On April 29, 2013, Isabella, the Greensboro Science Center's (GSC) rare and endangered Javan Gibbon gave birth to a baby boy. In both the wild and zoological parks, it is not uncommon for a gibbon mother to abandon its first child. Unfortunately, this is what happened to the Center's fragile newborn, as he was discovered by a keeper early morning on April 29th lying without its mother inside the Center's centerpiece gibbon habitat. However, thanks to the well-trained GSC staff who were quick to respond to this dire situation and coordinated a team effort between zookeepers, curators, vets and skilled Cone Health staff to revive and care for the baby, Duke, as he is now named, is stable and thriving. To give Duke the best chance of survival, GSC keepers and staff have decided to hand-rear the baby for the next six months until he is self-sustaining, then will try to reintroduce him to his parents, Isabella and Leon, in the exhibit. While it remains a long road ahead to determine what Duke's fate will be, GSC keepers and staff are optimistic about his future.
This amazing 45 second video of miracle baby Duke at less than a week old was shot by Ron Settle, a staff member at the Greensboro Science Center.
