Our next stop was Zoo Atlanta. Their main points of interest are the 4 troops of Gorillas and the Pandas. The primary troop consisted of three mothers and their four off springs along with a female (without infant) and the silverback. We enjoyed watching the interaction between the mothers and their infants. One mother was raising twins. We were told she has been raising the twins by herself for a longer period of time than any other female in captivity. The twins were born Oct. 31, 2005. Their mother Kuchi is an excellent mother who remains ever vigil of her babies. They cannot get more than an arms length from her when she will be reaching for the wandering baby and maintaining control of him. When the three of them move one will be on her back and the more adventurous one will be between her front legs so she maintains control of him.
The three younger adult females in the troup were all daughters of Kuchi.
The second mother of interest was a first time mother named Sukari who was inattentive to her baby. Sukari would wander off and leave her baby to fend for itself. She would leave the baby as much as fifty feet away. When the keepers were throwing oranges to the gorillas Sukari would take whatever pieces her baby found and take them away for herself and give the baby non of the treats.
The third Kuchi daughter, but was very much like her mother in being attentive towards her baby.