KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Zoo Knoxville is celebrating the birth of a new Western lowland gorilla. This is the fourth gorilla born at Zoo Knoxville in the zoo’s history, and the first gorilla birth since 2016.
The Zoo announced on Thursday that 27-year-old gorilla Kumi had given birth on Wednesday, November 19.
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A Zoo Knoxville spokesperson explained that labor in gorillas can take hours, but keepers noticed Kumi was crowning around 8:10 a.m.
“We actually had an ultrasound the day before and everything looked great,” said Great Apes Keeper KateLyn Miller. “We saw the baby crowning, it all happened really quickly. Five minutes later, we had a healthy newborn. Kumi has been calm, attentive, and doing everything exactly as a new mom should.”
Miller explained the father, silverback Bantu, has been interested in the newborn, but he’s keeping his distance and keeping an eye on the other troop members, ensuing there are no negative interactions. She added that some of the younger female gorillas have been learning from Kumi what being a mother is like…