Addition to the family: Baby gorilla born at ABQ BioPark Zoo

Welcome to the world, baby!

Nia Lewa, a 21-year-old member of the endangered western lowland gorilla species, gave birth to her firstborn at 11:30 p.m. Saturday at the ABQ BioPark Zoo.

The baby joins Mashika as the next generation in the troop of western lowland gorillas, a critically endangered species. Samantha, also a gorilla, gave birth to Mashika in August 2022.

“Mashika, the 2-year-old gorilla … has been really curious and keeps going over to see the baby,” said Lynn Tupa, ABQ BioPark Zoo manager, in a recorded interview provided by the city of Albuquerque. “Nia has been really tolerant, and if Mashika gets too close, she just kind of nudges her away, but the others know that the baby’s there. Kojo, the dad, will come over and check and just make sure that everything is OK. ... Everybody is nice and calm and it’s a perfect family out there.”

The baby’s gender is unknown and probably won’t be known to zoo staff for a couple of weeks.

“Right now, all we care about is that the baby is healthy, it’s nursing and it’s alert, and that’s what the staff are seeing so far,” Tupa said.

Nia Lewa and her baby have access to their outdoor habitats and zoo guests should be prepared for the Ape Walk to be intermittently closed to allow for privacy and a quiet environment while baby and mom bond, according to a ABQ BioPark news release.

“It was really thrilling and fun to watch a critically endangered species giving birth,” Tupa said. “It went well. She’s a great mom. She immediately was holding the baby and just trying to get the handle of being a new mom and wasn’t quite sure how to hold it, but over the last couple days she’s been doing amazing.”

Zoo staff spent months training Nia Lewa to be a mom and to respond if the baby needed supplemental food or urgent medical care. The training included using a small plush gorilla toy to teach Nia Lewa how to hold the baby in a position in which staff could safely bottle feed if necessary, according to the news release. Nia Lewa also was trained to voluntarily participate in weekly ultrasound imaging sessions so veterinarians could monitor the growth of the baby.

Nia Lewa joined the ABQ BioPark from Toledo Zoo in 2019 as part of the Species Survival Plan recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, according to the news release. The baby’s father, Kojo, a 22-year-old silverback gorilla, joined the ABQ BioPark in early 2021, also as an SSP recommendation by the AZA.

The successful birth is exciting news for the long-term preservation of the critically endangered western lowland gorilla species.

“It’s showing that every birth is needed for any endangered species, and we have some really good expertise with gorillas,” Tupa said. “And by having successful births here, we’re helping the overall population in an AZA accredited facility with this birth.”