Baby Gorilla at Prague Zoo Delights Guests as She Makes ‘Funny Faces'
Just like human toddlers, animal babies like to be silly and make people laugh. Mobi is a baby gorilla who was born at the Prague Zoo on January 2nd, 2024. Now that she's about 4-1/2 months old, her personality is really shing through, and it seems that she's a bit of a class clown!
SWNS shared a video on Tuesday, May 7th of Mobi making faces at zoo guests. Watch as the silly baby makes funny faces against the glass and make sure your sound is on so you can hear them laughing at the baby gorilla!
How adorable is this funny little gorilla?! Her little teeth cracked me up! Lucie Štěpničková visited the zoo on May 5, 2024 and was lucky enough to capture it all on film. SWNS commeneter @MySkinnyDip spoke for all of us when she swooned, "This is the cutest thing!"
Related: Fort Worth Zoo Shares Most Precious Moment Between Gorilla Mom and Baby
More About Mobi the Baby Gorilla
Mobi and her mother Duni are critically endangered Western Lowland gorillas. Mobi's name roughly translates as 'heiress' or 'successor' and was chosen after the public participated in an online poll to name her. An online article shared, "the author of the proposed name is Philone Mamkobene, a high school student living in Somalomo, Cameroon. The name not only reflects several generations of successful gorilla breeding at the Prague Zoo, but also connects us with Central Africa, where we strive for the long-term conservation of nature, primarily wild gorillas."
The zoo explained that Mobi is the "daughter of Duni, the granddaughter of Moja, and the great-granddaughter Kijiva and Richard." Moja was the first baby gorilla born in the Czech Republic. They also announced that another one of their gorillas is expecting!
Mobi has a lot of learning and growing to do! For the first six months of their lives, gorillas are attached to their moms and hold on to her stomach or back, rarely letting go. While Mobi is starting to explore more independently but her mom is always watching and close by. She will stay with mom for the first four years of life, during which time the two spend time bonding. Duni will teach Mobi how to groom, find food, how to build a nest of her own, and introducing her to the other gorillas.
The Fort Worth Zoo in Texas also recently welcomed a baby gorilla. It explained that the critically endangered species numbers continue to decline "due to illegal hunting, disease, habitat alteration and low reproductive rates." Zoos are committed to conservation of endangered animals, and so having gorillas reproduce in captivity ensures that those numbers will continue to grow. I hope that both zoos continue to share videos as the babies grow! Watching baby animals is always a highlight of my day.
Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
