News Archive

Family dynamics and relationships can be complicated, even among gorillas. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Great Ape House is home to two groups—called troops—of western lowland gorillas. When deciding to introduce gorillas into a troop, animal care staff carefully consider each individual’s age...

Primate keeper Melba Brown trained the Zoo’s pregnant western lowland gorilla, Calaya, to participate in ultrasounds.

When it comes to caring for babies at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, it takes a village. For western lowland gorilla Calaya, her village of support is the great ape animal care team and her primary keeper, Melba Brown. Every day, keepers use positive reinforcement training to teach the gorillas...

Everyone likes to have a cozy place to sleep. Western lowland gorillas, however, rarely sleep in the same bed twice. With the exception of young infants, each gorilla in a troop constructs his or her own nest. Gorillas forage where resources are available, so they are often on the move, leaving...

Western lowland gorilla Calaya recently entered her second trimester of pregnancy. Just like other members of the great ape family—including humans—gorillas experience weight gain, and some experience bouts of morning sickness.

When western lowland gorilla Calaya first arrived at the Zoo, she was unfamiliar with many husbandry behaviors. Then, one Day, animal keeper Melba Brown had an 'aha' moment. She noticed that Calaya would often watch other gorillas interact with keepers.

Excitement abounds at the Great Ape House as animal keepers prepare western lowland gorilla Calaya for motherhood. Even before she arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 2015, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan coordinators were matchmaking Calaya with male silverback...

For the first time in nine years, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is making preparations for the highly anticipated birth of a critically endangered western lowland gorilla.

Ever wondered what it would be like to care for an endangered animal? For the team who works with the Smithsonian's National Zoo's primates-- gibbons, siamangs, lemurs, orangutans and gorillas, among others-- the job entails thinking of creative ways to provide these intelligent animals with...

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientist Michael Power and primate keeper Erin Stromberg discuss the science behind great ape milk in this Q & A.

Calaya is not like the Zoo’s other western lowland gorillas. For months, keepers tried to encourage Calaya to train and participate in enrichment activities to no avail. Then came an “AHA!” moment: Calaya learned best not solely through human interaction, but by observing the actions of the other...

What is it like to see a gorilla in the wild? Get a glimpse of gorillas on their own turf, thanks to our Gabon Biodiversity Program (GBP). In Gabon’s National Park, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists have teamed up with local experts to habituate western lowland gorillas to...

The Great Ape House staff sent 19-year-old female western lowland gorilla Kigali to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas on October 16. She was born here at the National Zoo to Mandara and Gus in 1994. She had received a breeding recommendation with a male at Sedgwick from the Gorilla Species...

The Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP) is dedicated to providing a healthy, genetically diverse and self-sustaining population of Western Lowland gorillas in zoos across the United States. One goal of the Gorilla SSP is to maintain gorillas in species typical groupings, either as a troop consisting...

[summary]