Zoo Declares 'It's a Girl', of Baby Lowland Gorilla

Lincoln Park Zoo officials finally confirmed this week that their newest addition, a western lowland gorilla born in mid-October, is indeed a girl. She is named Patty.

It took staff several weeks to verify Patty's sex, they said, because her mother, Bana, has been cradling her so closely and carefully. Bana, whose firstborn gorilla died last fall at just nine days old, took to motherhood instantly, experts said. 

“Bana is being a really great mom," Maureen Leahy, curator of primates at the zoo, said in a news release. "She is doing exactly what we hoped she would do which is tenderly cuddle, nurse and care for her baby. There has been no reason for animal care staff to handle the baby so we’ve just had to wait patiently for Bana to give us a close look at the infant.” 

Get more Lincoln Park stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone with our free newsletter. Fast signup here.

Zoo officials christened her with the name, Patty, in honor of Patty Meyers, mother of Sally Meyers Kovler and mother-in-law of Jonathan Kovler, a Lincoln Park Zoo life trustee.

“The Kovler family is a long-standing and exceptionally generous supporter of Lincoln Park Zoo and its animals and facilities," said the zoo's president, Kevin Bell.  

The zoo is renowned for its scientific work with gorillas using computer touchscreens to communicate with apes to gain a better understanding about how they process information. It is the only place in the world conducting touchscreen studies like these with both gorillas and chimpanzees, according to the news release.

Interestingly, staff members have noticed one major behavioral change in Bana since becoming a new mom—she now wants to engage with the zoo’s animal behavior and cognition scientists; something she never seemed interested in before. 

“Before having Patty, Bana showed little interest in the computers, but recently she has started voluntarily engaging and seems interested to participate," Leahy said. "It’s exciting. It is also common for adult gorilla females with a new infant to start elevating their status within the social hierarchy, and I think Bana is doing just that."

Leahy went on to say Bana has been more confident about approaching researchers rather than deferring to more dominant gorillas. 

"As for young Patty ..." Bell said, in a statement on the Zoo's Facebook page. "She continues to grow and change every day. Caregivers and zoo scientists steadily monitor her and the rest of the group."

The gorilla family can be seen daily from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Regenstein Center for African Apes. Each day at 1:30 p.m., the gorillas participate in a training or computer cognition session which members of the public can observe. Visit the zoo's website for more information about this unique opportunity to observe animal care and science in action. 

Follow us on Facebook!