Southwest
Texas zoo welcomes third gorilla in 115 years after doctors perform emergency delivery: 'An honor'
Life-threatening complications suffered by a pregnant gorilla recently forced a Texas zoo to deliver the female gorilla’s baby weeks early — with medical doctors helping to get the job done.
The Fort Worth Zoo announced the arrival of a baby female gorilla, who arrived earlier this year on Jan. 5. (SEE the video at the top of this article.)
The baby’s mother, a 33-year-old gorilla named Sekani, was pregnant with her fourth baby and was expected to deliver in mid-February, according to the zoo.
Those plans changed on Jan. 3, however, when veterinarians realized Sekani was moving slower than normal and holding her head as if she had a headache.
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Veterinarians figured out that Sekani was showing signs of preeclampsia — a blood-pressure condition that occurs in pregnant females, both humans and primates, according to the Fort Worth Zoo.
After consulting with a local obstetrician and neonatologist, the zoo staff agreed that Sekani needed to give birth via emergency C-section as soon as possible.
The baby gorilla — named Jameela, which means “beautiful” in Swahili — was born in January and has since been cared for by zookeepers. (Fort Worth Zoo)
On Jan. 5, a team of doctors, including a volunteer medical team, performed a C-section on Sekani, welcoming a new baby gorilla to Fort Worth, Texas for the third time in the zoo’s 115-year history.
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Dr. Jamie Walker Erwin, a board-certified obstetrics and gynecology physician, said in a press release that the experience was a highlight of her career.
“It is an honor and privilege to assist with care for this endangered species and to share my expertise with the veterinary staff at the Fort Worth Zoo,” she said.
Dr. Robert Ursprung (pictured here) said the experience of helping to deliver the baby gorilla was very similar to human childbirth. (Fort Worth Zoo)
Neonatologist Dr. Robert Ursprung helped with the resuscitation and stabilization of the premature baby gorilla — and said the experience opened his eyes to how similar the birth in primates was to that of humans.
“It was incredible how similar this mother-infant pair was compared to what I see in the hospital for babies born under similar circumstances,” he said in a press release.
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After the emergency procedure, the Fort Worth Zoo said it was interested to see that Sekani had little to no interest in caring for her newborn baby.
Zoo experts said in a press release that they believe this might be because Sekani didn’t “experience the necessary hormonal cues that come during natural and full-term birth.”
Sekani, pictured here, was showing signs of preeclampsia, which prompted doctors to deliver her baby via emergency C-section. (Fort Worth Zoo)
Due to this, zoo employees have been raising the baby gorilla for the last month, including bottle feeding her every two to three hours, giving her weight checks, monitoring her other health needs and more.
Now, however, staff have made the decision to train a 24-year-old female gorilla named Gracie to become a surrogate mother to the new baby.
“It was incredible how similar this mother-infant pair was compared to what I see in the hospital for babies born under similar circumstances.”
Gracie, whom the zoo said has two offspring of her own, is already trained in different ways to be a surrogate mother.
The baby gorilla was born a month early via emergency C-section. (Fort Worth Zoo)
“Zookeepers are hopeful Gracie will be an ideal surrogate mother, exhibiting maternal behaviors that will be necessary for the baby to thrive: holding and carrying of the infant, protection, cooperation with zookeepers during feeding time and teaching the little one necessary social skills she needs to be a gorilla,” the zoo said in a media statement.
Staff at the Fort Worth Zoo have decided to name the baby Jameela — which means “beautiful” in Swahili.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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