Woodland Park Zoo welcomes baby gorilla. But his mom isn’t quite ready

Woodland Park Zoo has a new bouncing baby boy — and it’s a gorilla!

Akenji, a first-time mom, gave birth to her baby June 28, the zoo announced online in a blog post on July 1.

Akenji is not quite ready to be around her baby, despite the maternal skills training she got during her pregnancy, the zoo said. So zoo staff are rearing the newborn by bottle-feeding him human infant formula, providing him comfort and keeping him warm.

The zoo in a March blog post also noted Akenji was not raised by her own mom.

“Akenji still hasn’t shown any promising signs of interest to bond with her baby,” said Rachel Vass, the zoo’s interim animal care manager, in the July blog post. “Because she demonstrated capable maternal behaviors throughout her training program, we’re disappointed and a little surprised those instincts haven’t kicked in.”

In between feeding sessions, keepers have encouraged bonding between Akenji and her son by placing him in a warm bedding of hay within her line of sight, so she can see, hear and smell him, the zoo said.

A similar situation happened in 2015, when zoo staff had to bottle-feed and care for a female gorilla after her mother showed little interest.

“As we continue to hand-rear her baby for the short term, the positive news is that he remains healthy, he has a great appetite and strong grip, and he is getting bigger every day,” Vass said in the blog post.

The average weight for a gorilla at birth is 4 pounds, and the zoo said Monday the new boy weighs 4.4 pounds.

“His vital signs are good and he is healthy and physically normal,” said Dr. Yousuf Jafarey, associate veterinarian at the zoo, in the blog post.

Zoo guests can view Akenji and her family in the outdoor habitat midmorning to midafternoon. Her baby remains in the off-view dens, the zoo said.

The newborn marks the 16th gorilla born at Woodland Park Zoo and the third offspring for the father, Kwame, a silverback (adult male gorilla). Kwame’s other children are son Kitoko (born March 2020) and daughter Zuna (born January 2021).