The star of this year's Zoo Babies is a female western lowland gorilla named Gladys. Gladys was born on January 29, 2013 at the Gladys Porter Zoo. She was transferred to Cincinnati because her mother Kiazi, and father Moja, rejected her. The AZA and other organizations felt that Cincinnati would be the best home for her. The zoo was determined to give her the finest care an abandoned gorilla like her deserves. As of now the zoo is working her way up to get ready to be with her new guardians, Samantha, her great grandmother, and M'linzi, her third cousin (Anju is also a sibling). This process is called "Gorilla-fication". The first process was introducing Gladys to the rest of the gang. The second was having her current human surrogates to wear gorilla fur-like coats that cover their body to get Gladys used to the feel of hanging onto a live gorilla. The third process is to have the human surrogates walk around the outdoor yard and mimic a gorilla's behavior while having her on their back. She can only be seen at certain hours and the temperature needs to be at last 60 degrees. She is located at the zoo's Gorilla World along with her other future family members: Jomo, M'linzi, Samantha, Asha, Anju, Chewie, and Mara.
