FORT WORTH, Texas — A baby gorilla born prematurely in January now needs a second surrogate mother after attempts to unite the baby with its biological mother failed, as well as surrogacy training with another female gorilla.
Jameela was the third gorilla born in the zoo’s 115-year history but the first gorilla to be born via C-section. She was born prematurely because her mother, 33-year-old Sekani exhibited symptoms of preeclampsia, a serious blood-pressure condition that can occur during pregnancy in both humans and primates. Following testing to support a preeclampsia diagnosis, zoo veterinarians intervened immediately.
Jameela was born four-to-six weeks early on Jan. 5. Fort Worth Zoo officials tried reuniting Jameela and Sekani numerous times, but unfortunately the 33-year-old gorilla showed little interest in caring for her baby. Zoo officials said though it’s hard to determine the exact reason why, experts suspect Sekani never experienced the necessary hormonal cues that come during natural and full-term birth, therefore resulting in disinterest in the baby.
The zoo then turned to surrogacy training with a 24-year-old female gorilla named Gracie, but according to the zoo's Facebook page, the "surrogacy training with her has slowed and unfortunately, the progress we were needing to see has not been observed." Fort Worth Zoo officials said they made the difficult decision to end Gracie's surrogacy training and shift focus to another female in the troop, Winifred.
Winifred, like Jameela's mother Sekani, is also 33 years old but does not have any offspring of her own. The zoo said Winifred has shown some interest in Jameela.
"Our goal is – and always has been – to make sure Jameela is raised by gorillas," the Fort Worth Zoo said in its Facebook post. "While we work with Fred over the next week, we are also consulting with our national partners about the best next steps."
The zoo said Jameela, now just over two months old, is healthy, strong and "growing like a weed!" Jameela is more than 7 pounds now and is working on her muscle development and mobility.
Jameela's name means “beautiful” in Swahili.
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