Baby gorilla Jameela ‘incredibly healthy,’ slowly integrating into gorilla troop at new zoo

Jameela, the first gorilla born by Cesarean section at the Fort Worth Zoo, is slowly integrating into the gorilla troop at her new facility, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announced Thursday.

In a video update on X, animal curator Elena Less described the infant gorilla as strong and “incredibly healthy.”

“We are keeping her next to the gorilla group at all times,” Less said.

Right now Jameela is separated from the others by a mesh panel, but zookeepers are working with the gorillas to fully integrate her into the group. They are feeding Jameela next to surrogate mother Fredrika and training Freddy’s surrogate son Kayembe in calm behaviors.

Jameela’s first introduction to Freddy and other members of the troop lasted around two hours, and Freddy picked Jameela up within seconds, zoo staff said last week on X. The time ended when Kayembe got “a little too rambunctious,” but the introduction was still considered a success.

The keepers are training Kayembe to give Jameela gentle touches through the barrier, Less said in the video. They are taking the integration process slowly to make sure Freddy has time to bond with the infant.

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Keepers are carrying Jameela on their back to prepare her for how Freddy carries her babies.

“We are just getting everyone ready and bonded for the next time we put her in the crib,” Less said.

Jameela has been at the Cleveland zoo since late March. She was born several weeks premature via emergency C-section at the Fort Worth Zoo on Jan. 5, but her birth mother failed to show any interest in caring for her. After two failed attempts to find a surrogate mother among the other females in the Fort Worth gorilla troop, the staff made the difficult decision to send the two-and-a-half-month-old gorilla elsewhere.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was chosen because it has had previous success with surrogacy.