Sad news from Munich’s Hellabrunn Zoo: After a little gorilla baby was born there on the night of December 31, the zoo had to put the young animal to sleep. The reason given by the zoo was that neither the mother nor the other animals had accepted the young gorilla.
The keepers had already discovered the young female at the zoo on New Year’s Eve and shortly afterwards realized that the mother must have been 35-year-old Neema. However, the female gorilla did not appear to be interested in her cub, according to the zoo. Neema’s pregnancy had not been previously noticed.
Because the gorilla baby subsequently suffered from severe hypothermia and was very weak, several experts from veterinary medicine, care, management and the veterinary authority decided to redeem the newborn. The general condition of the animal had also previously deteriorated.
The zoo suspects that the gorilla group could have rejected the young animal for health reasons: “It is known from nature that wild animals recognize very early on whether their offspring are healthy and thus rearing them has a chance of success,” said the zoological director Carsten Zehrer. “This behavior, which is harsh from a human point of view, secures important energy resources for the mother animal in the wild, which would be used up if rearing was unsuccessful.”
In this case, the gorilla baby is said to have had a bleeding in the head. In addition, it had an advanced navel infection, according to the zoo.
