Zoo Workers Imitate Mother Gorilla To Save Adorable Baby

After Gladys’ mother rejected her, the Cincinnati Zoo helped the young gorilla find a new family.

1. This is Gladys.

Image by David Jenike / AP

2. She was born on Jan. 29 at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.

Image by Christian Rodriguez / AP

3. The baby gorilla was ignored by her mother, so zoo workers had to feed and care for her themselves.

Image by Christian Rodriguez / AP

4. It was eventually decided she would be introduced to a new troop of gorillas at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Image by Christian Rodriguez / AP

5. According to the AP, zoo officials are working in shifts to provide 24-hour surrogate-mother care before introducing Gladys to two female gorillas.

Image by David Jenike / AP

6. Here, Cincinnati’s Primate Center Team Leader Ron Evans stretches Gladys the way her mother would.

Image by David Jenike / AP

7. Evans and his team grunt, wear all black, and will eventually wear hairy vests and move around on all-fours, carrying Gladys on their backs.

Image by David Jenike / AP

8. “Whatever a gorilla mom would do with her baby is what we have to do with this baby,” Evans says. “Everything that we can do … Obviously, I’m not producing milk.”

Image by David Jenike / AP

[source]