CLEVELAND — Cleveland Metroparks Zoo officials are optimistic about the surrogacy journey of Jameela, the baby gorilla prematurely-born at the Fort Worth Zoo.
Jameela's mother, Sekani, did not show interest in her after having an emergency C-section. Fort Worth Zoo officials said that, while it’s hard to determine the exact reason why the two never bonded, they suspect Sekani never experienced the necessary hormonal cues that come during a natural and full-term birth, which would've triggered a traditional mother-baby relationship.
After Sekani showed disinterest, 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 decided to end Gracie's surrogacy training, and to shift focus to surrogacy with another female in the troop, Winifred. Surrogacy efforts with Winifred also failed and Jameela was transferred to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in late March.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo updated Jameela's surrogacy journey on Wednesday, which showed some promise with their surrogate choice, Fredrika or "Freddy."
"We did do an introduction between [Jameela] and our identified foster mom, Fredrika. Freddy picked Jameela up within a couple of seconds of being given access to her," Dr. Elena Less of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo said. "That is exactly what we were hoping to see."
The first introduction lasted a bit over two hours, zoo officials said, which was considered a success because "it was the first time Jameela was able to be picked up by a female gorilla."
"It brought tears to my eyes," Fort Worth Zoo Animal Keeper Angie Holmes said of seeing the promising behaviors exhibited by Freddy.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will continue to post updates about Jameela on their Facebook page.
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