About a week ago, a male gorilla was born in Seattle, but was rejected by his mother, who had carried him for nine months.
The newborn, which has not yet been named, was born on the morning of June 28 at the Woodland Park Zoo, in what would normally be a cause for celebration for staff and visitors alike.
Sadly, a tragedy occurred because the boy’s mother, Akenji, did not care for him as a mother normally would.
“The zoo’s gorilla and animal health staff closely observed birth and post-birth behavior in bedrooms that were not visible,” the zoo wrote in a blog post‘Unfortunately, Akenji did not display appropriate maternal behavior despite the months of training in maternal skills provided to him by the gorilla care team.’
An hour after the gorilla was born, the zoo’s animal care team sprang into action to ensure the baby’s safety.
The new baby gorilla born just a week ago at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo
“Although we have encouraged maternal behavior, Akenji has not shown promising signs of interest in bonding with her baby,” said Rachel Vass, interim animal care manager at Woodland Park Zoo.
“Because she has shown good maternal behavior during her training program, we are disappointed and a little surprised that those instincts have not been activated.”
Although Akenji seemed disinterested in her child, the baby gorilla weighed slightly above average at 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) and was declared healthy by the zoo’s veterinarian.
And don’t worry, the newborn’s staff will bottle-feed him and do everything they can to comfort him and keep him warm.
Between feedings, the baby is kept on a warm bed of hay and Akenji is encouraged to visit him occasionally so she can bond with him.
“While we are still hand-rearing her baby for the time being, the good news is that he remains healthy, has a great appetite, a strong grip and is growing bigger every day,” Vass said.
Pictured: Akenji at the zoo while pregnant. Zoo staff were disappointed that she couldn’t be a mother to her baby once he was born.
The new baby was fathered by this silverback gorilla named Kwame
This is the 16th gorilla born at the zoo since it opened in 1899.
It is also the third child of gorilla Kwame. His other two children are a son and a daughter, born in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
The staff who work directly with the gorillas will continue to try to bring Akenji and her son closer.
“We have a professional and highly dedicated team of gorilla experts at Woodland Park Zoo who collectively have over 80 years of experience preparing expectant mothers for motherhood and pairing mothers and babies or introducing other gorillas as mothers,” said Martin Ramirez, interim senior director of Animal Care.