Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden
Since January 14, the public may visit the one and a half weeks old gorilla baby born on January 5. For the peace of the newborn and mother, no visitors were allowed in the Apes’ House in the last few days. Even among the staff of the Zoo, only designated workers could enter the animal house. Both the baby and mother are healthy, and the little one is developing well. Hence, there are no obstacles to reopening the Apes’ House.
Now the public can also visit the youngest resident of our Zoo. Until now, only their keepers and veterinarians could see the baby, because for the peace of the mother and her young, the Apes’ House was closed to date. Since the baby is developing properly and the nine-year-old N’Yaounda proved to be an excellent mother, limiting visitation is no longer justified.
According to the keepers, the gorillas’ behavior did not change significantly. The dominant male of the gorilla family, the thirty-year-old Golo, and the other ten-year-old male Ebobo are still protecting the mother and her baby from the other, ocassionally too curious members of the group. In this respect, Golo is a lot more active, so it is possible that after reopening the Apes’ House, the dominant male will spend a good deal of time near the glass wall to protect their territory from the visitors. Of course, the public will have to use some effort to spot the little one in the spacious animal house, because N’Yaounde is hugging the baby close almost all the time.
Although the public now is allowed in the Apes’ House, the sudden light might disturb the animals. Hence, we kindly request our visitors coming to see the gorillas to pay special attention to our rule, in effect at all times, not to use flash when taking pictures of the animals.
