Source : Perth Now news
A dramatic emergency delivery at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo has ended with a healthy baby gorilla — and an unexpected helping hand from another new mum.
Olympia, a pregnant western lowland gorilla, gave birth to a baby boy via an “extremely rare” caesarean section after complications during labour left vets fearing she would not be able to deliver naturally.
The surgery, performed on May 24 by veterinarians alongside a volunteer medical team who normally deliver human babies, marked the first gorilla C-section in the zoo’s 126-year history.
The newborn boy, Olympia’s second son, weighed 5lb 4oz and is recovering well.
“Thanks to the teamwork of the human doctors, veterinarians and gorilla care team, Olympia and her baby are in good health and doing well,” Woodland Park Zoo curator of mammalogy Martin Ramirez said.
“Given the positive indicators so far, we remain optimistic but are also cautious because the situation is very fluid and fragile.”
People reported that the emergency procedure was triggered after an ultrasound showed low amniotic fluid and signs Olympia’s labour was not progressing.
“Due to this, we made the critical decision to put Olympia under anesthesia and call in a team of medical consultants to assess the fetus and determine the best intervention,” veterinarian Dr Tim Storms explained.
The scans confirmed Olympia would not be able to give birth without intervention.
“This meant that Olympia would not be able to deliver her baby without our help, so we made a critical decision to deliver the baby via cesarean section,” Dr Storms said.
“We had a highly skilled and compassionate volunteer obstetrical team that joined our veterinary team to perform the surgery and deliver a healthy baby boy.”
But the story took another remarkable turn after the birth.
While Olympia recovered from surgery, fellow gorilla Jamani, who had given birth to her own son just days earlier, stepped in to care for the newborn.
The two gorillas have history.
Back in 2012, they also gave birth to sons weeks apart and raised them together while living at North Carolina Zoo.
“Keeping the baby in close proximity to Olympia allowed her to see, hear and smell her baby the entire time,” Mr Ramirez said.
“Because Olympia had just undergone a major surgical procedure, we wanted to let her rest the first night without the need to care for her baby.”
By the following day, Jamani had begun carrying and nursing both babies while Olympia stayed close by.
“We weren’t surprised and knew there was a possibility that Jamani would pick up Olympia’s baby,” animal care manager Arden Robert said.
“Last night, Jamani nursed Olympia’s baby several times.”
Zoo staff say the first 72 hours remain critical for newborn gorillas, but both infants are so far doing well.
“While Olympia recovers from the C-section, our plan is to allow Jamani to continue caring for Olympia’s son while also caring for her own son as long as both infants remain healthy, which is our priority,” Mr Ramirez said.
“Once Olympia shows signs of being ready for her baby, we’ll move forward with plans to reunite them.”
