![]() Zoo Atlanta is the headquarters of the Great Ape Heart Project, the world’s first coordinated effort to understand, diagnose, and treat cardiac disease across all four great ape taxa. Research published by Zoo Atlanta staff has resulted in more than 100 scientific papers on gorilla behavior, biology, reproduction and care. Bean Award for Significant Achievement from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) for its long-term commitment to the species. In 2011, the 50th anniversary year of its gorilla program, Zoo Atlanta earned the distinguished Edward H. Twenty-three gorillas have been born at Zoo Atlanta since the opening of the landmark Ford African Rain Forest in 1988, with all infants having been mother-reared or reared by a gorilla surrogate. The arrival of Zoo Atlanta’s most famous great ape resident, the late Willie B., in 1961, evolved into what is today a nationally-recognized program for the care and behavioral study of critically endangered western lowland gorillas. Gavin Johnson Public Relations and Communications SpecialistĤ04.624.5980 – the gorilla program at Zoo Atlanta Zoo Members and guests should be on the lookout for the tiny new arrival and her mother in their habitat in The Ford African Rain Forest, weather permitting. The Zoo is also home to three of the world’s oldest gorillas – the newborn’s paternal grandmother, Shamba, 57 maternal grandmother, Choomba, 53 and 55-year-old Ozzie, the oldest living male gorilla in the world – and has become a leader in the emerging field of geriatric gorilla care. Now home to 21 individuals, Zoo Atlanta houses one of the largest populations of gorillas in North America. The Zoo and the Fossey Fund celebrated 20 years of partnership in 2015. Zoo Atlanta also serves as the headquarters of its primary partner in gorilla conservation, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, and the Zoo provides pro-bono space and resources to support the Fossey Fund’s work in the field for gorillas and their habitats in Africa. Zoo Atlanta is the headquarters of the Great Ape Heart Project, the world’s first effort to understand, diagnose, and treat cardiac disease across all four great ape taxa: gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos. ![]() Research by Zoo Atlanta staff has influenced industry-wide improvements in the care of gorillas in zoos, as well as enhanced understanding of gorilla biology, with more than 100 published papers on maternal care, reproduction, social behavior and cognition. Bean Award for Significant Achievement from AZA for its long-term commitment to western lowland gorillas and training advancements for the species. In 2011, the 50th anniversary year of its gorilla program, Zoo Atlanta received the prestigious Edward H. Kudzoo’s newborn is the 23rd gorilla born at Zoo Atlanta since the opening of the landmark Ford African Rain Forest in 1988. Populations living within North American zoos are overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Gorilla Species Survival Plan® (SSP), which seeks to maintain a self-sustaining, genetically diverse gorilla population for future generations, and in which Zoo Atlanta is an active partner. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), over a 25-year period, the combined threats of poaching, illegal hunting for the bushmeat trade, habitat loss and emerging diseases such as Ebola have reduced western lowland gorilla populations by 60 percent, with declines of as much as 90 percent in some parts of their range in western Africa. The western lowland gorilla is classified as critically endangered. “Kudzoo’s baby is the newest ambassador for a species that ranks among our planet’s most endangered wildlife.” This birth is more than another milestone in the continuing legacy of the gorilla program at Zoo Atlanta,” said Raymond B. “We’re delighted to welcome a new member to the gorilla families of The Ford African Rain Forest. The newborn is the third offspring of Kudzoo and 27-year-old silverback Taz and is a granddaughter of Kudzoo’s famous father, the late Willie B. ATLANTA – Septem– Kudzoo, a 22-year-old western lowland gorilla, gave birth to a female infant during the afternoon of September 18, 2016. ![]()
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