LOUISVILLE, Ky. — If you visit the Louisville Zoo, you can now see the baby gorilla that was rejected by its birth mother in Washington state and its new foster mom.
Abeo (pronounced ah-BAY-oh), a 1.5-month-old male Western Lowland gorilla, was born at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle to first-time mom Akenji. Unfortunately, Akenji was unable to bond with her newborn and a foster arrangement afterwards was also unsuccessful.
Louisville's own Kweli, a 40-year-old female gorilla, was chosen over every other gorilla in the country to foster infant gorilla Abeo, largely due to her successful experience fostering Kindi, the Zoo’s now 8-year-old female gorilla, who was orphaned shortly after birth.
“Kweli has been an exemplary foster mom, first with Kindi and now with Abeo,” said Louisville Zoo Director Dan Maloney. “We are incredibly proud of Kweli’s care and her attentiveness. Like our visitors, we are looking forward to watching Abeo grow and thrive with the family troop at Gorilla Forest.”
Martin Ramirez, Interim Senior Director of Animal Care at Woodland Park Zoo, said they are thankful Abeo is doing so well at the Louisville Zoo.
“All of us at Woodland Park Zoo are celebrating that baby Abeo is now in the arms of gorilla Kweli. This is how it should be for a baby gorilla—being in the direct care of a gorilla and being socialized with a family of gorillas,” Ramirez said. “Our zoo family is so grateful to Louisville Zoo and their dedicated gorilla experts. All the way from the Pacific Northwest, our zoo family and community will continue to enjoy watching Abeo grow to be a confident and secure gorilla.”
For over a month, the Gorilla Forest team has provided round-the-clock care for Abeo, including feeding and socializing him using vocal and behavioral cues similar to those of a gorilla mother.
After meeting key milestones, including responding to behavioral cues and navigating the habitat, Abeo was introduced to Kweli through closely monitored bonding.
Over the coming weeks, Abeo and Kweli will be integrated with the rest of the gorilla troop that includes silverback Casey (42 years old), and adult females Paki (35 years old) and Patty (11 years old), and sub-adult female Kindi (8 years old). The group will rotate on exhibit with bachelor gorillas Bengati, Jelani, Cecil and Kicho.
For updates on Abeo's progress, click here.
