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A baby gorilla born over the weekend at the Seattle zoo was delivered via a rare cesarean section, officials say.

Baby gorilla delivered via rare C-section at Seattle zoo
Fewer than a dozen C-sections have been performed on gorillas around the world, according to Woodland Park Zoo, which said the newborn and his mother are in good health.
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7:00 AM · May 28, 2026

U.S. News
Baby gorilla delivered via rare C-section at Seattle zoo

Fewer than a dozen C-sections have been performed on gorillas around the world, according to Woodland Park Zoo, which said the newborn and his mother are in good health.


-------- A medical team that typically works on humans helped deliver a baby gorilla via cesarean section at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle on Sunday.
Nichole Hamilton via Woodland Park Zoo

May 27, 2026, 7:48 PM EDT / Updated May 27, 2026, 8:06 PM EDT
By Tim Stelloh

A baby gorilla born over the weekend at the Seattle zoo was delivered via a rare cesarean section, officials said.

The procedure was performed Sunday at Woodland Park Zoo, on a 29-year-old western lowland gorilla that was five days past her due date, the zoo said in a blog post Tuesday.

The newborn boy weighed 5.4 pounds, over a pound more than the average infant gorilla, the zoo said. ... He and his mother, Olympia, are in good health, a zoo official said in the post, though zoo officials remain cautious because the “situation is very fluid and fragile.”

According to the zoo, fewer than a dozen C-sections have been performed on gorillas around the world. None have been done at Woodland.


-------- Olympia, a gorilla housed at Woodland Park Zoo, in her habitat before her pregnancy.
Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

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