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ITS A GIRL Kool Kid

Talk about a warm welcome for our new

western lowland gorilla, who is also Tropic

World: Africa’s youngest member.

Ali, a baby girl, has four generations of family members to

help her learn the ropes: mother, Koola, father, JoJo, big sisters

Kamba and Nora, nephew, Zachary, and grandmother, Binti

Jua. While Ali spends most of her time in Koola’s arms, the rest

of the family is eager to get to know her.

This bundle of joy is Koola’s third baby and second with

father, JoJo. (The pairing of Koola and JoJo is based on a

recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’

Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan, or SSP). Koola is an

experienced mother, so animal care staff are not surprised that the

baby is growing and developing well.

As she ages, Ali’s development might seem somewhat familiar:

gorillas go through similar stages to humans. For the first few months,

she’s being carried by mom and nursed. As she gets older, she will begin

eating solid foods, venturing further away from mom, and begin playing

with the other young gorillas and her father.

Western lowland gorillas typically live in family groups, such as ours

here at the zoo. They are critically endangered in the wild due to hunting

for the illegal bushmeat trade, deforestation, and diseases, according to the

International Union for Conservation of Nature.

PROGRAMS Super Scanner Previously, veterinarians have been limited to using ultrasounds or X-rays on
Providing preventative care to grizzly larger animals, which don’t provide the detail and quality of image that a CT
bears, zebras, and other large mammals scan does. Performing a CT scan on an animal during a check-up can provide
will now be a lot easier, as the Chicago Zoological Society’s better diagnostic information—such as detection of diseases—which could
veterinary department has added another item to its impact the animal’s treatment plan and provide a greater quality of life.
long list of firsts: Brookfield Zoo is now the first and only
zoo in the country with a large animal CT (computed The team hopes that with the addition of this new table, they will be able to
tomography) table. provide better treatment for animals with routine health concerns, along with
The new table can hold up to 2,200 pounds, which will animals with more unique and complicated cases.
allow the veterinary team to run CT scans on nearly every
animal at Brookfield Zoo. (The CT scanner previously was
used with a table that was limited to about 650 pounds.)
“It’s incredibly exciting,” said Dr. Mike Adkesson, vice
president of clinical medicine. “We can scan animals we
never had the ability to scan before.”

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