OH, HAPPY DAY ~

Newborn gorilla cradled by mother Calaya, a 20-year-old female western lowland gorilla. 
She gave birth to her second offspring May 27. 
Photo Credit: Valerie Schultz, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

I've always been a super-fan of the Smithsonian National Zoo, Washington, DC and a long, long time ago was a FONZ [Friend of the National Zoo] volunteer.  My FONZ years date back to the late 60s and early 70s, but the experiences from those days remain vivid in my mind.

As a volunteer I did behavior-and-pregnancy watches, always during the nighttime hours, keeping extensive notes, taking photographs, tracking all movements, sounds and more.  I watched the well-known pandas, two beautiful tigers, and one gorilla named Femelle.  This observation time, spent alone with the animal, beside their sleeping cages, but at a distance of course, brought new appreciation and fascination for each of these species.  

Over time, the Giant Pandas did give birth ... "my" tiger, Kesari did as well.  Kesari was the daughter of Mohini, the zoo's famous white tiger, and she carried genes which could lead to her birthing a white tiger cub.  As best I recall, though, all her cubs over the years were golden.  And Femelle ~ the gorilla ~ eventually, with veterinarians concerned that her possible "pregnancy" had become complicated, she was temporarily anesthetized so as to be examined.  Femelle?  Well, she had just put on way too much weight and was soon placed on a diet! During those years, though never present for labor or birth, I could share in the joy of new arrivals.  

And so I read with great excitement and pleasure about Calaya giving birth.  Below is a LINK to the Smithsonian website, which shares three short videos, each delightful to watch, of Calaya and her new little one.  Enjoy!

Western Lowland Gorilla Baby Arrives