Adorable baby gorilla gets round-the-clock care from keepers at England zoo
Zookeepers hand-rear baby gorilla
Zookeepers give baby gorilla 24/7 care after mother struggled to feed him.
BRISTOL, England - An adorable infant western lowland gorilla is being given 24/7 care by keepers at Bristol Zoo and Gardens in England, after his mother struggled to feed him.
The two-month-old baby was not getting enough milk from his mom, Kala, to survive, so a small team of experienced keepers have been bottle-feeding him day and night, the zoo said.
According to the zoo, the infant is being looked after in the Gorilla House, and his mother and the other gorillas get to see him, smell him, and be near him regularly to ensure he continues to be accepted as a member of the family.
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He will continue to be bottle-fed for the next four months, and it is hoped that he will then be ready to return to the rest of the group.
“Hand-rearing any animal is not a decision we take lightly, as our preference is always for an animal to be reared naturally by its own mother,” said Bristol Zoo mammals curator Lynsey Bugg.
“Sadly this doesn’t always happen, and in this instance, we decided that it was in the baby gorilla’s best interests for us to hand-rear him to ensure he had the best chance of survival,” Bugg added.