On September 15, 12-year-old female gorilla SHIRA gave birth to a cub. Both mother and cub appear relaxed. The sex of the cub is still unknown.
The birth went smoothly, in the afternoon just before 3pm. This gave many visitors the opportunity to be up close and personal. "The young animal appears healthy and strong, it is even unusually large for its age," explains Zoo Director Prof. Dr. Manfred Niekisch. Mother SHIRA is relaxed and routine and takes good care of her offspring.
Which sex the young animal has, is still unknown. It may also be some time before the keepers can tell the sex, as mother SHIRA always holds her baby close to her body.
SHIRA was born in August 2004 at Stuttgart's Wilhelma Zoo, she has been in Frankfurt since September 2011. Her first son TANDU died in 2013 after 6 months due to an intestinal infection. SHIRA's second baby, born in 2015, also died after only seven days for unexplained reasons. "We are now very hopeful that everything will go well this time," Niekisch says.
The cub's father is 17-year-old silverback VIATU. He and the two other females in the group, DIAN and REBECCA, have welcomed the new addition with their usual mix of curiosity and composure. Especially the four year old SAWA shows a lot of interest in the new addition. Six-year-old QUEMBO is also curious, peering over SHIRA's shoulder from time to time as if to see how the baby is doing.
The population of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) in the wild is declining. They are listed as "Critically Endangered" in the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Red List. Habitat destruction, hunting but also the Ebola virus threaten the population
