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This October the Franklin Park Zoo/Zoo New England in Franklin has announced four new baby animals all born there. The gorilla is the most recent addition. He was born on Oct. 14.
His mother, a 39-year-old gorilla named Kiki, delivered the baby via C-section, due to complications in the days before the baby was born.
The baby gorilla weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces at birth - a typical newborn gorilla weigh 3-5 pounds, the zoo said
In addition to zoo veterinarians, colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine assisted with the birth.
HIPPO
About a week before the gorilla baby was born, the Franklin Zoo welcomed a baby pygmy hippopotamus. On Oct. 3, his mother, Cleopatra, gave birth to the 13-pound boy calf at the zoo - the first pygmy hippo ever born at Zoo New England.
The baby hippos birth was especially welcome news as the mother had delivered stillborn calves in 2018 and 2019.
TAPIRS
The twin Baird’s tapirs - which are deer-like animals -were born on Sept. 29 to mom Abby, zoo officials said.
Twins are extremely rare among tapirs. The mother had a boy and a girl. The twins are now being treated for health complications. On Oct. 6, zoo officials said the boy had contracted pneumonia.
For more information on how to see the animals, visit the zoo's website.
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