take care of her infant,” she said. “She’s extremely maternal. But it’s always a concern with a first-time mom that they don’t understand breastfeeding. The sensation, they don’t like it.”
Rwanda and Babuka were back together several days after the delivery, although they continue to maintain separate bedrooms.
“We’re going to slowly introduce them back in the house at night,” Wanko said.
Ultimately, it’s up to Rwanda to decide when the two will resume other activities. “When she’s ready, she’ll let him know.”
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