Associated Press Kiki, a western lowland gorilla, cradles her 3-day old baby at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston on Saturday.
BOSTON - With shutters clicking and cameras rolling, dozens of people crowded into the Franklin Park Zoo's indoor "tropical forest" on Saturday for the debut of its newest celebrity resident: a tiny 3-day-old western lowland gorilla.
Children with faces and hands pressed to the glass of the steamy enclosure gasped and oohed as Kiki the gorilla ambled from her nighttime quarters with her 4-pound baby tucked under her arm.
Kiki sauntered between areas of the enclosure, the baby held in her arms or hanging from her chest, as the crowds rushed from window to window to follow her movements. She eventually settled into a bed of straw, nibbling carrots, before laying down for a nap with the baby cradled in her arm.
The baby doesn't have a name yet because its gender won't be known for several months, until zoo officials can physically examine it without upsetting Kiki, said John Linehan, the zoo's president and CEO.
"Kiki has just hugged onto this baby since it was born. Since the moment we saw it, we haven't seen her put it down. She just seems to be reveling in motherhood," Linehan said.
