Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute on Reels

For the first time in five years, primate staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) are celebrating the birth of a western lowland gorilla—a critically endangered species. It was born between midnight and 6:15 a.m. on May 27 to 20-year-old mother Calaya and 31-year-old father Baraka. They bred in September 2022 following a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Spec