In March this year, an 18-year old gorilla in San Diego Zoo Safari Park named Imani gave birth for the first time and while the birth in itself is already special, what makes it all the more extraordinary is that the baby was born via cesarean section.
While gorillas often deliver their babies easily and fast, Imani had difficulty giving birth. She started to show signs of labor in the morning but when she has not progressed by evening and showed labor distress, zookeepers brought her to the Safari Park veterinary hospital where a team of veterinary surgeon, human neonatal specialists and zoo staff helped her give birth via caesarian section.
San Diego Zoo Safari Park's veterinary services associate director Nadine Lamberski said that they have made the right decision to have Imani give birth via c-section. "We think the health of the fetus would have been compromised if we delayed the surgery any longer," Lamberski said.
Although the baby, a female who weighed 4.6 pounds at birth, was delivered alive, the difficulties that her mother went through during her delivery caused the newborn to have complications. The baby gorilla had collapsed lung and had difficulty breathing. She was fortunately treated by a team of specialists and was monitored closely while she recovered.
After a rocky start at life, however, the gorilla, now four months old, is doing better. She was also given the name "Joanne" in honor of San Diego Zoo Global Foundation's first chairwoman Joanne Warren. Zookeepers said that Joanne is healthy. She can now roll on her stomach, walk on all fours and ride on her mother's back and while the mother and daughter gorillas seem to be inseparable, Imani already allows Joanne to explore and sit on her own.
The young gorilla has likewise been chewing and gnawing things such as lettuce, kale and acacia browse.
"While Imani is eating browse, we've seen Joanne grab a handful and mouth it," Jami Pawlowski, who works at the Safari Park, said. "She's got about six teeth now so it's not quite enough to chew browse, but she definitely mouths and will suck on it." Pawlowski also said that the baby gorilla tend to investigate big and attractive things that her mother is holding.
Joanne is Imani's first baby and the 17th gorilla that was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The park is home to eight gorillas.
