Como Zoo's Infant Gorilla Dies

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Zookeepers from around the world are mourning the death of an infant gorilla at the Como Zoo in St. Paul.

The baby was born last Wednesday, and was the first baby for the 12-year-old gorilla Alice.

Zoo officials said the 4-pound baby gorilla appeared to be doing well on Saturday, demonstrating a strong grip and vocalizing.

"We all were very excited about this birth being the first gorilla birth that we've had in 55 years," said Allison Jungheim, the zoo's senior keeper. "This has probably been my saddest day at the zoo."

Pictures of Alice and son were soon tweeted across the globe, making this birth an international story.

But by Sunday, it was evident that the baby's health was weakening.

Zookeepers were initializing the intervention process when Alice set her baby down, allowing the workers to retrieve him without the need for immobilizing the mother.

They worked to resuscitate the baby, but they were not successful.

"It is always difficult to lose a young one but we fully understand the significance of this particular birth for Como Zoo and are very sorry for your loss," said Dr. Kristen Lukas, director of conservation and science at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and chair of the Gorilla Species Survival Plan. "The entire Gorilla SSP shares the Como Zoo's heartbreak over this sad event."

Jungheim and the entire zoo community are morning the death of the infant gorilla.

"Alice was monitored 24 hours a day after giving birth," Jungheim said. "You're watching for signs of good maternal care--that she's holding the baby, that she's holding the baby correctly, that she's nursing the baby. We did see signs of nursing [but] something must not have clicked correctly."

Primate lovers rushed to Como Zoo to see how the family of gorillas is coping.

"It's very sad," said Lisa Krasso, "That poor momma now doesn't have a baby."

Zoo officials said that their preliminary hypothesis is that the baby died as a result of complications with food intake.

The gorilla's father was 29-year-old Schroeder, who has been at the Como Zoo since 1991.

Jungheim said that although this is an unfortunate situation, infant gorillas still have a better mortality rate when born in captivity.

"Since 1980, gorilla mortality in captivity is 26 percent for males, 20 percent for females," she said. "In the wild, for Western lowland gorillas, it's a 42 percent mortality."

Now Como's keepers will concentrate on Dara, another first-time mother who could give birth in the middle of December.

"I don't think we would really change anything," Jungheim said. "We may tweak a couple of things, but it all depends on how Dara does with the birth and delivery ... and how she cares for the baby ."

Alice is being cared for in a private area of the zoo. She is resting and eating.

A necropsy, or animal autopsy, will be done on the infant gorilla to determine the exact cause of death.