Baby Gorilla Goes Outside, Meets Troop
A baby gorilla that was nursed back to health by a team of humans was back outside today with her troop, two weeks after being born by a rare C-section at the San Diego Zoo.
The unnamed baby girl held on tightly to her mom, 18-year-old Imani, as she toured the jungle-like exhibit - a departure from the sterile intensive care unit where she battled a collapsed lung and pneumonia just days earlier.
Learn more about the baby gorilla's health challenges.
Imani cradled the baby in her arms as she foraged for greens. She then settled into a warm alcove to nurse, gently stroking the baby's head with her finger as a human mother might.
Learn how baby gorillas are just like baby humans, kind of.
The other gorillas in the troop - an adult male, three adult females, and two young males - watched from afar at first. Then one gorilla, 2-year-old Monroe, came up close for a proper introduction.
The baby was born March 12 by C-section after Imani spent 12 hours in labor - a normal stint for humans but a rarity for gorillas. She was nursed back to health by a team of veterinarians and human neonatologists before finally meeting her mother March 24.