The fifty-nine-year-old gorilla is the oldest living gorilla on record, and she’s a great grandmother several times over.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, Colo’s newest great-grandkid was born at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium on Wednesday to parents Macombo II (Mac) and Tabibu. The baby is a boy named JJ and is in good health.
The zoo celebrated the arrival of the precious primate by sharing a kiddie photo of JJ’s dad, Macombo II and his brother, who were the first zoo gorilla twins born in the Western hemisphere. Pictures of JJ have not been made available by the zoo, which does not want to interrupt the baby’s bonding time with mom.
JJ is the 32nd gorilla born at the Ohio zoo, and part of the facility’s famous gorilla family. Colo was born at the zoo almost 60 years ago, and went on to have several children of her own. Mac, JJ’s dad, is her grandson. The continuation of this family tree is obviously a great joy to the zoo.
“Every birth at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is special for us, and every birth of a critically endangered species is especially exciting, but to welcome a critically endangered gorilla into our family is one of the most extraordinary announcements we can make,” Tom Stalf, the zoo’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
JJ won’t make his public debut for several months, which allows him to bond with his family and grow up healthy and strong in the meanwhile.
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