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Zookeepers go the extra mile for the animals under their care. We've seen them do all kinds of things, from helping them cope with nausea during pregnancy to saving them from wildfires in Hawai'i and self-isolating at the park during the Covid lockdown. Recently, a zookeeper in Australia named Chad Staples fought against all odds, and reared a baby gorilla back to health, ultimately saving its life.
The baby gorilla, named Kaius, was born at the Mogo Wildlife Park in Australia last October. Everything seemed to go well during the birth until Kaius was taken from his mother's arms by the father. Concerned for the baby gorilla's well-being, zookeepers tried to coax the father to return the baby for several hours.
Once he finally put the baby down, the staff rushed to pick Kaius up and feed him, as he was desperately hungry. When they returned the baby to his mom the next day, she didn't seem interested in him, so the zookeepers had to intervene again. “He’d lost color, looking very dull in the eyes, and so we rushed him up to the vet block, and he proceeded to crash quite quickly,” Staples told CNN.
The outlook for Kaius looked bleak, and the doctors feared he wouldn't make it through the night. Determined to fight until the end, Staples sat up all night with the tiny gorilla sleeping on his chest. “That was what gave him the most comfort and actually got his heart rate and breathing under control, just that skin-to-skin contact and feeling the heartbeat as he would from his mom.” The baby gorilla made a miraculous recovery, and the devoted zookeeper has taken care of all his needs.
However, Staples was aware he could not let Kaius become too attached to him and introduced Kaius to other members of the staff. Of course, Kaius still required a parental guardian and after months of preparation, Staples introduced the baby gorilla to an adoptive mother—a 42-year-old gorilla known as G-Anne who is also Kaius's aunt. “She’s a beautiful girl and she’s always shown signs that she wanted this as much as what we did,” Staples said.
Still, the connection between Staples and Kaius is far from over, as he still feeds him his bottle and shows him around the zoo, waiting for the day he makes his public debut. “He is a tiny baby now but I want to see him as a beautiful, strong Silverback in the future with his own family group to look after,” Staples said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
In the meantime, Staples doesn't take a single moment with Kaius for granted. “Once I’m close, he really pushes his face into mine and big beautiful breaths, holds on tight, you know, tries to kiss, all these sorts of beautiful things,” Staples said. “I do hope that there’s a bond there for his life. It’d be pretty special.”
Zookeeper Chad Staples helped save a baby gorilla's life.
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After a complicated series of days following the birth, the outlook for the baby gorilla, called Kaius, looked bleak.
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Staples sat up all night with the tiny gorilla sleeping on his chest. He has been rearing the baby gorilla ever since.
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“He is a tiny baby now but I want to see him as a beautiful, strong Silverback in the future with his own family group to look after,” Staples said.
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Mogo Wildlife Park: Website | Instagram
Chad Staples: Instagram
h/t: [CNN]
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