Zoo's prized primate delivers an heir

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http://www.thestar.com/article/702430
Zoo's prized primate delivers an heir
This article caught my attention because the gorrilas are so human like, yet it was shipped in a box ??


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Sep 29, 2009 04:30 AM
Noor Javed Staff Reporter
A little more than a year ago, Ngozi was taken from her family in Seattle and shipped in a box to the Toronto zoo for one reason – to produce the city's next generation of gorillas.

The young gorilla fulfilled her purpose, giving birth to a tiny bundle of primate joy this month.
Now, weeks later, she is the only one who knows if it is a boy or a girl. The first-time mother has held on to the infant so closely that her keepers have yet to determine its gender.

The keepers had been waiting for news of a baby since Ngozi first met Charles, a gorilla old enough to be her father and the alpha male of the Toronto lair, in the fall of 2008.

It was believed the union of the two would produce a genetically strong offspring. The keepers monitored them closely: timing her cycle, her monthly trysts with Charles and his apparently waning interest in siring another child.

Once Ngozi became pregnant, the keepers – like overprotective parents – held off sharing the news during the nine-month gestation.

"We don't want anything released until we know the baby is happy and healthy," said one of her handlers.

The keepers have planned an "event" on Wednesday to celebrate the new addition to the Charles-Ngozi family.

They will likely fill in the blanks that remain: When did the baby arrive? How was the birth? How is Ngozi doing? Is this likely to be the last entry in Charles's extraordinary breeding record?
And the bigger question: How are Charles's other wives taking it?
Until now, 10-year-old Ngozi has struggled to find her place as the youngest wife in the family, learning to stay out of Samantha's and Josephine's way. The two females have mostly ignored her.

The latest news is bound to drastically change the family dynamic. Charles, who was inconsistent in his affection toward Ngozi, could be smitten with the new child.

Or perhaps, having already sired four others, he will be ready to retire into peace and quiet – happy to be relieved of the pressure to perform.

In any case, Ngozi can rest easy – she has done what she was brought here to do.

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