ATLANTA — Atlanta has its newest resident: a newborn western lowland gorilla.
Kudzoo, 22, gave birth to a female on Sept. 18. 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.
“We’re delighted to welcome a new member to the gorilla families of The Ford African Rain Forest. This birth is more than another milestone in the continuing legacy of the gorilla program at Zoo Atlanta,” said Raymond B. King, President and CEO. “Kudzoo’s baby is the newest ambassador for a species that ranks among our planet’s most endangered wildlife.”
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The western lowland gorilla is classified as critically endangered. 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.
Kudzoo’s newborn is the 23rd gorilla born at Zoo Atlanta since the opening of the landmark Ford African Rain Forest in 1988.
Cox Media Group
