Dec 12, 2008 12:16 am US/Pacific
SF Baby Gorilla, Surrogate Mom Adapt To Each Other
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
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Male baby gorilla born at the San Francisco Zoo.
SF Zoo
San Francisco Zoo curators and veterinarians Thursday are monitoring a baby gorilla to make sure he is doing well after a surrogate mother was put in place of his birth mother.
When the baby was born, the mother, Monifa, left the nest and did not return for the day. Nor did she attempt to feed or care for him.
Curator of primates Corinne Macdonald said for some reason Monifa had detached herself and after numerous attempts to reattach the two, they decided to train a surrogate mother, Bawang, to raise the boy.
On Tuesday the veterinary staff anaesthetized Monifa, placed the baby on her chest and woke her slowly hoping she would embrace her son. Instead she inspected him briefly, moved as far away as possible and built a new nest.
"It's not typical but it happens," Macdonald said. "Sort of like when moms just aren't ready to be a mom."
Curators decided to unite the boy and Bawang on Wednesday, which has not presented any complications, but they still have to feed him every two hours and keep a close eye.
Bawang and the baby, who has not been named, have been spending a lot of time together and "She's a proven mom. Her most recent offspring is 10 years old," Macdonald said.
Bawang, Monifa, the baby and the rest of the troop all spend time in the same area but Monifa is still detached.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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