"Momoko", a 29-year-old Western Lowland Gorilla, gave birth
Thursday as the other gorillas at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo looked on -- a
rare situation that mimicked how primates are born in the
wild.
Usually expectant mothers at the zoo are taken into seclusion
before birth.
Zookeepers did not reveal the gender of Momoko's new baby, but the
delivery stirred big interest among the enclosure's six other
members, who looked on and touched the tiny offspring as it was
breastfed by its mother.
Western lowland gorilla “Momoko” gave birth on Wednesday to a baby
at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Gardens, zoo officials said on
Thursday.
The 29-year-old mother is in stable condition, as well as her baby,
whose sex is still unknown, according to the zoo’s spokesmen.
Momoko became a mother for the third time, but it is the first time
when she gave birth amongst other gorillas and not alone, as she
did so far. Giving birth in the company of other gorillas is a
situation that imitates how primates are born in the wild.
Soon after the birth at just past 6 p.m. Wednesday, Momoko began
holding the baby and looking after it, according to Kyodo news
agency.
The western lowland gorilla is a primate species that lives in the
western side of Africa and that is threatened with extinction.
Momoko was transferred to Ueno Zoo in 1999 from Chiba Zoological
Park in the city of Chiba in order for her to breed. She gave birth
to a male “Momotaro” in 2000 and then, after a period back in
Chiba, to a female “Komomo” in 2009.
