Oh, baby! Woodland Park Zoo celebrates birth of baby gorilla

SEATTLE - It's a girl! Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating the birth of a baby gorilla. 

After an eight-to nine-month pregnancy, 24-year-old Nadiri gave birth on Jan. 29 The newborn is the second baby for Nadiri, and the first between her and dad, 21-year-old Kwame. 

Because Nadiri was partially human-raised as an infant, it takes more time for her maternal insticts to kick in. Zoo staff had to step in to care for the newborn because Nadiri hasn't picked her up or kept her warm enough on her first day of life. 

Nadiri has since picked up the baby for short periods, but has not shown an interest in nursing. Zoo staff are bottle-feeding the yet-to-be-named primate. 

"We will continue to provide hands-on care while keeping the baby in close proximity to Nadiri 24/7 and attempting to reintroduce her to mom," says Martin Ramirez, mammal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. Nadiri has visual, auditory and olfactory contact with her baby. "By doing short introduction sessions frequently throughout each day, we hope her maternal instinct will soon kick in."

That maternal instinct did kick in for her first-born, Yola, but it took several months. 

Newborn gorilla at Woodland Park Zoo (Photo credit: Woodland Park Zoo)

Baby gorilla weighed 4.9 pounds at birth, a healthy weight for newborn gorillas. 

The new mom and her group will remain in the off-view dens so mom can remain with her family, including daughter Yola. There may be days when other members of the group rotate in the public outdoor habitat.