It's a real pleasure to go to work each morning and see images like this. Kahilli, one of our female Western Lowland gorillas, surprised her keepers by having given birth early yesterday morning..........they didn't think she was due until November!
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Kahilli is a very caring Mum as can be seen in this video
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| Kahilli & baby |
Yesterday also happened to be 1st time dad, Badongo's 13th birthday!
Last summer I was very privileged to have accompanied a gorilla transfer as a French interpreter when we transported our former silverback Ya Kwanza (who wasn't too interested in breeding) to a new gorilla bachelor group & brought a young bouncy Badongo back to Jersey, see the transfer video here
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| New dad Badongo |
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| Kahilli & Kishka on the right |
Kishka our eldest female is staying very close to Kahilli & the baby. You can often catch her trying to get a good look at the newborn.
She's even made it into the UK National headlines here
Congratulations Kahilli, we are all very proud of her at Durrell.
(Can you tell I have a little weakness for Gorillas? lol)
Very cool Gisele! I loved the video of Kahilli and her new baby. Cynthia
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story -- the pictures are great and the video is an absolute treasure to watch.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! The video brought tears to my eyes. So fascinating! Hard to wrap ones mind around it all. I mean, they are so human like. Simply amazing. What a very special experience for all of you there. ENJOY!~ Thanks for sharing. XO
ReplyDeleteHad to come back over and take another look and show Grover. He says THAT IS AMAZING!~
ReplyDeleteI am like Sandra and have had to watch the little video several times. It is so touching for such a big and powerful creature to be so tender. I remember when the little boy fell into the gorilla pit at Jersey Zoo some years ago and one of the gorillas looked after the little boy until help arrived. Amazing creatures.
ReplyDeleteTreasure this weakness Gisele! Amazing creatures aren't they?! Misunderstood for such a long time. Did Kishka ever had a baby? Thanks so much for sharing, have to let my husband watch when he comes home! Big hug, Daniëlle
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