Staff at an Ohio zoo have been shocked when a gorilla they thought was male for four years has given birth to a cub.
Keepers at the Columbus center have explained that Sully the gorilla, who has lived at the zoo since 2019, was discovered by surprise with her new baby last Thursday.
The same staff has also explained through the institution’s blog that the baby “seems to be healthy” and that Sully does not detach from him tirelessly carrying out her work as a mother.
But, how can it be that a gorilla specimen lives in a zoo for years and its managers do not know exactly its sex? Well, it’s simpler than it seems. It turns out that Sully has always been in good health, so she’s never been closely examined, leading to this confusion.
For this reason, as the zoo has stated in its publication, the birth “was unexpected, but exciting for the care team and important for the conservation of a critically endangered species.”
Zoo workers became aware of the situation until they saw a presumed “male” nursing his cree. And, according to these specialists, it is “difficult to know the sex of the youngest gorillas.”
At eight years of age, Sully was old enough to reproduce, but still too young to show any obvious signs of her sex. “Up to eight years old, males and females are the same size, and do not have prominent sexual organs. Males do not develop … their silver back until age 12 or later,” she noted in her web post.
Also, to add even more difficulty when it comes to knowing what was happening, gorillas also do not usually show signs of pregnancy due to their large abdomens. And baby gorillas are significantly smaller than human babies.
Beyond the anecdote, the Columbus Zoo has celebrated the birth of this baby gorilla: “As the 34th gorilla born here since 1956, when the Columbus Zoo became the first zoo in the world to host the birth of a baby of gorilla, is an important part of our conservation work for these magnificent animals”, they have indicated on their social networks.
The zoo has announced that it will carry out DNA tests to determine the father. Sully lives in a troop led by the 39-year-old male Mac, which also includes two younger males Kamoli, 10, and JJ, 6.
Despite doubts with Sully, the zoo claims to know for sure the sex of the newcomer. “She is a girl. Our team confirmed this visually and with photographs that were also sent to a primate expert from another major zoological center.”
