Baby gorilla delivered via rare C-section at Seattle zoo
NBC News • • nation
Key Points:
- A baby gorilla was born via a rare cesarean section at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo on Sunday, performed on a 29-year-old western lowland gorilla five days past her due date.
- The newborn male weighed 5.4 pounds, which is over a pound heavier than the average infant gorilla, and both he and his mother, Olympia, are currently in good health.
- Fewer than a dozen C-sections have been performed on gorillas worldwide, and this was the first at Woodland Park Zoo, with a human medical team conducting the procedure due to complications.
- After the birth, another gorilla named Jamanji, who recently gave birth herself, began caring for the newborn, and zoo officials plan to let her care for both babies while Olympia recovers.
- Zoo officials remain cautious about the situation, describing it as "very fluid and fragile," despite the positive initial health reports.