Baby gorilla Jameela, born in Fort Worth, bonds with surrogate at Cleveland zoo
Baby gorilla Jameela, born via emergency C-section in Fort Worth, is bonding with a surrogate mother in Cleveland. Baby gorilla Jameela, born prematurely at the Fort Worth Zoo in January, is bonding with a surrogate mother at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Ohio. This was the first time 3-month-old Jameel was held by a female gorilla. The gorilla's birth and search for a new surrogate mother led to a public outcry. After several weeks searching for an institution with a proven surrogate experience, Freddy was found and moved to the Cleveland zoo in March. Freddy, who at 49 is the oldest gorilla in her troop, had already raised four infants when she took over care of Kayembe.
发表 : 一个月前 经过 Sarah Bahari 在 Finance
Baby gorilla Jameela — whose emergency birth in Fort Worth and search for a surrogate mother riveted the public — is bonding with a surrogate mother at her new home in Ohio.
Within moments of meeting baby Jameela, Fredrika, Freddy for short, picked up Jameela from a nest made by zoo staff and cuddled her. A video posted to X by the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo shows Jameela resting her head on Freddy’s chest.
This marked the first time 3-month-old Jameela was held by a female gorilla.
“That’s was exactly what we were hoping to see,” animal curator Elena Less said on the video, which showed the gorillas cuddling, joined by Mokolo, a silverback gorilla and troop leader, and Freddy’s surrogate son, Kayembe.
When Freddy immediately picked Jameela up, “it was the biggest sigh of relief,” associate animal curator Laura Klutts said. The two-hour introduction ended when 2-year-old Kayembe got “a little too rambunctious,” Klutts said.
Jameela’s story has captured the attention — and heartache — of many in Fort Worth and beyond. She was born prematurely in January at the Fort Worth Zoo after her mother, 33-year-old Sekani, was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a serious blood-pressure condition that can occur during pregnancy in both humans and primates.
Sekani showed little interest in caring for Jameela, which zoo staff said could be because she did not experience the hormonal cues that come with natural and full-term births. Staff tried to train two other troop members, Gracie and Winifred, as surrogates but did not observe the progress needed.
After spending several weeks searching for an institution with a female gorilla with proven surrogate experience, zoo officials found Freddy and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Jameela moved to her new home in March.
Freddy, who at 49 is the oldest gorilla in her troop, had already raised four infants when she took over care of Kayembe. He was born in October 2021 at least six weeks premature. After his birth mother, Nneka, showed little interest in caring for the newborn, Freddy picked him up and took over as surrogate mother.
“Freddy is socially savvy and wise, having lived through a lot of life experience,” the Cleveland zoo wrote on its website.
话题: Markets