A heartwarming and an extraordinary tale has emerged from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio in the United States. The staff at the zoo were shocked when they saw a gorilla they believed for four years to be a male nursing a baby. After looking into the matter further, they realised that the gorilla was actually a female. The zoo, in an Instagram post said that the gorilla named Sully was living with her mother since 2019 and was thought to be a male. But after the gorilla care team was called in to look into the matter on Thursday, that they realised the gorilla was a female.
"We have an adorable surprise to share with all of you today! Our gorilla family just got a little bigger with the unexpected birth of a female baby gorilla! But here's the other incredible part: our dedicated keepers recently discovered that the proud mom, who was initially believed to be a male, is actually a female gorilla. Talk about a surprise twist! The Congo and the Animal Health care teams have been observing Sully and her baby and things are going very well," the Instagram post of the zoo read.
The zoo staff remained confused about the sex of the gorilla all this time because, until the age of 8, males and females are about the same size, and they don't have prominent sex organs," the official blog of the zoo stated.
"As gorillas age, they become sexually dimorphic, meaning males and females look very different. However, males don't develop their characteristic large size, silver backs, and large head bumps (called sagittal crests) until age 12 or later," the zoo further explained.