Lions and Tigers and Hamsters by Mark Goldstein

Author:Mark Goldstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Health Communications Inc
Published: 2019-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

GIGI

The frenzy and fanfare around celebrity births have become commonplace these days, with social media and even traditional broadcasts announcing the sight of “baby bumps” and then counting down the days until the big day. Even animals have had their day in the limelight. Who can forget April, the giraffe in upstate New York, who had the world waiting, seemingly forever, for the birth of her baby? Long before all this, I attended to an animal celebrity mother-to-be—albeit without the immediacy of the internet—Gigi, the western lowland gorilla. As an example of how technology has profoundly changed the way we share awe-inspiring events like the birth of a gorilla, I was amazed that an Associated Press photographer could snap a picture in Boston and by using a new contraption called a fax machine, transmit the image to appear on the front page of a newspaper in Tokyo the next morning!

I was still working at Angell Memorial but was also “on loan” to the Stone Zoo and Franklin Park Zoo to cover for their full-time veterinarian, who had recently left. In reality, I had two full-time jobs, one at the hospital, the other at the zoos, but I was loving it! In addition to my regular day-to-day duties as the temporary vet, I was also asked to be the attending doctor to Gigi, a 220-pound western lowland gorilla who was expecting a second baby with her mate, Sam. There was a lot at stake, so I accepted the responsibilities on the condition that I’d be the person in charge since I would ultimately be the one held accountable. It was agreed, and I took on the oversight of a small team concerned with everything from prenatal to delivery and postpartum care.

I came onto the scene halfway through the pregnancy, a gestation period of about eight-and-a-half months, which made Gigi’s due date December 25, 1982, Christmas day, and for me, it was just after Hanukkah. The impending birth during the holiday season made the event feel that much more special, like we were waiting for the arrival of our own special present.

The zoo had three adolescent gorillas: Gus, Kiki, and Quito. Gus came from the Bronx Zoo and Kiki, from the Philadelphia Zoo. Both had been rejected by their mothers and were on loan to receive our care and to keep the third baby, Quito, company. Quito was Gigi’s baby, and she had also rejected him.

Dr. Deborah Schildkraut, a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Director of Research and Education for the Boston zoos, knew all too well the frequent occurrence of mother gorillas rejecting their babies. She explained the chain of events to me. Quito was the first gorilla born in Beantown, in June 1981. However, it became clear that Gigi wasn’t caring for the infant and might even injure him so, at just twelve hours old, he was sent to live with a human foster family in Needham, a Boston suburb. The foster mother was

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