Seattle Zoo Unable To Save Baby Gorilla

A 5-day-old gorilla died early Monday at the Woodland Park Zoo, setting back hopes for establishing a new genetic line in the limited family of captive western lowland gorillas.

A necropsy was planned to determine the cause of death.

The unnamed infant had been observed nursing, but may not have been getting enough milk. Keepers speculated the baby’s fat reserves - used to sustain infants until they become strong nursers - may have run out.

The baby was the first for its parents, Amanda and Congo, who both were caught in the wild. The birth last Wednesday was heralded as the start of a “Congo line” that would expand the limited gene pool for gorilla reproduction in the nation’s zoos. Under the 1973 Endangered Speces Act, gorillas are no longer taken from the wild for display.

Concerns were raised Sunday afternoon, when staff noticed the baby male seemed unusually quiet. On closer inspection, the infant appeared dehydrated and weak, so it was taken from its mother.

“Since the baby was inactive and its body temperature was low, we immediately began administering fluid therapy and necessary medications, as well as wrapping it in arm-water blankets,” senior veterinarian Janis Joslin said.

The 4-pound, 9-ounce baby’s condition appeared to stabilize, but it died about 3 a.m.

Amanda, 25, and Congo, 36, share quarters with a third gorilla, 10-year-old Jumoke, who is pregnant and expected to deliver her first baby in January.