CLE zoo hopeful baby gorilla Jameela will make outside debut with new family
CLEVELAND (WJW) – Baby Gorilla Jameela and Foster Mom Freddie are doing well at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo! So well that they might even make an outdoor appearance for the public this weekend.
“Warmer temps ahead! The team is hopeful that warmer temps will bring Baby Jameela outside for the first time with gorillas soon! Stay tuned,” a post on the Cleveland Metropark’s Zoo Facebook page said.
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In a video posted by the zoo, Associate Animal Curator Laura Klutts said the zoo has had a really exciting week with the gorillas.
“Freddie is doing an amazing job taking on the care of Jameela full-time. She is being a great mom to Kayembe still, so she’s there to comfort him,” Klutts said.
According to the zoo, Jameela has been with the gorilla troop for the entire last week, and the whole gorilla group got put together.
“We still ask Freddie to participate iuin her training so she comes over for those co-op bottle feeds just so we can make sure that Jameela’s getting every that she needs and is staying happy and healthy,” Klutts said in the update. “Kayembe is still nursing too. It’s more so for the comfort, you know, to make sure everybody knows that Freddy’s still his mom too.”
The zoo said Freddie is being an “amazing rock star” as a mom to her babies.
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“Jameela has had such an amazing journey and the staff here along with the staff at Fort Worth have been in communication the whole time and we’re just so thankful for our relationship that we could get Jameela her gorilla family,” Kultts said.
Even some staff members at the Fort Worth Zoo want to come to see baby Jameela thrive with her new gorilla family in Cleveland.
“When we were watching the videos, it was good to see Freddie pick her up. That was so touching and she was so gentle and she did everything she was supposed to,” Linda Roberts with the Fort Worth Zoo said. “I have some vacation time coming up next month. Heads up Cleveland, I’m coming for a visit. I want to say ‘howdy.’”
According to Klutts, the Cleveland Zoo is still making sure the gorillas have the privacy they need and are basing whether the public can come to see them while they’re outside or not on the gorilla’s terms.
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“This weekend looks like it’s going to be some great weather so fingers crossed the gorillas are doing so well that we’ll be able to give them access to their outdoor habitat and it’ll be the first time that Jameela will get to go outside with the gorilla family,” Klutts said.
For more stories about the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and baby Jameela, click here.
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