GORILLA DELIVERS A SHOCK WITH BABY : SAN DIEGO ZOO SAYS ELDERLY PRIMATE TAKEN OFF BREEDING PROGRAM.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Alvila, an older lowland gorilla at the San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo One of the world's largest collections of mammals, birds, and reptiles, located in San Diego, Calif., and administered by the Zoological Society of San Diego. The 100-acre (40. , played it cool right up until the end. She didn't show much interest in the troop's silverback male, Memba, and she certainly never exhibited signs of pregnancy. But Thursday, keeper Gale Foland arrived at the gorilla bedroom to see the 31-year-old grandmother cradling a baby of her own. ``The fact that she got pregnant was extremely surprising, because it's been 10 years since her last offspring,'' Foland said. ``We'd kind of counted her out of the breeding program.'' Zoo officials are letting Alvila do all the mothering for now. They have not intruded to weigh or examine the newborn. According to Foland, the baby appears to be a female of normal weight - about three pounds. But Alvila does not appear to be producing enough breast milk to sustain the newborn, Foland said. Gorilla keepers haven't observed a breeding between Alvila and the 27-year-old Memba in two years. But because the average pregnancy term for a lowland gorilla is 255 days, officials believe they must have mated late last May. Memba and Alvila were proud parents for the first time in April 1986. The 230-pound Alvila is considered ``quite old'' to be a new mother. She has three full-grown children already, making her one of the most prolific gorilla moms in captivity. But Alvila's family has recently made a habit of mothering, regardless of tradition. In November, she became a surrogate mother surrogate mother, a woman who agrees, usually by contract and for a fee, to bear a child for a couple who are childless because the wife is infertile or physically incapable of carrying a developing fetus. to a 13-month-old gorilla, Imani, who had been neglected by her birth mother. Foland said Alvila holds Imani and the newborn on the same arm. In January, Alvila's adult daughter Alberta, adopted a newborn infant who had also been neglected by her birth mother. Alberta lives at the nearby San Diego Wild Animal Park The San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park is a zoo in the San Pasqual Valley area of San Diego, California. It is one of the largest tourist attractions in the city and Southern California. and is raising her own 10-month-old daughter, Ndjole, as well as her newly adopted baby. Lowland gorillas are an endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. native to western Africa. There are only about 6,000 lowland gorillas left in the wild, their numbers declining from habitat loss and poaching poaching: see cooking. . About 800 gorillas are in captivity worldwide with nearly 300 in North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. zoos. Nine gorillas now live in the San Diego Zoo's troop. An additional 12, including Alberta, live at the Wild Animal Park Wild Animal Park may refer to:
In June 1965, Alvila became the first gorilla born at the San Diego Zoo. She was only the seventh born in captivity. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Alvila holds Imani, a baby gorilla she adopted after the newborn was rejected by its birth mother. Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion