ABQ BioPark Announces Pregnancies of Orangutan Sarah and Gorilla Samantha
Sarah is an experienced mother while this will be Samantha's first baby.
March 17, 2022 - Today, the ABQ BioPark announced that two of its great apes are pregnant: Sarah the 38-year-old Sumatran orangutan and Samantha (Sam), the 15-year-old western lowland gorilla.
Sarah is expected to give birth sometime in late June or early July while Sam is expected to give birth this September. Both of these pregnancies are part of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) to promote healthy, genetically diverse populations in human care. Both orangutans and western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, and genetic diversity is as important for animals in human care as it is for those in the wild.
Learn more about this exciting announcement in this video.