Mobi Will Be Half a Year Old. The Little Gorilla Is Learning to Walk and Is Interested in Her Sister Gaia

Mobi holding onto one of the ropes in the exhibition and watching the Dja Reserve’s visitors. Photo: Oliver Le Que, Prague Zoo

Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo’s director, said, “This is what we have all been looking forward to. The gorilla babies are finally starting to interact. Although it is wonderful to see them together, perhaps even more heartwarming is to see tiny Mobi playing with her father, the massive Kisum. The male silverback allows his first-born daughter to touch his face and ruffle his fur. It never ceases to amaze me how these primates form such strong bonds with one another.”

Apart from suckling her mother’s milk, Mobi, who will be six months old on July 2, is already trying to eat the same food as adult gorillas - vegetables, leaves or bits of branches. So far, she has only chewed them and then spat them out.

The gorilla babies are already aware of one another and are spending more and more time together. From left Gaia, Mobi and her mother Duni. Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

Martin Vojáček, Prague Zoo’s head keeper for primates, explained, “Mobi toddles around the exhibit and when a morsel drops from the mouth of one of the other gorillas, she too tries to chew it. Recently she’s also started swallowing and digesting solids - the proof being in how her droppings have changed colour. So far, Gaia is only suckling milk, but we have just found out that her two lower incisors have just erupted. Both babies’ development is perfectly healthy and overall the troop is very calm. Eight-year-old Ajabu is still the biggest show off, and it’s good that he’s slowly being allowed to play with the babes.”

For Prague Zoo’s visitors it is best to get to the Dja Reserve around 10 am or 3 pm. The gorillas are very active during these feeding times. With the current summer temperatures, it’s also possible to see the western lowland gorilla family in the large outdoor enclosure. The whole group prefers to go there after 4 pm. Apart from the indoor pavilions, Prague Zoo is now open until 9 pm.

At just under half a year, Mobi is very inquisitive and, under the ever more benevolent supervision of her mother, Duni (right), she’s showing a great interest in her surroundings. The female Kijivu (Mobi's great-grandmother, left) readily lets Duni carefully groom her own daughter Gaia. Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo