Video: Gorilla ultrasound at Como Zoo shows mom, baby doing well

Zoo babies? Folks love those photos. But here's something you don't see everyday: A zoo baby before it's born.

Dara is expecting a baby.
Gorilla Dara, 11, is expecting a baby between Dec. 18 and Feb. 1. The father is Schroeder, a 28-year-old gorilla who is also the father of a second baby gorilla with another female.
Courtesy of Como Park Zoo & Conservatory

The Como Zoo in St. Paul has just posted a video, above, of an ultrasound examination on Dara, one of the zoo's two pregnant gorillas.

Dara will give birth birth between Dec. 18 and Feb. 1, 2015, and the ultrasound is telling zookeepers that Dara and the baby gorilla are doing well.

As far as zoo officials know, the two pregnancies are firsts for all the gorillas involved. That means the new moms might need some help, says zookeeper Allison Jungheim. So the zoo brought in a 26-year-old female named Nne, as the maternal guide, the matriarch of the group.

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