The Dallas Zoo’s new baby gorilla – the first born at the zoo in 20 years – officially has a name!
The baby girl was named Saambili, after a gorilla caretaker who works for the Dallas Zoo’s conservation partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Saambili’s namesake, Aldegonde Saambili, works 24-hour shifts at the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE), the only facility in the world dedicated to the rehabilitative care for orphaned Grauer’s gorillas.
“It’s taken the Dallas Zoo 20 years to welcome a baby gorilla and we wanted her name to have real meaning,” said Keith Zdrojewski, the curator of primates and carnivores at the Dallas Zoo, according to a press release. “GRACE is so close to my heart; the caretakers there are some of the most selfless people I’ve ever met. With many women in the Congo facing issues of inequality, high rates of violence, and poverty, I’m proud to honor Aldegonde Saambili with the recognition she deserves as a remarkable female conservationist in a very conflicted country.”
Aldegonde Saambili was grateful for the honor.
“Thank you very much for this acknowledgement to us caregivers at GRACE. I promise to continue faithfully with my job of caring for baby gorillas all my life,” she said, according to the release. “I also wish a long life of happiness to Saambili, the baby gorilla, and my namesake at the Dallas Zoo."
The Dallas Zoo welcomed Saambili on June 25 and introduced her to the public on July 2. The name and gender were officially revealed Friday. The infant is in rare company: It's not only the first gorilla born at the zoo in 20 years, but also just the fifth baby gorilla at the zoo in nearly 50 years.
Saambili weighed about five pounds when she was born to Hope, a second-time mom, and first-time dad Subira. Hope labored just over an hour during the birth last month.
"Mom is tired but she's tending to the infant perfectly, and the baby appears to be strong – gripping onto mom, and nursing frequently," the zoo said in a press release.
Silverback Subira was quick to greet his first baby, "gently putting his lips on the infant's head shortly after birth," the zoo release said.
Hope had a baby in 2004 at a zoo in Albuquerque, N.M. Hope came to Dallas from Albuquerque last year.