One of the newest primates is only the second gorilla born in Zoo’s history. Bruno, a male western lowland gorilla, was born early Sunday morning, Nov. 6, 2022, to parents Gracie and Elmo. His older brother, Gus, was the first gorilla born at the Zoo in 2015.
Bruno is staying close to his mother as he meets other troop members and gets acclimated to his surroundings in the Zoo’s World of Primates habitat. The pair continues to bond but is also fully integrated into the troop, mimicking family dynamics in the wild. He can be seen in both indoor or outdoor areas of the habitat at various times during the day, which will be dictated by weather conditions and his activity level.
The Zoo is incredibly proud to share this conservation success with the community. Western lowland gorillas are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to hunting and disease. Gorillas also have an alarmingly low reproductive rate (at an observed rate of 3 percent population increase), so even if there was a drastic decline in hunting and disease, it could take at least 75 years for population recovery to occur in optimistic scenarios. The Zoo participates in a cooperative breeding program for gorillas that maintains a healthy, self-sustaining population of the vulnerable species to help prevent their extinction.