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Gecko Wrangler
Protective mom delays zoo officials' attempts to determine sex
By Mark Sommer
News Staff Reporter
Updated: October 14, 2010, 0:04 AM
It's a girl gorilla.
No, it's a boy gorilla.
Because of a very protective mother, the gender of the first gorilla born in the Buffalo Zoo in 10 years remains a mystery.
Sidney, born at the zoo in 1997, gave birth Friday for her first time. Wednesday, mother and baby were on public view together for the first time, spending their time between the exhibit area and a private space behind it.
The father is 23-year-old Koga, also a first-time parent.
"We're very excited," Donna Fernandes, the zoo's director, said of the zoo's fifth gorilla. "The baby is very healthy and nursing strongly. Sidney has been a great mother."
For the past several years the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan discouraged gorilla breeding, after eight surviving gorillas were born at the Buffalo Zoo in the 1980s.
But the zoo was given the go-ahead earlier this year, Fernandes said.
That meant Sidney, who developed an immediate relationship with Koga, could be taken off birth control.
"The baby photos have gone all over. It's got a cute little face, and gorilla noses are always so adorable," Fernandes said.
She said that at some point in the next several days the mother will be comfortable enough to put the baby down, allowing zoo staff to weigh it and determine its sex.
But they're not in a hurry.
"We don't want to stress the mother out," Fernandes said.
Visitors may be disappointed in the next several days if they come and Sidney prefers to remain in the private area, but Fernandes doubts that will last long.
Baby gorillas begin walking when they are about three to six months old and are usually weaned by age 3.
As for Koga, it's not unusual for male gorillas to wait until their 20s to become a father.
"In the wild, you have to be older to take over a harem. Twenty-three would be a good age to get his own group," Fernandes said.
The stork is also planning another visit to the zoo. A baby giraffe, which would be the zoo's fourth, is due any day.
"We didn't want the gorilla and the giraffe both to come at the same time, so the poor vet wouldn't have to be running between the two of them," Fernandes said.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article218818.ece
By Mark Sommer
News Staff Reporter
Updated: October 14, 2010, 0:04 AM
It's a girl gorilla.
No, it's a boy gorilla.
Because of a very protective mother, the gender of the first gorilla born in the Buffalo Zoo in 10 years remains a mystery.
Sidney, born at the zoo in 1997, gave birth Friday for her first time. Wednesday, mother and baby were on public view together for the first time, spending their time between the exhibit area and a private space behind it.
The father is 23-year-old Koga, also a first-time parent.
"We're very excited," Donna Fernandes, the zoo's director, said of the zoo's fifth gorilla. "The baby is very healthy and nursing strongly. Sidney has been a great mother."
For the past several years the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan discouraged gorilla breeding, after eight surviving gorillas were born at the Buffalo Zoo in the 1980s.
But the zoo was given the go-ahead earlier this year, Fernandes said.
That meant Sidney, who developed an immediate relationship with Koga, could be taken off birth control.
"The baby photos have gone all over. It's got a cute little face, and gorilla noses are always so adorable," Fernandes said.
She said that at some point in the next several days the mother will be comfortable enough to put the baby down, allowing zoo staff to weigh it and determine its sex.
But they're not in a hurry.
"We don't want to stress the mother out," Fernandes said.
Visitors may be disappointed in the next several days if they come and Sidney prefers to remain in the private area, but Fernandes doubts that will last long.
Baby gorillas begin walking when they are about three to six months old and are usually weaned by age 3.
As for Koga, it's not unusual for male gorillas to wait until their 20s to become a father.
"In the wild, you have to be older to take over a harem. Twenty-three would be a good age to get his own group," Fernandes said.
The stork is also planning another visit to the zoo. A baby giraffe, which would be the zoo's fourth, is due any day.
"We didn't want the gorilla and the giraffe both to come at the same time, so the poor vet wouldn't have to be running between the two of them," Fernandes said.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article218818.ece