Report: Baby gorilla died of head truama
A preliminary exam shows that an endangered baby gorilla born nine days ago at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo died of head trauma.
Zoo workers discovered the baby gorilla was dead Friday morning, as she was being carried around by her mother.
The zoo says workers allowed the mother, 16-year-old Bana, to keep the baby for several hours "to make peace with what happened." She was a first-time mother.
The cause of death was determined later in the day during a necropsy, the animal version of an autopsy.
The baby's father was a 22-year-old silverback gorilla named Kwan.
The baby was the first Western lowland gorilla born at the zoo since 2005. She had not been named.
In a statement, the zoo says the baby appeared to be fully developed.
“This is an extremely sad day for the Lincoln Park Zoo family,” said Megan Ross, vice president of Animal Care. “We have been watching the mother and infant very closely since the birth and felt cautiously optimistic that the baby was healthy and being cared for appropriately. We are all surprised and very saddened by this tragic turn of events.”
Gorillas' periods of mourning have been well documented and are often compared to those of humans.
Bana, a first time mother, carried the baby full-term, and the infant appeared to be fully-developed. The cause of death has yet to be determined.
“The sad reality is that infant mortality is not altogether uncommon in wild animals, but nonetheless we are absolutely devastated to lose this important newborn which is a critically endangered species,” said Ross.
The Regenstein Center for African Apes will remain closed to the public today in order to give the gorillas, and animal care staff, time to mourn and adjust to the loss.