A very pregnant Imara with mate Brahma

It’s official folks! Our pair of African painted dogs, Imara and Brahma, are now a pack! Early on Monday, January 5, keepers observed Imara having contractions. Eight minutes later, the first pup was born and the new mama didn’t stop until almost 10pm that night. Normal time intervals between each birth are 30-90 minutes and Imara followed that almost exactly.

Two-year-old Imara came to Cincinnati this past summer from the Oglebay Good Zoo in Wheeling, West Virginia and eight-year-old Brahma, came to us from Zoo New England in Boston. The first time parents have done an exceptional job taking care of all the little ones. It’s a bit of a surprise considering neither of our dogs had a “traditional” upbringing.  Imara was hand reared when her mother didn’t take care of her litter and Brahma had spent the majority of his life with just his 2 brothers.

Brahma enters the den to check on Imara and pups

We are ecstatic that these 2 dogs have taken to parenthood so quickly and easily. Captive African painted dog females aren’t necessarily well known for being the best mothers, but when they do what they are supposed to, they are phenomenal parents. What’s even more special is that although the males will help in varying degrees, for example guarding the nest box and bringing the female food, Brahma went above and beyond what would be considered typical male behavior. He actually groomed almost every single puppy as Imara delivered them and aided her with the removal of the placenta (which normally the females handle all by themselves).

I must admit, when we introduced Imara and Brahma, it was so anticlimactic that I wondered if they would just be buddies. You could tell that they would get along fine, but Brahma was way more into Imara than she was into him. Just because you put a male and female together, it doesn’t guarantee they will breed. In the wild, the alpha female will choose a mate, giving him breeding rights and alpha male status within the pack. In captivity, the females don’t always have the option. However, it is very clear that these 2 dogs were meant to be parents. And fantastic parents at that!

We still have a long road ahead of us. The first couple of months are the most critical. African painted dogs are a sensitive and somewhat fragile species, but if the last few days are any indication, this litter will help increase the number of dogs in the captive population and also increase their genetic diversity. At this time, when captive African painted dog numbers (in North America) are low, every dog counts. These puppies will grow up to be ambassadors to their wild counterparts and will hopefully inspire people to help save this endangered species. For now, we will enjoy the dog pile, or in this case “squirming puppy pile”, as they continue to grow and learn from Imara and Brahma how to be the charismatic African painted dogs they were meant to be!

Imara and pups

I have really enjoyed sharing stories with you about our gorilla program throughout 2014. A lot has gone on including the continued integration of superstar Gladys into our gorilla family, the birth of little Mondika this summer and the excellent care she gets from her new mom Asha, the arrival of the impressive young silverback Harambe and the fantastic surrogacy project with baby Kamina. Although Kamina did not find a surrogate gorilla mother here the effort put forth by our fantastic surrogacy team has successfully instilled confidence and the skills she will need to join a gorilla family in Columbus. All good stuff!

That’s what the Cincinnati Zoo strives to do. Share our inspirational stories with all of you and connect people with wildlife everyday. I’m really looking forward to posting more about our gorillas here at the zoo and our efforts to help conserve wild gorillas throughout 2015.

Witness the Great Migration with me in Tanzania this May. – Trip Details

One opportunity that I am really looking forward to is leading a trip to Tanzania this May to see the great migration with a potential side trip to Rwanda to see the critically endangered mountain gorillas. I would love to share this adventure and even more fun stories about our work here at the zoo with you there. Please have a look at this link. Should be an experience of a lifetime! Join me for a free trip preview on February 10, 2015, here at the Zoo.

Thanks again for your wonderful interest in what we do here and stay tuned for more!

Baby Gorilla “Mondika,” aka “Mona”

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is committed to sharing inspirational stories about our animals and connecting our friends and followers to wildlife every day. We celebrated this in 2014 by naming our newest baby gorilla “Mondika” after a fantastic place in the Republic of Congo doing gorilla-related conservation. The effort in Mondika is part of a larger program called the Nouabale-Ndoki Project (NNP) with which the Cincinnati Zoo has partnered for many years. Please check this blog for regular reports on our little ambassador Mondika, aka “Mona”, along with interesting updates on the great work being done in Congo to save the critically-endangered western lowland gorilla.

Asha and Mondika (Photo: Michelle Curley)

In August 2014, the Zoo enjoyed the birth of our 49^th gorilla, Mona. This birth was significant in many ways. It was a genetically valuable match of father “Jomo” and mother “Asha”.  Zoos do not take gorillas from the wild and haven’t done so in many decades. Zoos work hard to protect wild gorillas while raising awareness at home. So zoos must be careful to properly manage all the gorillas they have. This is accomplished through great cooperation between institutions and overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP). The SSP keeps track of all 350 gorillas in North America and makes recommendations for their management based on genetics, behavior and input from zoos.

Asha is a first time mother and did a wonderful job, which is also significant. It’s very important that a baby gorilla be raised by its mother to learn all the coping skills it will need to be socially happy throughout their lives. Her successful skills as a mother can be attributed to her good history having been raised herself in a normal gorilla family group with a good mother, siblings and a tolerant silverback at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, TX. After reaching a mature age and transferring from her natal group to the Cincinnati Zoo, Asha was slowly integrated into the family of gorillas here, led by silverback Jomo. Once she was comfortable with her position in the group, she was removed from birth control and allowed to conceive. It’s very important for a gorilla to give birth in a comfortable atmosphere that is conducive to the security needed for good mother-rearing. Mona is now about five months old and is still doing fantastic; she has a long bright future at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Unfortunately, Mona’s wild counterparts in the rainforests of Central Africa have more uncertain futures. Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are a critically endangered species and face many challenges due to rapid habitat loss among others. The good news is there are a lot of great people, places and organizations who really care, like the Cincinnati Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Nouabale-Ndoki Project (NNP). For approximately 15 years, the Zoo and the NNP have partnered to help protect this flagship species for conservation. The NNP is located in the Republic of Congo and has several gorilla-related efforts going on, including the following.

-          Mondika is a site where researchers habituate wild gorilla families for up close daily detailed observation and provide visitors with an inspirational opportunity to see these magnificent animals up close.

-          The Mbeli Bai Study is the longest-running research project being done on wild western lowland gorillas. Bais are naturally occurring swampy clearings in the rain forests. At Mbeli Bai, researchers spend eight hours a day on an elevated observation platform year-round observing about 300 different gorillas that enter this area to forage and socialize, in addition to a myriad of other species like forest elephants, sititunga antelope and buffalo. Eco-tourism is also available at this site.

Observation tower at Mbeli Bai

Gorilla group at Mbeli Bai

-          The Goualougo Triangle Ape Study covers an expansive area researching both gorillas and chimpanzees. They utilize wide grid census collection, incorporating state of the art camera trapping that produces wonderful candid and rare wildlife images and video.

-          Club Ebobo is the education component for the NNP, connecting children and the local people to conservation of their natural heritage.

Kids participating in Club Ebobo

Looking forward to bringing you more Mondika Messages throughout the year!