A western lowland gorilla has given birth at a south-west England zoo after receiving a fertility drug normally used in humans, zoo officials said on Friday.
Salome, a western lowland gorilla, gave birth to a baby on the grounds of Bristol Zoo in south-west England after she was given a fertility drug normally only used in humans, zoo officials said. . The gorilla calf was born, whose name has not yet been identified and whose sex has not yet been identified.
A western lowland gorilla has given birth at a south-west England zoo after receiving a fertility drug normally used in humans, zoo officials said on Friday.
The gorilla calf was born on the grounds of Bristol Zoo on December 15, the zoo’s deputy director, Dr Bryan Carroll, said.
The newborn, whose name has not been identified, has begun to nurse and is doing well, the zoo’s primate expert Mel Gage said. His sex is yet to be determined.
He is the second baby for Salomé, a 30-year-old mother who gave birth for the first time almost 20 years ago.
“The new baby is unbelievably cute and Salome is being a very caring mother and her father Jock is being very protective of her family group; we couldn’t have expected more,” Gage said.
Vets had diagnosed Salome with decreased ovarian reserve, meaning she wasn’t producing eggs, Carroll said.
After consulting gynecologist David Hill, a senior lecturer at the University of Bristol, zoo veterinarians gave Salome a fertility drug called clomiphene to stimulate ovulation, Carroll said.
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Salomé became pregnant three months after first receiving the treatments, she said.
“Female gorillas, like their human counterparts, find it more difficult to conceive as they get older, so zoos could now help some of their major breeders,” Caroll said. “Being able to treat female gorillas with human fertility drugs is potentially a very important advance.”
Carroll said the treatment was likely to be replicated around the world.
The rare western lowland gorilla is found in the tropical forests of West Africa, from southern Nigeria to the Congo River. In the wild, gorillas are threatened by habitat destruction and the illegal bushmeat trade.
The gorillas at Bristol Zoo Gardens are part of a captive breeding campaign.
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