Gorilla mother, recovering from C-section, swaps babies at Seattle zoo

After one of the Woodland Park Zoo's two new baby gorillas had a rough start, the babies switched mothers - and are now healthy and well.

On May 18, mother Jamani gave birth to a son and on May 24 mother Olympia gave birth to a son via a cesarean section. In a news release, the zoo called that an extremely rare procedure on gorillas" that was "due to complications that indicated a non-productive labor."

The zoo intended to introduce Olympia to her baby the next day, but Jamani instead picked up the baby "and stepped in to care for both babies while Olympia recovered from the procedure and remained nearby."

As that was happening, Jamani's baby was not doing well and was given a medical evaluation by a series of specialists. That baby "stayed at the zoo's hospital under round-the-clock veterinary care for a couple days as he learned how to accept bottle feedings," according to the zoo, while Jamani kept caring for Olympia's baby.

Jamani's baby made "great strides in nursing, hydration, and strength" over the weekend and was discharged from the hospital. At that point, instead of being returned to Jamani, he was given to Olympia.

Through a spokesperson, Martin Ramirez, the zoo's curator of mammalogy, said the switch-up is not unprecedented.

"It's not unusual for there to be multiple babies in a gorilla troop," Ramirez said. "There are scenarios where a surrogate female will care for a baby when a mom isn't able or willing to."

He added: "Because of their social lifestyle, any gorilla will pick up an infant. In our case, our goal is to have healthy, social animals so it's not worrisome that each baby is with a different mom.

The babies will nurse for up to a year but will starting taking solid food by 6 months of age, according to Ramirez.

The gorillas still have access to their outdoor space, though it may be occasionally closed to guests so the big family gets some time and space.

The zoo offered no update in a blog post on where Nadaya, the father of both babies, was during all of this.

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