Woodland Park Zoo – Press release – 16 May 2020
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Woodland Park Zoo announced the name of its baby boy gorilla: Kitoko (ki-TOE-koh), which means beautiful or handsome in the African languages, Lingala (lin-gah-lah)/Kikongo (key-KON-goh).
The opportunity to name the baby gorilla was given to Woodland Park Zoo Board member Rosemarie Havranek and her family, Nathan, Cameron, and Conor Myhrvold, as a small token of gratitude for their long-time, generous support of Woodland Park Zoo’s mission to save wildlife and inspire everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives
“Our family has supported the zoo for many decades and the opportunity to name the newest baby gorilla is an honor. We have spent many hours at the zoo as a family, observing the wildlife and teaching our sons about the important work of animal conservation,” said Rosemarie Havranek. “Woodland Park Zoo’s mission of animal conservation locally and globally reminds us that we need to take care of the world around us or it will not be here for future generations. May the birth of baby Kitoko, at this time of extreme upheaval, remind us that life will go on and we as humans need to do all we can to make the world safe for all living creatures.”
The 2-month-old western lowland gorilla was born to first-time mom Uzumma (uh-zuh-ma) and dad Kwame (KWA-may). Sign the wish book and follow Uzumma and Kitoko’s journey: https://www.zoo.org/growingupgorilla. And become a Digital ZooParent by adopting a baby gorilla!
The other members of Uzumma, Kitoko, and Kwame’s group are: 24-year-old Nadiri; 4-year- old Yola, the daughter of Nadiri; and 18-year-old Akenji. Kitoko’s grandmother, 50-year-old Amanda, lives in the off-view bedrooms under geriatric care. Living in another group are: 41- year-old male Vip and 35-year-old female Jumoke.
The United States Congress started Endangered Species Day in 2006 to celebrate the nation’s wildlife and wild places. Its simple goal is to educate people about the importance of protecting the nation’s rare, threatened, and endangered animal and plant species.
Thanks to the Endangered Species Act and the hard work of conservationists and activists, the bald eagle, green sea turtle, American alligator, peregrine falcon and many other species were pulled back from the edge of extinction. Woodland Park Zoo has given western pond turtles a head start in Washington state and helped protect thousands of acres of pristine cloud forests for tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea.”
Woodland Park Zoo is home to 46 endangered and 15 threatened or vulnerable animal species, and participates in 111 Species Survival Plans, overseen by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
We All Deserve Better 