For years, gorillas were considered males – until the animal had offspring

confusion
Zoo thinks gorilla is a male – until “he” has offspring

For years, the gorilla Sully was thought to be a male. The animal refuted this in an impressive way – by suddenly one day holding a baby in its arms.

The joy at the Columbus Zoo in the US state of Ohio was of course great when a new baby gorilla was born. However, the surprise of the animal keepers was even greater. Until then, everyone had assumed that the animal that gave birth to the offspring was a male.

Gorilla Sully refuted this assumption in a very clear way. Since 2019, the animal lived with his mother at the zoo. That it was actually a female gorilla only became clear when one day Sully suddenly held a cub in her arms. The eight-year-old animal also showed no signs of pregnancy, the zoo said. However, this is not unusual for gorillas either.

The sex of gorillas is difficult to determine

In any case, it does not seem trivial to determine the sex of primates. “Up until the age of eight, males and females are about the same size and have no prominent reproductive organs,” Columbus Zoo said in a statement. Differences between the sexes can only be clearly identified with increasing age. Then the males develop their famous silverbacks – but only when they are twelve years old.

The Columbus Zoo was the first zoo in the world to give birth to a baby gorilla in 1956. The youngest offspring is the 34th gorilla cub to be born at the zoo. Sully was also born there. The zoo said the mother and baby are doing well. Both are given time to get used to each other. The newcomer is said to be a female – as far as that can be seen with the naked eye and through photographs.

Source: Columbus Zoo

Watch the video: Visitors to a zoo in the Chinese province of Hebei film a rare sight. In the background of a gorilla enclosure, an upright creature suddenly appears and leaves zoo visitors wondering: is it a human or a monkey?