@zoopraha On Tuesday, January 2nd, eight minutes past nine in the evening, a 10-year-old female lowland gorilla named Duni gave birth to her first baby. The legendary Moja, the first gorilla born in the Czech Republic, thus became a grandmother, and the popular Richard became a great-grandfather. The baby is doing well and started nursing from its mother's milk during the night. Its gender is not yet known.
"We rejoice in the first gorilla baby born in the Dja Reserve pavilion," said Miroslav Bobek, the director of Prague Zoo. "Our joy is even greater because it continues the story of the famous Moja. The birth of the baby resulted from the difficult decision to divide the existing gorilla group and bring in a new male. Thanks to this, we acquired Moja's daughter Duni in Prague, and we can breed gorillas."
Yesterday, 26-year-old Kisumu became a father for the first time. Dunia's grandmother, 30-year-old Kijivu, is expected to give birth approximately in a quarter of a year.
"The birth was fast, and although the female Duni is a first-time mother, she handled everything without any problems. We observed the first contractions around a quarter to nine in the evening, and less than an hour later, the baby was born," described Pavel Brandl, the curator of mammals at Prague Zoo. "During and after the birth, the other members of the group paid little attention to Duni. The only one who curiously observed the arrival of the new baby was a seven-year-old male, Ajabu – the most recent gorilla baby born at Prague Zoo until now."
Today, on Wednesday, January 3rd, the Dja Reserve will remain closed to the public. It is expected to reopen from Thursday, with a strict prohibition on using cameras and camcorders in front of the gorilla exhibit. This is because Kisumu could be provoked to aggressive behavior by their lenses, posing a risk to the newborn in the group's restlessness.
"I believe that the gorilla baby will attract tens of thousands of visitors to the recently built Dja Reserve pavilion and that its popularity will contribute to the protection of gorillas in Africa," said Deputy Mayor for the Environment Jana Komrsková. She reminded that the City Council decided last year to increase the contribution to biodiversity protection from 5 to 8 CZK from each entry to Prague Zoo. "These funds finance, among other things, the acclaimed project 'Wandering Bus,' which leads Cameroonian children to nature conservation, or some activities of the guardians of the Dja Biosphere Reserve. By the way, the local children are familiar with our Prague gorillas because the book of fairy tales in which they appear was published not only in French but also in the Badjoué dialect."
Photos by Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo.
