Baby Gorilla Is a Girl, National Zoo Says

It's a girl! The baby gorilla born last month at the National Zoo is female. That was not acertained until three weeks after the birth, according to a zoo spokeswoman.

In the initial period after the Jan. 10 birth, observers saw the infant's mother, Mandara, 26, clutching her offspring to her chest or belly with a hairy arm that protected the newborn and screened her from view.

Nevertheless, a few days after the birth, staff members got a "quick peek" at the infant, said Sarah Taylor, a zoo spokeswoman.

Based on that glimpse, keepers leaned toward the belief that the first gorilla born at the zoo since 2001 was female, Taylor said. But, she said, recognizing that their glance was fleeting, they "weren't convinced."

Then, she said, a zoo photographer snapped a close-up during one of the infant's rare unshielded moments.

Taken together, the two pieces of evidence enabled zoo specialists to conclude that the new resident of the Great Ape House was indeed a female.

The determination was made Feb. 4.

Many at the zoo had hoped for a girl. A zoo specialist has said that the majority of gorillas born in captivity are males.

The infant, which according to Taylor has been a big hit with zoo visitors, has not been named.

But the animal has been thriving.

"She's doing great," Taylor said. She has begun moving a bit more, sometimes riding on her mother's back.

The additional accessibility has given the zoo's specialists no reason to change their sex judgment.

Her birth has been described as significant by zoo officials because the western lowland gorilla is listed as critically endangered. Her father, Baraka, 16, is another member of the zoo's group of western lowland gorillas.

The group includes three of the infant's siblings, Kigali, Kwame and Kojo.

They are on exhibit daily from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Other births of high-profile animals are also possible at the zoo this year.

A male red panda, who recently arrived at the zoo, was introduced this month to the zoo's female red panda. The male immediately "exhibited breeding behavior," according to the zoo's Web site.

In addition, the zoo's female giant panda, Mei Xiang, has been artificially inseminated.