Baby gorilla reaches milestone at park and puts on adorable show

Two-year-old Kaius may make dancing look effortless, but it has taken more than just cute moves to get him into the swing of things.

Kaius’ life began dramatically* when his mother had a difficult birth.

His troubled beginning continued immediately following his birth, when his gorilla family abandoned their newborn, assuming the danger to his mum had been caused by his arrival.

By the time keepers retrieved Kaius, he was critically ill, suffering from a life-threatening sepsis* infection.

“He should have died, multiple times, but each time he pulled through,” Mogo Wildlife Park zookeeper Chad Staples told the Sunday Telegraph.

“I took on the role of hand-raising him, and for seven months we were attached at the hip.

“The first weeks were especially intense – feeding every two hours, hooked up to a breathing machine, a drip, and a nasal* tube.

“It was full-on and while it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, I’ll never do it again,” Mr Staples said with a laugh.

Despite the odds, little Kaius thrived.

In a first for Australia, keepers succeeded in reintroducing him to gorilla life, first with a surrogate* mother and then, six months later, with the rest of his biological* family.

“This has never been done here before,” said Mr Staples.

“Overseas, attempts to reintroduce hand-raised gorillas have often ended in tragedy.

“Going in blind, we took thousands of small steps to make sure it all went right in the end.”

Now at a healthy 15kg, Kaius is a “lively and curious youngster,” delighting Mogo’s visitors with his playful antics.

“He’s got that beautiful innocence of a baby – he’s extremely confident, and everything is a toy to him,” a proud Mr Staples said.

“While his diet includes all the usual gorilla fare*, tomatoes, eggplants, and banana leaves are firm favourites.

“His grandmother has taken on the motherly role, while his biological mother is more like an older sister.”

And his father, a 220kg silverback, now happily protects the tiny toddler, who, despite his challenging start to life, is learning how to be a gorilla from the best teachers possible – his family.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF KAIUS AT FIVE MONTHS

POLL

GLOSSARY

• dramatically: suddenly, with intensity and difficulty
• sepsis: body’s extreme response to an infection, a life-threatening emergency that can damage vital organs and often causes death
• nasal: related to the nose, as in nasal passage
• surrogate: substitute, taking the role or position that would otherwise belong to another
• biological: natural, related by blood and genetics
• fare: food, meals, items eaten for nourishment
• silverback: the older, often largest and usually dominant male gorilla of the group

EXTRA READING

Baby gorilla hugged back to health

Taking selfies with endangered mountain gorillas

Big Bobo meets mini-me

QUICK QUIZ

1. What was dramatic about Kaius’ birth?
2. Why did his family reject him as a newborn?
3. How much does his dad weigh and what’s the special name for his role in the group?
4. What are three of Kaius’ “firm favourite” foods?
5. What did keepers succeed in doing that had never been achieved in Australia before?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Write a plan
What do you think would be the best way for the keepers to introduce a baby gorilla like Kaius to his biological family? Write a step-by-step plan for the first time the baby would meet their family. Use information from the story to help you.

Time: allow at least 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science

2. Extension
Rewrite the story from the point of view of Kaius’ grandmother.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you’re a keeper at Mogo Wildlife Park and you were there for his dramatic birth.

Create a conversation between two characters trying to save Kaius’ life – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.