Baby gorilla born after emergency C-section

  • 23/02/2016
Baby gorilla born after emergency C-section

A baby gorilla has been born in a rare emergency caesarean at a British zoo.

The female gorilla, which is yet to be named, was born weighing just over one kilogram.

She's being hand-reared round the clock by a team at Bristol Zoo Gardens, while her mother is recovering and being monitored closely.

The procedure has been carried out only a handful of times worldwide and it's a first for the zoo.

Senior curator of animals John Patridge says it wasn't a decision made lightly.

"The birth of any gorilla is a rare and exciting event but the birth of a baby gorilla by caesarean section is even more unusual," he says.

"It wasn't a decision that we took lightly. [Mother gorilla] Kera was becoming quite poorly and we needed to act fast in order to give the best possible treatment to mother and baby, and to avoid the possibility of losing the baby."

The gynaecologist who delivered the baby gorilla says while he's delivered hundreds of human babies by caesarean, this delivery was a career-first.

"This is probably one of the biggest achievements of my life and something I will certainly never forget," Professor David Cahill says.

Newshub.