BIOPARC Keepers Announce New Gorilla Is a Girl
October 17, 2016
BIOPARC Valencia is excited to announce that their newest Western Lowland Gorilla is a female! The birth of the baby on August 18 was witnessed, and filmed, by amazed Zoo patrons. (See our original article here: Zoo Guests Witness Gorilla Birth)
The new girl has become an important part of the Spanish zoo’s Gorilla troop. Mom, Nalani, and father, Mambie, are doing a fitting job caring for their new offspring.
From the beginning, keepers have worked to maximize the welfare of the mother and her baby. Unless necessary, the technical team of BIOPARC does not interfere in the natural development of breeding and, in this sense, mother and offspring have not been separated at any time. For this reason, only observation, patience and some luck, have finally allowed keepers to see and take a photo of the genital area of the new baby, and thus confirm that is a female.
Photo Credits: BIOPARC Valencia
The Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is one of two subspecies of the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) that lives in montane, primary and secondary forests and lowland swamps in central Africa in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the Gorilla most common to zoos.
The main diet of the Gorilla species is roots, shoots, fruit, wild celery, tree bark and pulp, which are provided for in the thick forests of central and West Africa. An adult will eat around 18 kg (40 lb) of food per day. Gorillas will climb trees up to 15 meters in height in search of food.
Females do not produce many offspring, due to the fact that they do not reach sexual maturity until the age of 8 or 9. Female gorillas give birth to one infant after a pregnancy of nearly nine months. Unlike their powerful parents, newborns are tiny (weighing about four pounds) and able only to cling to their mothers' fur. The infant will ride on mother’s back from the age of four months through the first two or three years of life. Infants can be dependent on the mother for up to five years.
The Western Lowland Gorilla is classified as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List. Population in the wild is faced with a number of factors that threaten it to extinction. Such factors include: deforestation, farming, grazing, and the expanding human settlements that cause forest loss. There is also said to be a correlation between human intervention in the wild and the destruction of habitats with an increase in bushmeat hunting.
BIOPARC Valencia has welcomed the birth of two gorillas in fewer than 4 years. The first birth took place in October 2012 with the arrival of Ebo (brother of the new girl), the first Gorilla born in Valencia. Today this small male who will soon turn 4, and he shows an aspect that points to a hopeful future for their species.