Critically endangered gorilla Asha pregnant at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Asha, a critically endangered Western lowland gorilla, is pregnant. This will be the first baby gorilla born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZoo) in nearly thirteen years. CMZoo made the announcement on Mother's Day, May 11, 2025.
Asha is a 32-year-old gorilla born at CMZoo in 1992. The father of her baby is Goma, a 34-year-old gorilla, who moved to CMZoo in 2016 on a breeding recommendation. Asha is already a mom to two gorillas. Twelve-year-old male Dembe now lives at the North Carolina Zoo and 18-year-old Tumani is a female who lives at Audobon Zoo in New Orleans.
According to CMZoo, her ultrasounds show a healthy, growing baby, who is expected between mid-May and the end of July this year. Keepers say that Asha is particularly cooperative when it comes to the ultrasounds and even offers her belly to keepers in a "theatrical" manner.
“She has an especially graceful stomach presentation, where she lifts one leg straight up against the mesh, like a ballerina, so we can position the wand on the underside of her round tummy,” Jon Wild, lead animal keeper in Primate World, says. “Guests get a real kick out of seeing that, and it gives us great wand placement options to see the baby moving around.”
According to CMZoo, gorilla gestation typically lasts eight-and-a-half months. Gorilla babies are typically on their mothers for the first year, taking time to crawl, explore, and play periodically. In the first 15 days, the gorilla care team will be looking for the baby to hit milestones that indicate good development, including grasping onto its mother, nursing, holding its head up independently, making eye contact and following movement with its eyes.
Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered and their numbers continue to decrease in the wild. CMZoo says gorilla fans can help preserve wild gorilla habitats by recycling small electronic devices and cell phones at the Zoo.
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