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Baby Jameela may have found her new mother! A heartwarming video shared by the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo captures the moment when a surrogate mother gorilla named Freddy, also known as Fredrika, swiftly scoops up Jameela from her nest in the gorilla exhibit.
Laura Klutts, associate animal curator at the Cleveland zoo, expressed relief, saying, “Freddy immediately went in and picked her up. It was the biggest sigh of relief. That was the first time Jameela was able to be picked up properly by a female gorilla.”
Angie Holmes, the primary gorilla keeper at the Fort Worth Zoo, was moved to tears witnessing the successful interaction, saying, “To see what that looks like in a successful way, it brought tears to my eyes.”
Jameela was born on January 5 via a groundbreaking emergency C-section after her mother Sekani developed preeclampsia. Unfortunately, Sekani never bonded with her premature baby.
Despite two unsuccessful attempts to train other females in the troop at the Fort Worth Zoo to be surrogate mothers, Jameela didn’t find a match there.
As a result, Jameela was transferred to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, renowned for its expertise in gorilla research, care, and management. With high hopes, she was moved via private plane last week to find her surrogate mother.
The Cleveland zoo currently houses seven gorillas in its troop, including a silverback, four adult females, and a couple of infant gorillas.