Report on the National Zoological Park 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the activi- 

 ties of the National Zoological Park for the fiscal year ended June 30, 



1962: 



BIRTHS 



The major zoological event at the National Zoological Park during 

 the past year was the birth of a male lowland gorilla on September 9, 

 1961. The parents, Nikimiba and Moka, were brought from French 

 Equatorial Africa (now Congo) by the Arundel Expedition in Feb- 

 ruary 1955 ; at that time their age was estimated to be 18 months for 

 the male and 20 months for the female. During the last weeks of the 

 9-month pregnancy an hourly check was made on the gorilla cage, but 

 the actual birth was not observed. The baby was discovered by a night 

 keeper at 6 :58 a.m. As Moka showed no maternal interest in her 

 infant, it was removed from the cage and taken to the home of Bernard 

 Gallagher, supervisory keeper of great apes, where Mrs. Gallagher 

 reared it along with a 5-month-old chimpanzee. On April 24, after 

 more than 7 months with the Gallaghers, Tomoka and his chimpanzee 

 companion. Lulu, were brought to the Zoo and put on exhibition 

 April 24. 



Radio Station WAVA, Arlington, Va., owned by Arthur Arundel, 

 who had originally escorted Nikumba and Moka from Brazzaville to 

 Washington, held a contest to select a name for the baby, and the nam- 

 ing ceremony was broadcast on April 24. 



Tomoka is the second gorilla born in captivity in the United States 

 and the fourth bred, born, and raised in captivity in the world. Com- 

 paring the development of this gorilla with the statistics available of 

 those born elsewhere (Cohunbus, Ohio, and Basel, Switzerland), the 

 most outstanding difference appears to be the early date at which 

 upper and lower incisors erupted. In Goma, the female gorilla reared 

 in the home by Dr. Lang in Basel, under similar conditions to ours, the 

 first breakthrough of the incisors was observed at the age of 2 months, 

 and at the age of 6 months four lower and two upper incisors were 

 reported. As indicated in the accompanying table, Tomoka's lower 

 median left incisor broke through on October 3, 25 days after birth, 

 and the lower median right on October 5, 27 days after birth. Both 

 median upper incisions were showing 35 days after birth, and at the 

 end of 66 days all eight incisors had erupted. 



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