"Sekani is a 33-year-old gorilla in our troop. She's been an excellent mom before. She's never had any complications. She’s raised all of her other babies, so we were really optimistic that this was going to go well,” said Associate Veterinarian Sarah Cannizzo.
Erwin’s consulted with the zoo for years. But while she’s delivered hundreds of human babies, she’d never operated on a primate.Within two days, the women assembled a volunteer medical team of both human and animal experts to fill an operating room on zoo property.After administering steroids to help strengthen the baby's lungs, they put Sekani under anesthesia before beginning a procedure that Erwin said was shockingly familiar.
A neonatologist was also on-site to help zoo staff stabilize the baby, who was delivered about a month early, and ensure her lungs were strong enough to survive. “It's a huge responsibility. I love it but it's a huge responsibility. They are critically endangered in the wild, so every birth matters. Every birth counts,” she said.