On Friday June 17 at 9 p.m., Kokamo, a 22-year-old western lowland gorilla, gave birth to her baby, the first gorilla birth at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (formerly Wild Animal Park) in eleven years. Kokamo, originally born in 1988 at the Oklahoma City Zoo, gave birth to her first offspring in Oklahoma in 1996. Kokamo also gave birth to the seventh set of twin gorillas ever born in captivity in 1999, which also live in Oklahoma. She was eventually transferred to San Diego in 2010. The Safari Park now has six western gorillas.
The new infant gorilla, whose sex has yet to be determined, is acclimating with its mother, nursing often and appears healthy. The troop's silverback, an older male named Winston, has been keeping other female gorillas away from the mother and baby, as observed by keepers at the Safari Park. Silverback gorillas, as leader of the group, take responsibility for most group-related functions, from protection and safety, to making the decision on movement and group patterns.
The growth cycle is fairly quick for western gorillas. They're in the womb for about 8.5 months. At six months after birth they'll walk on their own, and by 18 months can follow mom on foot, all the while nursing for up to three years.
The western lowland gorilla occupies the forest areas in South Africa, including but not limited to the Congo region, and are listed as critically endangered. Main threats in the wild to the gorilla originate from poaching and hunting, logging and deforestation of their habitat, and diseases such as the Ebola virus. Ebola causes massive internal bleeding in its victims and kills about 95 percent of infected gorillas. There are thought to be around 50,000 - 100,000 gorillas left in the wild.
It is not immediately known when the public will get a chance to view the new baby gorilla at the Safari Park, but the exhibit remains open for general observation.
