It's A Boy! Pittsburgh Zoo Holds Gender Reveal Party For Baby Gorilla

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- You've heard of gender reveal parties for human babies, but in the past two months we've seen reveal parties for three popular local non-humans, too.

Last month, it was the African Penguins at the National Aviary who turned out to be a boy and a girl. On Wednesday, dozens of fans waited to find out the gender of the new Western Lowland gorilla at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium.

Zookeepers set up a large box in the gorilla habitat, wrapped in yellow paper. After a few minutes two adult gorillas wandered over, examined the box, and then, human and gorilla curiosity building, tore into it. Inside they discovered blue tissue and crepe paper, indicating that the new gorilla is a boy to the cheers of the humans watching.

The baby, yet to be named, joins his mother Moka, his father, who was the first-ever gorilla born at the Pittsburgh Zoo, and a 5-year-old brother, named Ivan, who is already a little bit jealous.

"He's very put out," Assistant Mammal Curator Karen Vacco said. "But mother Moka is doing a good job. (Ivan) wants to sniff (the baby), he wants to touch it. She's letting him, but she'll take her hand and push him away when it's enough. He's being a little bit of a brat but they're all taking it in stride!"

Keepers are pleased at the progress of the baby gorilla, who could be seen being toted around the enclosure by mother Moka while reporters interviewed Vacco.

She says Moka has allowed them to get close enough to evaluate the baby's health.

"We don't take the baby away physically and check it," explained Vacco.

But the keepers are watching its every move.

"Every time the baby goes to the bathroom we mark it down. Every time the baby nurses we mark it down," she said.

Nursing is something they're concerned about, since Moka wasn't physically able to feed Ivan, and he had to be hand-raised by keepers before he was reintroduced to the troop.

"We're being hyper-focused on this baby," said Vacco. "We're being very careful and making sure this baby is doing great."

All the way down to monitoring the outside temperature, which is why you might not necessarily see the new baby if you visit the exhibit right now.

"Today, it's in the 60s, they might only be out for an hour and then we're going to take them back in. It's a little chilly," said Vacco. "So, on and off for the next couple of weeks you might get lucky seeing the baby but you might not."

Everyone is rooting for this baby to survive and thrive. Western Lowland gorillas are critically endangered, with only 100,000 left in the wild.

"Each and every gorilla here and each and every birth brings awareness to the plight of the gorillas in the wild," said Vacco. "I look at these guys as ambassadors to their wild counterparts so everyone who comes here sees how fabulous they are and wants to do more for them and protect them."

Since the shrinking of their wild habitat is a big part of why they're endangered, the zoo says reducing your carbon footprint is a big help. The zoo's website has more ideas of things you can do to protect them.