Gorilla thought to be male for 4 years gives birth to baby at Ohio Zoo

Zookeepers in Columbus, Ohio were surprised when they learned that Sally the gorilla, whom they thought was male for four years, had given birth to a calf. Now they are looking for their father. Read more about the precedent told the publication Hromadske.

Photo: IStock

The gorilla has been living in the zoo since 2019, and on July 20, 2023, it was found with a baby. Zookeepers say the cub "seems healthy" and that Sally is "a great mother".

You can see the photo at link.

“The birth of the cub was unexpected but caused excitement among the care team. This is important for the conservation of the endangered species, zookeepers said. “We are delighted with the birth of the baby.”

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“As the 34th gorilla born here since 1956, when Columbus Menagerie became the first zoo in the world to welcome the birth of a baby gorilla, she is an important part of our conservation efforts for these magnificent animals,” they noted, they wrote. with the BBC.

The zoo intends to conduct DNA tests to determine the father of the baby gorilla. Sally lives in a group led by a 39-year-old male nicknamed Mac. It also includes two younger males - Kamoli (10 years old) and Jay Jay (6 years old).

How the confusion arose

The zoo explained that Sally had always been healthy, so she never needed an examination. This led to confusion about her gender.

Menagerie keepers say they didn't suspect anything until they saw "a male feeding his baby." They claim that it is sometimes very difficult to determine the sex of young gorillas.

At 8 years old, Sally was old enough to reproduce, but still too young to show clear signs of her sex.

Until about eight years of age, males and females are about the same size and do not have prominent sex organs. Males don't develop their silver back until 12 years of age or even later.

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In addition, gorillas usually do not show signs of pregnancy due to their large belly, and their cubs are much smaller than human babies.

But, despite the problems with determining the sex of Sally, the zoo said they were confident in the sex of the newborn.

“Definitely a girl! Our team confirmed this visually and with the help of photographs that were sent to the primate expert,” zoo specialists assured.

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