Two new baby gorillas will be born at Como Zoo

Sippy cups and banana bibs may be in order this fall at the Gorilla Forest at Como Park Zoo in St. Paul, where two gorillas are expected to give birth in the next several weeks.

Zookeepers said that Alice, age 12, and Dara, age 11, each have tested positive for pregnancy. Alice likely will have her baby sometime before December, while Dara's due date is thought to be from mid-December through the end of January.
It's cause for celebration at the zoo, which has never before seen gorilla births in the 55 years it has cared for the large primates. Como had a female gorilla in the 1960s, but it was never bred.
"It's a really exciting thing for us," said Allison Jungheim, senior zookeeper at Como.
The father for both is the Como Zoo's Big Ape on Campus, 28-year-old Schroeder, a zoo resident of 23 years.
Last year he was forced to share some of his space with six new gorillas, including Alice — who was said to have had an immediate crush on the big monkey — and Dara, considered something of a princess, who took a bit longer to warm up.
The new gorillas were moved to Como to inhabit the zoo's new $11 million Gorilla Forest exhibit, the largest all-mesh gorilla enclosure in North America. Although born in the United States, all are descended from gorillas in tropical west Africa.
Both of the expectant mothers were taken off birth control at the start of the year, Jungheim said, under breeding guidelines from the Gorilla Species Survival Plan, which helps manage gorilla populations in zoos across the country.
Zookeepers needed three pregnancy tests — the same as those used by humans — to confirm that the young ladies were expecting, although Jungheim said that baby bumps fueled suspicions.
Meanwhile, Schroeder has gained about 15 pounds (he now weighs in at 540) after hanging around the girls and getting dibs on their leftovers, Jungheim said.
For the record, Alice weighs 212 pounds and Dara weighs 180.
Gorilla gestation takes about eight months, and baby gorillas weigh between four and five pounds at birth. About 4 in 10 die in the first several months, which means that zookeepers will be keeping a close eye on them.
Como's other gorillas are Nne (pronounced E-nee), a 26-year-old female, and the three bachelors — Jabir, Samson and Virgil, all 15 — who created some excitement this summer when they fled the exhibit's replica jungle through an unlatched door and were found hanging out in a secured hallway nearby.
The bachelors are kept together for now but could be recommended for breeding at some point, Jungheim said.
Once the babies are born, bonding with the moms becomes important — meaning it will be a while before they will make their first public appearance. But it's likely they will remain at Como for at least six to eight years.
"We'll get to watch them grow up," Jungheim said.
Kevin Duchschere • 651-925-5035